If defense wins championships, then the Lakers still appear to be primed for a third straight GLIAC title in 2013.

The Grand Valley State University baseball team put on a pitching display behind a pair of complete games against Walsh University on Saturday, but failed to sweep the two-game set despite outscoring the Cavaliers 12-1.

The games were played at Cornerstone University’s DeWitt Field due to inclement weather.

In the first matchup between the two schools since 1997, GVSU (17-12, 11-5 GLIAC) came out firing on all cylinders.

GVSU senior pitcher Kyle Teague (5-0) threw a four-hit shutout in the 12-0 victory, striking out seven in as many innings of work. Teague said his command was as good as it’s been all season.

“I feel like I’m getting back in the zone,” he said. “I think what really helped me was my command of the fastball inside. I got a lot of ground balls, and my teammates were able to set me up with some crucial double plays.”

The Lakers were opportunistic defensively, turning a trio of double-plays in the win. The right-hander from Oxford, Mich. also said he was throwing strikes at will with his breaking ball.

GVSU came alive offensively in the bottom of the second inning, when sophomore Jamie Potts crushed a home run into right field to give his team a 2-0 lead. The Lakers added four more hits in the inning, and after a pair of Walsh miscues, the score was 6-0.

Senior Stephen Claypool led all hitters with a career-high five RBI’s in the game, going 2-for-4 at the plate. Sophomore Kevin Zak also came up big, going 2-for-3 with three RBI. It was only the fourth time this season that the team was able to earn double digit runs.

The bats, however, were quickly silenced in game two.

A pair of Walsh pitchers combined to throw a two-hit shutout as GVSU hitters suddenly went cold in a 1-0 loss, despite an impressive complete game from redshirt freshman pitcher Patrick Kelly (3-3). Kelly pitched in all seven innings, allowing only one earned run on six hits while striking out four.

“It was a tough loss,” he said. “It’s frustrating, but that’s just baseball. We won’t (get shutout) very often – I’m pretty confident with our team’s ability to score runs.”

The Lakers were unable to take advantage of the few opportunities they had in the loss, leaving eight runners on base.

“We came out flat in game two, which is disappointing anytime you have that kind of starting pitching,” said GVSU head coach Jamie Detillion. “We’ve been stranding too many base runners lately and need to find a way to get better situational hitting.”

The team will host a pair of nine-inning conference games this week, starting with Northwood University on Tuesday before welcoming Saginaw Valley State University on Wednesday. Both games are scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

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