Holland Reporter

Grand Valley State University claimed an 8-5 victory against Upper Iowa in a non-conference baseball game held Thursday in Peru, Illinois. With this win, the Lakers improve their record to 37-10 and are set to face Upper Iowa again in a doubleheader on Friday.

The game saw Upper Iowa take an early lead with a solo home run. However, Grand Valley State responded quickly in the bottom of the first inning. Evan Morrison doubled, advanced to third base on a wild pitch, and scored on a groundout by Jonas Gulbrandsen.

GVSU added three more runs in the second inning with contributions from Caden Thelen, who hit a solo home run, and Ryan Stimac, who doubled and later scored on another double hit by Morrison. Morrison then advanced to third and scored on a throwing error.

In the fourth inning, another run was added by the Lakers when Ayden VanEnkevort walked, stole two bases, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Caleb Estrada. Although Upper Iowa managed to tie the game with two runs each in the fifth and seventh innings, the Lakers took back the lead in the bottom of the seventh.

Estrada singled and advanced to third base with the help of his teammates, scoring off Ryan Dykstra's groundout. The inning continued with Jovan Gill walking, Gulbrandsen doubling, and Brendan Guciardo securing two runs with a double.

Key defensive plays were crucial for GVSU. Stimac prevented a run by throwing out a runner at third, and Morrison made an important catch in short right center.

Offensively, Morrison contributed two hits, two runs, and one RBI. Guciardo added a double and two RBIs to his record, while Dykstra, Gulbrandsen, Thelen, Stimac, and Estrada also drove in runs.

On the pitching side, Colby Phipps started the game, allowing three earned runs with five strikeouts over four innings. Zach Warren secured the win after pitching three innings, and Will Goebel added two scoreless innings to earn his sixth save of the season.