May 9, 2009

Chillicothe, OH - Grand Valley State claimed a 7-4 victory over Northwood in the 2009 GLIAC Tournament Championship game. The Lakers went 3-0 in the four-team tournament held in Chillicothe, Ohio. The GLIAC title is the Lakers' seventh straight and the tournament title was GVSU's sixth straight. GVSU (41-13-1), ranked second in the latest NCAA DII Midwest Regional rankings, received the GLIAC automatic bid into next week's NCAA Midwest Regional.

The Lakers started off strong in the bottom of the first as 3B Josh Hillyard doubled, followed by a towering two-run HR to center by 2B Kyle Gendron. The Lakers added two more runs on three hits in the bottom of the second. DH Ben Knuth walked and SS Brad Raj singled. Knuth advanced to third on a fly out to center LF Cody Grice. C Bobby Walmsley walked to load the bases and RF Scott Cain drove home a pair with a single to right.

GVSU added a single run in the fourth on three hits. Grice and Walmsley singled with one out, followed by an RBI single to right by Cain. Gendron and Knuth finished the scoring with solo home runs in the fifth. Northwood scored a pair of runs in the seventh and added two more in the ninth. RF Cody Grice finished the game with a diving catch in right field that prevented two runs from scoring.

Freshman Kyle Schepel picked up the win in the Championship game, yielding two runs on six hits in seven innings of work. Schepel struck out eight an improved to 4-1 on the year. David Bowman yielded two hits in the ninth, but registered the final three outs.

2B Kyle Gendron was 4-for-5 with two home runs, three RBIs and two runs scored. RF Scott Cain was 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while DH Ben Knuth was 2-for-3 with a HR, one RBI and two runs scored. SS Brad Raj and C Bobby Walmsley each collected a pair of hits.