Courtesy of Grand Valley State Sports Information
QUINCY, Ill. — One streak ended, another continued on, as Matt Williams saw his impressive scoreless streak snapped at 34.2 innings, but continued his run of games in which he directly helped the Lakers win, as he hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth just moments after blowing just his second save of the season, lifting the Lakers to a 9-8 victory over Hillsdale College in the Midwest Regional Tournament.
Grand Valley State will now play the winner of the Thursday nightcap between No.4 seed Ashland and No.3 seed University of Indianapolis in a Friday evening matchup at 8:30 p.m. Central Time.
Center fielder Alex Young had a solo home run and a bases clearing triple, driving in four runs for the Lakers (36-16-1), who were facing GLIAC foe Hillsdale for the sixth time this season, and improved to a perfect 6-0 against the Chargers with the win. Third baseman Anthony Villar also had a day for GVSU, driving in three runs on a pair of hits, including a two run home run in the first inning as the Lakers jumped out to an early lead.
With junior starter Kyle Lawson on the mound, the Lakers face early adversity, as Hillsdale's Chris McDonald took a full count pitch over the center field fence for an early 1-0 Charger lead.
Young put a quick stop to the Hillsdale lead, as he lead off the Laker half of the inning with his first home run of the season, a no doubt shot to left field to tie the game up at one run apiece. After Williams singled up the middle, Villar hit a towering shot to left field to plate them both to stake the Lakers out to a 3-1 lead after one inning.
After the early flurry of big flies, the teams exchanged four scoreless frames in a row, as McDonald and Lawson dueled each other on the mound. Lawson had a stellar outing on the mound, pitching seven strong innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits while striking out twelve Hillsdale batters. He left the game in the eighth with a lead, but would not factor in the eventual decision.
After Hillsdale scored a second run off Lawson in the top of the sixth, the Lakers lead was cut to one run, 3-2, but it would not stay that way for long, as the Lakers scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to blow the game open. After Josh Griffith, Josh Smith and Johnny Nate got on to load the bases with one out, Young tripled to right center to drive in the trifecta and stake the Lakers out to a 6-2 lead. Keith Browning, pinch hitting for Jason Ribecky, then doubled to right center to plate Young, and was in turn driven in one batter later by a Villar RBI single to make the score 8-2.
In the eighth inning, the Chargers chased Tim Tarter, who had come on in relief, scoring four runs on a handful of base hits to cut the lead to 8-6. After a scoreless bottom of the eighth for the Lakers, Williams came on to pinch the ninth for a chance at history. If he could secure the save, he would stand alone as the Division II record holder for saves in a single season, with 21.
After getting the GLIAC Player of the Year Luke Ortel out to lead off the ninth, Williams surrendered an infield hit to the next Charger batter, setting McDonald up for a game tying home run to left center, and just his second and third earned runs allowed all season.
With the save blown and the game tied at 8-8 heading to the bottom of the ninth inning, Williams lead off the inning with a chance to put Grand Valley State in a position to win. After taking a first pitch strike, Williams launched his fifth home run of the season over the left field wall to stun the upstart Chargers and create pandemonium in the Lakers dugout. Williams was mobbed by his teammates at the plate, still tied for the record, but as a victor nonetheless.
Williams had not allowed a run since a March 9th game against Ohio Dominican, and had made 26 consecutive scoreless appearances since, but earned the win via his own home run to improve to 4-0 on the season. He finished the day with a pair of runs scored, a pair of hits and one RBI.
Josh Griffith and Nate each had a pair of hits and a run scored for the Lakers, while Browning had a hit, drove in a run and scored after coming in late as a pinch hitter.
