June 2, 2005

Box Score

Montgomery, Alabama - #17 Grand Valley State was unable to come up with the key hits they were looking for with runners in scoring position and dropped a tough 2-1 decision to #3 North Florida in the semifinals at the 2005 NCAA DII World Series in Montgomery, Alabama. Grand Valley State, which has finished second, third and fifth the last three years at the DII World Series, concluded the season with a 36-17 record.

North Florida opened the game with a triple by leadoff batter Brennan Grogan. GVSU junior lefthanded pitcher Grant Payton retired the next two batters, but DH Sadry Café drove a 1-1 pitch to right field to plate Grogan and give the Ospreys a 1-0 lead. Grand Valley State scored its only run in the bottom of the third when 2B Scott Smith walked and moved to second on a single by 3B Scott Allen. CF Brandon McFarland hit into a 6-4-3 double play to move Smith to third. Sophomore catcher Nick Smith followed with a double down the right field line to score S. Smith and tie the game. North Florida scored what proved to the be the game-winner in the top of the fifth when third baseman Jon Skorupski doubled to left center with two outs and Café poked a single to left that just eluded the glove of SS Ryan Lyster.

The Lakers missed a golden opportunity in the bottom of the fifth when Lyster doubled and moved to third on a S. Smith single. North Florida pitcher Jared Incinelli perfectly executed a fake throw to first and picked Lyster off third for the first out of the inning. Allen then flew out to center and S. Smith was caught stealing for the third out of the inning. GVSU was able to get runners on base in the final four innings, but were unable to come up with the key hit. Freshman LF Pat Radde singled to center in the ninth with two outs and Lyster was then hit by a pitch, but S. Smith flew out to right field for the final out of the season.

"It was an outstanding college baseball game, but a game that we missed our opportunities to score," said GVSU head coach Steve Lyon. "We were just unable to come up with a key hit today, but a lot of that has to do with the pitchers you are facing at the World Series," added Lyon.

Payton was stellar for the Lakers on the hill, yielding just two earned runs on 10 hits in 7.1 innings of work. Payton struck out five and walked just one. Laker senior Joe Finnerty gave up just one hit in the final 1.2 innings with one strikeout. Scott Smith and Scott Allen led the Laker attack with two hits each. Nick Smith drove in the Lakers' only run with a double, while Brandon McFarland, Pat Radde and Ryan Lyster each collected a hit.

"I can't say enough about how these kids performed throughout the season," added Lyon. "They played with all of their hart every time they stepped between the lines and that is all you can ask for as a head coach."

Senior Scott Smith concluded the World Series batting .667 with 12 hits in 18 at bats, seven runs scored and four RBIs. Senior Scott Allen batted .375 with six hits in 16 at bats, three runs scored and three RBIs. Junior pitcher Nathan McCrory went 1-0 in two relief appearances with a 0.00 ERA. McCrory allowed five hits in eight innings. GVSU third baseman Scott Allen also became the all-time leader in career hits in GLIAC history with 238.