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JUNE 2, 2014 GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN
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GV golfers finish 11th in NC at nationals Inexperience plagues young Lakers in 12-team field AKNORR@LANTHORN.COM
COURTESY | GVSU ATHLETICS
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Gaining experience: GVSU golfer Gabrielle Shipley swings to hit the ball. The Lakers had a disappointing finish at the national championships.
REGIONAL CONTINUED FROM A9 first baseman Giancarlo Brugnoni stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one more chance to make GLIAC history. Brugnoni blasted one over the left-field wall, pushed his GLIAC record of career home runs to 49 and broke another one of his coach’s career records as the grand slam increased his career RBI total to 205, eclipsing the conference record of 203 set by Detillion (at Ashland University from 1997-2000) and Jacob Petkac (AU, 2007-2010). “He was one of the most productive players in Grand Valley history,” Detillion said. “He was great this year, he was as steady as he’s ever been. He cut his strikeouts down and worked hard every single day. He did the little things to become a good player and he’s going to be sorely missed not only because of his production but also because he was a good teammate and a good person.” The Lakers held on for a 7-2 victory -- their 15th in a row -- and were the only unbeaten team left in the tournament. The team certainly seemed primed for another College World Series run until things started to go awry against host USI on Saturday. After turning a double play in the top of the fifth inning, GVSU went haywire. The fifth-inning box score had “blooper reel” written all over it, as the Lakers committed four errors -three of which came on the same play. The Screaming Eagles capitalized by scoring three runs after the sudden spell of erraticism, and held on for a 5-2 win. “Those were the three go
n outstanding spring season concluded with a middling finish for the Grand Valley State University women’s golf team from May 14-17 at the NCAA Division II National Championship at Rock Barn Golf & Spa in Conover, N.C. No. 23 GVSU had won four straight tournaments prior to nationals with firstplace finishes in the GLIAC Tournament and NCAA Division II East Super Regional. Consistency was a strength for the team in its impressive spring run, but it was a series of sporadic scores early in the tournament that quickly took GVSU out of contention. The Lakers gritted their way to a 31-over-par 315 on the first day, finding themselves in 10th place overall. Junior Kelly Hartigan was the silver lining for the team, as she fired a 2-overpar 73 to find herself in ninth place. Freshman teammate Ju-
ahead runs and we couldn’t won’t remember his time in dig ourselves out of that Allendale by accolades, rehole,” Detillion said. “We cords or numbers. beat ourselves up and put a “Going to the World little too much pressure on Series is the biggest acourselves for no reason. We complishment out of all of shot ourselves in the foot a them,” he said. “You never few times, left a lot of guys forget those teammates you on base and couldn’t seem celebrate with or going to to get a big hit.” Cary. That’s the top of your GVSU still had hope career, that was definitely in the double-elimination the most memorable time tournament, but struggled with these guys. There’s against Drury pitching in nothing that beats that.” the Sunday matinee with In 2015, the team will have just six hits. to find a new first baseman, Brugnoni, who was shortstop, catcher and closer named the regional player as Brugnoni, Stuart Eisler, of the year by Taylor Banks two different asand Chris Ripple sociations, was will no longer be walked twice in in the starting the game and This group... lineup. However, closed out his the new senior career with an did a great job class appears to 0-for-2 after- leading this be more than canoon. Drury repable. fused to let him year. Right fielder be the hero. Jamie Potts, JAMIE POTTS “They were JUNIOR who hit .412 working around this season, will me a lot,” he be one of four said. “Most of the times Daktronics First Team Allwhen there were runners in Region players coming back. scoring position they weren’t He, Jensen, second baseman giving me anything, and at Kevin Zak, third baseman the end of the at-bat they Aaron Overbeck, utility man weren’t going to give me a Jesse Abel, center fielder chance to hit.” Mike Nadratowski and juThe 5-2 loss may have nior starter Evan Nietfeldt been his last game in a Laker figure to give GVSU another uniform, but the slugger fig- shot at advancing to the naures to have more baseball to tional tournament. play in the coming years. “This group of seniors did The Grosse Pointe, Mich. a great job leading this year,” native finished his five-year Potts said. “We couldn’t ask career with the most home for a better group in terms runs, RBIs, total bases (424), of leadership and skill, and walks (121) and putouts they will be remembered for (1,693) in the school record a long time. We are losing book. This season, his home- these seniors, but we have run total (17), RBIs (70) and a lot of guys who are going on-base percentage (.528) to have to step up -- and we ranked as the second-highest have a talented junior class. marks in GVSU single-sea- We’ll have quite a few seson history. niors on this team next year He will certainly be re- and that will be really immembered as one of the most portant when we move into feared Laker hitters -- but he the postseason.”
