Baseball is generally viewed as a game of endurance. The team that makes the fewest defensive mistakes while getting a few bats on the ball will generally come out on top.

But when you knock in 43 runs through three games as Grand Valley State University did this past weekend, it makes it pretty difficult to lose.

The No. 9 Lakers dominated the University of Findlay through three games this past weekend beginning with two doubleheader victories on Friday (13-8 and 21-9) and ending with a 9-6 outcome on Saturday.

“When we put up numbers like that, it’s pretty easy to win games,” said senior first baseman Cory Maguire, who finished the weekend with three homeruns and six RBIs. “As guys keep getting more and more hits and seeing the ball better, it gives our whole team more confidence.”

Junior second baseman Cory Phillips said part of the reason for the team’s offensive explosion against Findlay was in its poor performance against the University of Tiffin last week. The Lakers scored two runs in two losses (one of which was a shutout) before winning a 5-4 extra-inning decision against the Dragons last week.

“Last week we really struggled against (Tiffin) – we didn’t put up the kind of runs that we thought we could,” Phillips said. “This week we really worked on sticking the ball deep without getting too home run happy. The home runs are going to come, but we just had to focus on hitting line drives and hitting the ball hard.”

The weekend marked the 10th time this season the team has scored runs in double digits as well as the fourth time the Lakers have gone for more than 17 runs. GVSU head coach Steve Lyon said part of the reason for the high offensive production lay in the team’s hitting philosophy.

“Our philosophy has always been to stress the patience part of it,” he said. “We really try to use the whole field. We try to drive the ball the other way a lot because pitchers are always going to try to stay away from you. We’re not a pulling kind of team, and I think that sort of works toward our advantage.”

While the team enjoyed the fruits of its high offensive output, Lyon noted the Lakers will need to tighten up defensively in order to continue to be successful. The Lakers may have scored 43 runs, but they still let up 23 on the other end.

“It bothers me a little bit,” he said. “I don’t think we’re always going to be able to score 43 runs in three games. Eventually we’re going to need to sure up our pitching staff. A couple of them didn’t perform well, although we did have some guys in there like (senior) Matt Cade who hadn’t pitched in a while. They struggled a bit, but that’s to be expected.”

The Lakers will next see action when they take on Saginaw Valley State University for a Tuesday doubleheader before facing the West Michigan Whitecaps for an exhibition matchup on Wednesday. Tuesday’s first game will begin at 2 p.m.

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