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Grand Valley State
Wins Regional Crown |
Complete Box Scores Like the cousins who came for dinner and stayed all winter, Grand Valley State has made Ashland University’s Donges Field its home away from home. Sunday (May 16), on the final day of the NCAA Division II North Central Regional Baseball Tournament, the Lakers made sure that they would celebrate another type of homecoming next week – a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Championships in Montgomery, AL. The Lakers (43-15) were forced to come out of the loser’s bracket to win the regional crown. GVSU lost its first game of the tourney, falling to Wisconsin-Parkside, 16-7. After that, the Lakers won four straight games. Sunday they stopped Ashland (47-15), the region’s top seed, 5-2 and 12-3 on the Eagles’ home field. The loss brings an end to an AU season that was filled with highlights. Sunday’s games marked the end of the line for two of the most successful players in school history – seniors Brandon Cornell and Josh Gaub. The two rank one-two in career hits at AU and can be found near the top of the charts in a number of other offensive categories. They made up the backbone of a team that claimed its sixth consecutive NCAA playoff berth and ended the year just one victory shy of the school record for wins. This year’s team was forced to rebuild its pitching staff from top to bottom. That challenge didn’t overwhelm the Eagles, instead head coach John Schaly and his players seemed to thrive on that situation. The Eagles ended the regular season in first place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and were second in the league’s postseason tournament. Right now, however, that’s not what the Eagles are pondering. They’re thinking more about the fact that in two games Sunday they stranded 22 runners. They lost their final four games at home to Grand Valley – two this weekend and two last weekend at the GLIAC tournament. During the regular season, AU won three of four games against the Lakers – in Ashland. The Lakers never trailed at any point on Sunday. In the first game, they scored three times in the first inning and added two more runs in the second for an early 5-0 lead. The first-inning uprising included a run-scoring single by Tim Hudnall and a two-run double to left center by Elijah Beckwith. In the second inning, GVSU scored its first run on Scott Smith’s triple to right center. The second run came home on a wild pitch. Ashland had plenty of chances against GVSU starter and winner Marty Jackimowicz (3-2). AU stranded 13 runners. Jackimowicz went six innings and gave up two runs, both unearned, on five hits. He walked five, hit three batters and had two strikeouts. The Eagles left the bases loaded three times, twice when Jackimowicz was on the mound. Ashland scored both of its runs in the second inning. One run scored via an error and the other came home on a single by freshman first baseman Ron Oneson. After Jackimowicz departed, the Lakers got airtight relief work from Sean McLeod and Joe Finnerty. The two righthanders allowed three hits over the last three innings and didn’t walk a batter. Finnerty went the final inning to pick up his ninth save. Junior Todd Martinelli (8-3) was saddled with the loss. In 3 2/3 innings he allowed eight hits and five runs. The Eagles managed to stay in the contest thanks to a sterling relief performance from sophomore righthander Jim Barry. He pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Barry didn’t walk a batter and struck out two. His stock is definitely on the rise. Prior to the postseason, Schaly promised that Barry was an integral part of AU’s plans. The youngster showed why Sunday, coming to the rescue while showing the poise of an upperclassman. Freshman third baseman Casey Jirsa and sophomore outfielder David Waters had two hits apiece for AU in the first game. In the second game, the Lakers turned to senior lefthander Matt Rafeld. Rafeld, who pitched 10 innings on Friday, held the Eagles in check for 6 1/3 innings. He was touched for nine hits but allowed just three runs, two earned. The victory lifted his record to 11-2 and gave him the tournament’s most valuable player award. Grand Valley went ahead, 2-0 in the second inning on Nick Sandy’s double. The Eagles cut that lead to 2-1 in the fourth on Bryce Bednarczyk’s run-producing base hit to right field. GVSU countered with two runs in the sixth to make it 4-1, but Ashland regrouped and scored a pair of runs in the seventh. At that point, the Lakers were in front, 4-3. The game became a rout in the eighth inning when the Lakers scored seven times. Allen had a two-run double and Hudnall contributed a two-run single. Rafeld’s departure didn’t make life easy for the Eagles. Jon Micoff came on to work the final 2 2/3 innings. He didn’t allow a hit in earning his initial save of the season. Ryan Douglas (4-3) started and took the loss. He went seven innings and was tagged for six runs, five earned, on 10 hits. That line doesn’t do justice to the what Douglas meant to the Eagles on this day. Normally, he works out of the bullpen where he’s the team’s closer. Called upon to start, he gave a sterling effort. He kept the Lakers off balance for most of the afternoon Allen finished the second game 4-for-5 with two RBI and was 7-for-10 on the afternoon. Shortstop Ryan Lyster was 3-for-4 in the second game. AU designated hitter Allen Ayers went 3-for-5 in his final game of the season. Cornell was 2-for-5 with a double. North Central Region All-Tournament Team |