March 23, 2009

BAY CITY, Mich. - Grand Valley State University freshman outfielder Cody Grice and senior pitcher Andre Benjamin have been named the GLIAC Player and Pitcher of the Week, respectively, following their performances against Findlay and Hillsdale.

Grice hit .500 in five Laker wins last week. Grice was 8-for-16 with a double and a home run. He scored seven runs and drove in three. In addition, Grice tallied a .750 slugging percentage, a .556 on base percentage and stole a base. Grice was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a solo home run in game one versus Hillsdale on Saturday. He followed that with a 2-for-3 outing in game two Saturday and a 2-for-4 performance with an RBI, a run scored and a double.

Benjamin recorded a complete-game, four-hit shutout win over Hillsdale (4-0) Saturday afternoon. Benjamin, now 4-0 on the year, struck out seven and walked four. Benjamin leads the Lakers in strikeouts (31), while yielding seven runs in 28 innings of work. He currently leads the GLIAC in wins (4), and winning percentage (1.000), while ranking second in strikeouts, fourth in innings pitched (28.0), and sixth in opponents batting average (.212). Benjamin is now 14-1 in his career at Grand Valley State.

Grand Valley State is ranked No. 1 in the lastest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll for the first time in school history. GVSU was ranked #2 in DII Coaches' Poll and fourth in the Ping Collegiate Baseball poll. The Lakers' 21-2 record to open a season is its best start in school history. Grand Valley State will play at No. 12 Ashland in a key GLIAC doubleheader on Wednesday (March 25). GVSU's pitchers have recorded 178 strikeouts and walked just 55, while Laker hitters have struckout 93 times and walked 92 times. Opponents are hitting .206 versus Laker pitching in 2009.