March 10, 2009

Box Score

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Freshman Steve Anderson drove in three runs and scored another two on his birthday as Grand Valley State defeated C.W. Post 7-1 at Lake Myrtle Park on Tuesday. The No. 3 Lakers went 12-2 at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational and will return to action next weekend in Chillicothe, Ohio.

The GVSU pitching staff shut down the Pioneers, striking out 16 batters through nine innings. Senior Andre Benjamin (3-0) pitched the first five innings to pick up the win and struck out eight batters. He allowed five hits and one run while throwing 94 pitches. Freshman Cory Rademacher threw three strong innings out of the bullpen. He struck out six and gave up just two hits and no runs. Junior Jared Knuth closed out the game with two strikeouts in the ninth.

C.W. Post scored the first run of the game with an RBI-double in the bottom of the first inning, but that would be the only run of the day for the Pioneers. The Lakers tied the game up in the top of the second on a groundout with an RBI for senior Bobby Walmsley. Anderson walked to lead off the inning and then stole both second and third to be in position to score.

GVSU extended the lead to 3-1 in the top of the fourth with two more runs. Freshman Cody Grice doubled down the left-field line with one out and then moved to third on a sacrifice hit by senior Matt Nickels. With two outs, junior Kyle Gendron singled through the left side to score Grice and then went home on a double by senior Josh Hillyard. Anderson's first collegiate home run in the top of the fifth inning made the score 4-1.

The Lakers' final three runs all came in the top of the ninth inning with two outs. Senior Casey Robrahn started the rally with a singled through the left side. Junior Cory Maguire doubled to left-center to put runners on second and third with senior Ben Knuth at the plate. The designated hitter reached on an error by the first baseman which scored Robrahn and sent Maguire to third. Senior Scott Cain pinch ran for Knuth and immediately stole second. Anderson's single up the middle capped off the scoring by plating both Maguire and Cain to end the game at 7-1.