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Bay City, Mich. -- #11 Grand Valley State (45-14-1) claimed a 3-2 win over Indianapolis (43-21) Sunday afternoon in the NCAA DII Midwest Regional Championship game in Chillicothe, Ohio to secure a berth in the NCAA DII World Series May 23-30 in Cary, N.C. The Lakers claimed a 4-3 win in the first championship game Sunday to force a second title tilt.
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-- GLIAC Baseball Weekly Notes --
Ashland - The Eagles went 1-2 at last week's NCAA Division II Midwest Regional Tournament in Chillicothe, OH. Ashland was trying to advance to the NCAA Championships for the second straight year, something that's never happened in school history. After opening the tournament with an 8-4 victory over Rockhurst, AU dropped games to Northern Kentucky (7-6) and Southern Indiana (8-3). Ashland was the top seed in the tournament. Junior shortstop Jason Cress (Bowling Green, OH/Owens C.C.) was named to the Midwest Region all-tournament team...senior center fielder Tyson Rowland (Warren, OH/Warren G. Harding) ends his career as the program's career leader in stolen bases and runs scored. He's fifth in career hits...four Ashland players - senior outfielder Jeff Foltz (Findlay, OH), junior third baseman Jacob Petkac (Middleburg Heights, OH/Midpark), junior first baseman-pitcher Ben Minard (Delaware, OH/Olentangy) and junior pitcher Ajay Meyer (Hamler, OH/Owens C.C.) - were named to the Daktronics, Inc. All-Midwest Region first team. All four players will now advance to the national All-America ballot...the Eagles finished the season with 40 wins for the second consecutive season and the third time in four years...Foltz established a school single-season record for batting average (.438).
Grand Valley State - #11 Grand Valley State (45-14-1) claimed a 3-2 win over Indianapolis (43-21) Sunday afternoon in the NCAA DII Midwest Regional Championship game in Chillicothe, Ohio to secure a berth in the NCAA DII World Series May 23-30 in Cary, N.C. The Lakers claimed a 4-3 win in the first championship game Sunday to force a second title tilt. Grand Valley State scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth when 2B Kyle Gendron doubled off the left field wall to start off the inning. Following a pop out by 1B Cory Maguire, CF Casey Robrahn doubled to right center to score Gendron and give the Lakers a 1-0 lead. Starting and winning pitcher Andre Benjamin (9-1) tossed a masterpiece, yielding no runs on seven hits in seven innings of work. Benjamin struck out just one batter, but allowed no walks. Joe Jablonski pitched a scoreless eighth and allowed two runs on two hits in 1.1 innings or work before giving way to Cade who earned the save...Robrahn was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Raj drove in one run on a 1-for-3 outing. Nickels, Hillyard, Gendron, Maguire and Anderson also collected one hit apiece. Grand Valley State will be making its fourth NCAA DII World Series appearance since the 2003 season (2003, 2004, 2005, 2009). GVSU dropped a 5-4 decision to Indianapolis in the first game of the Midwest Regional on Thursday, but won four straight, including Sunday's sweep over the Greyhounds to claim the title. CF Casey Robrahn was named the Midwest Regional Most Valuable Player, while 1B Cory Maguire, 2B Kyle Gendron, Robrahn and relief pitcher Joe Jablonski were all named to the Midwest Regional All-Tournament Team.