Not every win is going to come pretty, but for the streaking Grand Valley State University softball team, they sure are coming often.

The Lakers (19-3, 5-1 GLIAC), who brought a 9-game winning streak into Saturday’s play, continued their strong play by taking five of six games from Ohio Dominican University (5-16, 0-3 GLIAC), Ashland University (10-9, 2-1 GLIAC) and Lake Erie College (5-13, 0-6 GLIAC) this weekend.

Paced by their GLIAC-leading 7.71 runs per game, the Lakers used 13 hits – including four from freshman first baseman Tonya Calkins – to roll by Ohio Dominican on Friday, 12-7. Calkins’ big game proved to be important as sophomore designated player Katie Martin failed to record an RBI in a game for the first time since March 11.

Calkins paced the Lakers with four RBI, including her third home run of the season.

“It’s very important to keep the (offensive) consistency up,” Martin said. “We’re always striving to get ahead early in the game, and we just have to keep going until we get a hold of it in the game.”

Game two proved tougher for GVSU as Ohio Dominican got to sophomore pitcher Hannah Santora, scoring six runs (five earned) in the first five innings. While she struggled at the plate, the play of Martin, who pitched 1.2 shutout innings in relief of Santora, put the Lakers in position for their 7-6 win and improved the sophomore’s record on the year to 5-1.

“I think (Martin) did a good job pitching today, but maybe ran out of gas towards the end,” said GVSU head coach Doug Woods. “Up to that point in the game, she had done very well pitching and hitting.”

GVSU used eight runs in the final four innings to take game one against Ashland on Saturday by a score of 8-6. Still feeling for their comfort level, the sister duo of Brittany and Briauna Taylor combined to go 3-for-5 with three RBI for the Lakers while Calkins continued her strong play by going 1-for-3 with two RBI.

“It takes more than one person to win a game,” said Miranda Cleary, freshman third baseman. “When Katie is on, it’s a big contribution, but when everyone else is on it’s also a good way to generate runs.”

GVSU rolled into game two against Ashland with an 11-game winning streak when their luck finally ended. The Lakers fell to the Eagles 6-5.

The Lakers had a 5-0 lead after five innings of play, but gave up six runs in the final two innings, including allowing five in the top of the seventh, when three outs would have helped complete a weekend sweep. GVSU could not convert with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, dropping their record to 17-4. However, the team got back into the win column on Sunday after the sweep of Lake Erie.

Katie Martin busted out of her mini-slump in the loss, smacking two home runs while also pitching 6.1 innings of 3-run ball. Cleary also added to the cause with a 3-run home run, her sixth of the season.

“We’re looking for some consistency from our pitchers, and so far they’ve been fortunate that our offense has carried us,” said Woods. “We’ve used the three starting pitchers this season, but I’d really like to see one step up and dominate.”

GVSU bounced back on Sunday with a pair of wins over Lake Erie, 11-6 and 5-4. The team will return to action Saturday and Sunday in a four-game set against Northwood. The series will be the first home games of the season for the Lakers.

[email protected]