May 28, 2003

Photo Gallery

Montgomery, Ala. - Grand Valley State pounded out 12 hits, but it was not enough to overcome five home runs by Kennesaw State as the Owls eliminated the Lakers 7-5 at the 2003 NCAA DII World Series. GVSU took a 5-4 lead into the eighth but KSU hit a two-run blast in the eighth and added a crucial run in the ninth on another home run, as all seven Owl runs came on the long ball. Grand Valley put runners at the corners in the final inning but could not plate a run. The Lakers finish their best season in school history with a 41-14 record, the GLIAC Championship, and their first trip to the World Series after winning the NCAA North Central Regional.

Kennesaw got on the board in the first with a solo shot to right field. The Owls added two more in the third on another home run to stake a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third the Lakers got on the board. Jeremy Lundberg led off with a looping double down the right field line. He moved to third on a single by Mike McCallister and scored on a double play that cleared the bases. Joe Brunink followed with the Lakers first home run of the Series, a deep bomb to right field that cut the deficit to 3-2. It was Brunink's 11th home run of the season.

The Owls responded with their third round-tripper of the game in the fourth to boost the lead back to two. GVSU used three consecutive hits to get back even. Elijah Beckwith and Matt Wright started off with solid singles and Joe Mertes drove in the first run of the inning with a double. Wright came into score on a groundout by Nick Sandy and the Owls escaped without any further damage.

The Lakers took their first lead of the game in the fifth as after the first two batters were retired, Kevin Boyd reached on an error and went to second on the over throw. Beckwith made the error costly as he knocked a single to center to give GVSU a 5-4 lead.

Both teams were unable to push across a run in the next two innings, but Kennesaw came up with the big hit in the eighth. With a man on base, Dustin Atkinson hit his second home run of the game as Kennesaw regained the lead 6-5. In the ninth, the Owls crushed their fifth home to add another run to the lead.

In the ninth, Lundberg and Tony Pfennig singled to bring the winning run to the plate but were unable to complete the comeback.

Brunink finished the game with three hits, while Beckwith and Lundberg tallied two each. Jason LaBaumbard started and threw 5.1 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits. David Olson (3-4) took the loss giving up three runs in 3.1 innings.

Postgame quotes--
Head Coach Steve Lyon:
"I am really proud of the team. It was a great year and our guys really battled especially the last three weeks of the season when our backs were too the wall. Hopefully, they will take a lot of great memories away from the season, including tonight which was a great game."