Grand Valley State dropped a pair of games on Monday (Mar. 6) at the NTC Spring Games in Clermont, Fla., squandering an early 3-1 lead to fall 4-3 to Holy Family in the opener. The #7 Lakers also suffered a 5-0 defeat to in-region foe and #13 nationally ranked Southern Indiana in the nightcap.
 
After a 3-1 start to the season, GVSU has dropped all four games on the team's annual Spring Break trip to sit at 3-5 overall. The Lakers return to the field on Tuesday to face a pair of regional opponents. At 10:30 a.m., Grand Valley State will take on Quincy before a 1:00 p.m. matchup with Missouri-St. Louis, one of the top teams in the country over the last several years.
 
Game One - vs. Holy Family (L, 4-3)
 
The Lakers got off to a good start against Holy Family, tallying a run in each of the first three innings against the Tigers (1-2). Junior Teagan Shomin led off the game by reaching on an infield error. Two batters later, she raced all the way around to score on a double to left center field from senior Jenna Lenza for a 1-0 advantage.
 
Sophomore Rachel Terwilliger delivered GVSU's second run with a bases loaded fielder's choice in the top of the second inning. The play scored classmate Shannon Flaherty, who singled to lead off the frame. Leading 2-1 in the third, Flaherty drove in a run, as her double to left field scored senior Ellie Balbach, who reached on a fielder's choice prior to the two-bagger.
 
Junior Courtney Reinhold was in the circle for the Lakers and held Holy Family to one run in the first four innings, but the Tigers added three tallies in the fifth. A pair of RBI singles off Reinhold tied the game at 3-3 and junior Allie Grys replaced Reinhold on the mound. A Laker fielding error gave Holy Family the 4-3 lead, but Grys escaped further trouble with a swinging strikeout to end the fifth frame.
 
In the sixth inning, freshman Kelcie LaTour ripped a leadoff single, but was erased on a lineout double play. With two down, the Lakers still loaded the bases on a single from freshman Kayla Plastiak, a Terwilliger hit by pitch, and a Shomin walk. However, the Tigers got out of the jam by inducing a groundout.
 
A one-out Balbach single in the seventh was all the Lakers could muster in their final at-bat. GVSU outhit the Tigers 10-8, while each team committed two errors.
 
Reinhold (0-3) took the loss, allowing four runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings. The righty totaled three walks and three strikeouts. In relief, Grys gave up a walk and a hit in 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out one batter.
 
Lenza, Balbach, and Flaherty all went 2-for-4. The Lakers collected all four of the game's extra base hits: doubles from Lenza, Flaherty, and junior Jessica Ramos, plus a fifth-inning triple from Shomin.
 
Game Two - vs. #13 Southern Indiana (L, 5-0)
 
In a matchup of teams that have met in the NCAA Tournament a few times in the last couple years, Balbach took the hill for GVSU against the Screaming Eagles. Southern Indiana (11-3) scored first with a solo homer and an RBI single in the second inning for a 2-0 cushion.
 
A run-scoring double put USI in front 3-0 in the third inning and the lead grew to 5-0 in the fourth frame. Sophomore righty Allison Lipovsky replaced Balbach in the circle and helped get out of a bases loaded jam.
 
While Lipovsky would keep Southern Indiana off the scoreboard the remainder of the game, the Laker bats were overpowered by USI's Jennifer Leonhardt, who improved to 5-1 on the year with the complete game shutout. She gave up just two GVSU hits, both in the first inning; Shomin and Balbach singled in the Lakers' first at-bat. Leonhardt notched 11 outs in the air, did not walk a batter, and fanned three.
 
Balbach falls to 1-1 on the year, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits in 3.2 innings. The lefty walked three and struck out one. Lipovsky notched six strikeouts and gave up one hit and three walks in 3.1 innings of relief.