GVSU Baseball sweeps weekend series against Purdue-Northwest 

The GVSU baseball team swept their four game series against Purdue-Northwest last weekend. In the first game of the series, the Lakers won 7-1. In this matchup, GVSU was led by pitcher Nick Rutkowski who pitched all nine innings, struck out five batters, and gave up only one earned run. The Lakers bats were on fire in this game. They totaled nine hits, six RBI’s, and had three extra base hits. 

GVSU won the next matchup 3-1 and the following game 12-3. In the last game of the series, the Lakers won 8-2. The Lakers featured three different pitchers in this contest. The pitcher credited with the win was Ben Thomas. On offense, the Lakers were on fire and amassed 15 base hits. CF Carter Smith had three hits and 1B Ryan Blake-Jones hit a double and had two RBI’s. GVSU next plays March 30 at home against Lawrence Tech. 

Track and field competes in their first week of the outdoor season

The GVSU track and field team began their outdoor season last week. The team traveled to North Carolina and Florida to compete in four different meets. They competed in the Bulls Invitational, Raleigh Relays, Adidas Trojan Challenge, and the Hurricanes Collegiate invitational. The first week of competition marked several GVSU records for the athletes and many NCAA DII marks. 

Jessica Gockley finished the 10,000 meter race with the third best time in GVSU history. She clocked in at 34:35.27. Dennis Mbuta took the second fastest time in program history during the 1,500 meter (3:46.36). Isaac Harding and Tanner Chada also made history as they finished second and third in the GVSU record books for the 10,000 meter. Harding ran a time of 29:06.57 and Chada finished right behind him with a time of 29:07.12.  

Nicole Sreenan took the second best mark in program history in the 200 meter event. She finished with a time of 24.05. With a time of 58.86 in the 400 meter, Elizabeth McCadd finished with the second best time in program history during her debut event for the Lakers.

In the pole vault event, Elli Kimes proved why she was named the Indoor National Champion in this event. She hit the provisional mark at 4.10 meters and will go to the National Champions again for the outdoor season. Her performance also vaulted her to second all time in the event in GVSU history and she took second place at the event.  

Next weekend the team will compete in the Azusa Pacific Invite and the Hilltopper Relays.