ALLENDALE, Mich. – Ohio Dominican's baseball team had top-ranked Grand Valley State on the ropes twice but couldn't deliver the knockout blow, dropping a pair of 4-3 contests on the road in a GLIAC doubleheader at the Laker Baseball Field.

ODU dropped to 19-25 (16-17) and into fifth place in the GLIAC, while the Lakers, ranked No. 1 in one national poll and No. 2 in another, extended their winning streak to 23 consecutive games and improved to 43-3 (32-1).

In the opener, the Panthers grabbed a 2-1 lead in the third after sophomore Nick DiNello (Boardman, Ohio) led off the inning with a double and scored on an RBI single through the right side of the infield off the bat of junior Evan Shaw (Delaware, Ohio), beating the throw to the plate. Shaw advanced to second on the throw and went to third on a groundout, then came in to score on a wild pitch to account for ODU's second tally.

GVSU knotted the game in the bottom of the third, but freshman Kyle Price (Pickerington, Ohio) avoided more trouble by leaving a pair of runners on base. Price again left two runners on board in the fourth, and ODU scored the go-ahead run on an RBI single from junior Tyler Zaidel (Cincinnati, Ohio), bringing in Shaw, who had doubled.

The Lakers, though, answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth to tie the score at three, and brought in the fourth run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3. ODU put a runner on board in the seventh as pinch-hitter Billy Tecklenburg (Troy, Ohio) singled to start the inning, but he was erased on a double play, and a strikeout ended the contest.

Price took the loss after tossing five-plus innings, allowing 10 hits and four runs (three earned). He fell to 3-2 on the campaign. Shaw and junior Austin Grate (Fort Wayne, Ind.) had two hits apiece for ODU, which finished the opener with eight hits.

In the nightcap, GVSU took a 1-0 lead in the first, but ODU answered with a run of its own in the third. DiNello reached on an error and came in to score on an RBI basehit by Zaidel to tie the game at one. The Lakers scored one more run in the third and two in the fourth though to grab a 4-1 lead.

The Panthers didn't go quietly, though, plating a pair of runs in the sixth. Shaw reached on an error and senior Germaine McAlpine (Canton, Ohio) walked, and both advanced to scoring position on a passed ball. Grate hit a sacrifice fly to score Shaw, and McAlpine came in to score on a baseknock into left by freshman Bryan Rudolph (Pickerington, Ohio) to make it 4-3.

Senior Kyle Gore (Solon, Ohio) worked a scoreless sixth to keep ODU within striking distance, but the Panther bats went down in order in the seventh.

Sophomore Nick Venditti (Brecksville, Ohio) started and went 3.1 innings, allowing three earned runs and suffering the loss. Junior Erik Lamka (Troy, Ohio) tossed 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball.

ODU managed just three hits, though GVSU had just six hits itself.

The two teams conclude their four-game series with a doubleheader at noon Sunday. It is the season finale for ODU.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu