Despite 38 wins and one of the most potent offenses in all of Division II during the regular-season, the Grand Valley State University softball team could not survive the upset bug this weekend at the GLIAC Tournament.

The Lakers (38-14 , 23-9 GLIAC) looked poised to make a run at the postseason conference title this weekend in Midland, Mich., and while they defeated Northwood University 2-1 on Friday, they could not generate their usual offense in a 2-1 loss to Tiffin University (39-12, 26-6 GLIAC) and a 10-inning 10-6 loss to Wayne State University (30-25-1, 16-13-1 GLIAC).

“We went in knowing that we had just come off a tough weekend against Saginaw Valley State, so we knew we’d have to play tough,” said sophomore second baseman Kayliegh Bertram. “I don’t think it really affected our confidence that much. We knew what we had to do and the other teams just got the best of us.”

Despite being one of the top offensive teams in the nation all season, GVSU could not generate runs during the early part of the weekend. The team’s top hitters – freshman Miranda Cleary and sophomore Katie Martin – went a combined 3-for-20 with only two RBI during the tournament.

“Big hitters are going to have slumps, so you have to hope the team will step up,” said head coach Doug Woods. “We had girls like Carli Raisutis, Briuana Taylor and Emily Jones really do a nice job this weekend, but you’d sill like a couple more to jump in and help out too.”

While the Lakers’ bats were cold, their pitching – which has been inconsistent throughout the season – showed up in the loss to top-seeded Tiffin. Junior Andrea Nicholson allowed only two unearned runs and four hits in the game.

“They’ve definitely been important,” said sophomore outfielder Emily Jones. “You’re not always going to be able to hit, but our pitching has stepped up and it’s helping us to be able to win those close games.”

While the pitching came off the hinges in the game against Wayne, the offense rallied, putting six runs on the board while getting production from Martin and Cleary. Despite that production, the offense came up short in the closing moments of each Lakers’ loss, prompting Woods to wonder how to get his offense back on track.

“You could try to use all sorts of motivational tools, but you just have to work at it and grind it out and hopefully that carries over into game situations,” Woods said. “We were fortunate to be in those close games – Andrea did a nice job – but we are hoping to keep our strong pitching up.”

The early departure puts the Lakers in a tough spot. Currently sitting in the No. 4 ranking in the region, the team still looks primed to make it into the regional tournament.

“If your pitching and fielding well your still in games,” Woods said. “In the loss against Wayne that knocked us out, that was just a case where we had a lead, they came back and we couldn’t get it done in the 7th, 8th or 9th innings- we just have to hang in there “

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