lie Guckian, who shot a 74, was the only other Laker to avoid the early struggles on day one. Although the national appearance was the 12th in program history, only two of GVSU’s top-five players had experience on such a stage. For Guckian, freshman Alex Taylor and sophomore Gabrielle Shipley, the territory was foreign. And each player responded differently. “The first round taught me a lesson on how to manage the course wisely,” Shipley said. “I hit my driver terribly and I should have put it in my bag. Just because a hole is a par 4 or 5 does not mean you need a driver. After the first round I thought a few things over and didn’t hit my driver again.” After a tough first day in which she shot a 14-over-par 85, Shipley made some tactical adjustments and played veteran golf over the next three rounds. With her driver in exile for the rest of the tournament, Shipley excelled. She
shot a 75 and 73 to go with an even-par 71 on the final day of competition -- the lowest GVSU score on each day. The team also seemed to improve as the tournament went on, as the Lakers posted a 27-over-par 311 on day two and a 24-over-par 308 on day three. Hartigan scored backto-back rounds of 5-over-par 76 to join Shipley atop the GVSU scorecard, while senior Veronica Ryan notched her best day in the third round with a 9-over-par 80. “The first and last days were not up to our best performance but we played well on the two middle days,” head coach Rebecca Mailloux said. “We took way too many penalty strokes and need to learn to minimize our mistakes. “We’re still a young team and it’s all about the experience we got this weekend.” Heading into the final day, GVSU was sitting in ninth place and was effectively out of contention for the title.
Despite Shipley’s even-par round and Hartigan shooting just two over, the Lakers posted their worst score of the tournament with a 32-overpar 316 to drop into 11th place as the book slammed shut on a strong season. “We played OK for a couple of days but there was plenty of room for improvement,” Hartigan said. “Overall, we had a great season and it just didn’t end the way we wanted. Next season we’ll be back and we know what the competition is like at nationals.” Top-ranked Lynn University took home the title with a 28-over-par total of 1,164. The rest of the field was well behind, as runner-up Barry University shot a 57-over-par 1,193. Lynn’s Louise Manolo earned medalist honors with a 3-over total of 287. Meanwhile, the Lakers have already begun to look ahead to next year and anticipate another strong season – but with a happier ending.
COURTESY | WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
BY ADAM KNORR
Eye on the ball: Grand Valley State University junior outfielder Mike Nadratowski watches an oncoming pitch during the Midwest Regional against Wayne State University.
GLIAC CONTINUED FROM A9 three runs. “That’s one of our best strengths. If a guy struggles, someone else behind them steps up and gets a big hit.” Seven Lakers chipped in
with at least one hit in the 10-2 victory while four different pitchers — Hallberg, senior Dan Saier (W, 3-1), junior Evan Nietfeldt and senior closer Chris Ripple — combined to give up just four hits and one earned run. Brugnoni finished with
10 RBIs, eight hits and three homers in the four-game stretch on his way to being tabbed as the tournament MVP. He, Zak, Nadratowski, senior shortstop Stuart Eisler and junior starter Aaron Jensen were named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team.
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