May 12, 2007

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - No. 4 seed Grand Valley State produced four home runs among its 18 hits Saturday and cruised to a 14-6 rout of No. 5 seed Wayne State in a Division II Great Lakes Regional elimination game.

Wayne State (41-17) trailed 8-2 in the bottom of the sixth before a three-run homer by Amanda Van't Wout made things interesting.

But Grand Valley State (35-17), which has 13 home runs in its four regional tournament games after collecting just 27 during the regular season, used the long ball again in the seventh to put the contest out of reach. Katie Kring led off the inning with a four-bagger, and Kristin Moleski later swatted a grand slam to account for four of her five RBI. Kring's RBI single drove home the final marker of the six-run outburst.

Grand Valley State's Sarah Holland led off the game with a home run, and Elizabeth Smith launched a solo blast with two outs in the opening frame.

Wayne State scored a run in the first on Meredith Boxberger's RBI single, and the Warriors made it a 2-2 game when Lindsey Perry hit the first of her two solo homers leading off the third inning.

Grand Valley State took command by plating four unearned runs in the fifth, and the Lakers added a pair in the sixth.

Holland, Smith and Crista Buresh each recorded three hits, and Smith had three RBI. Kring, Nichole Woityra, Lisa Preuss and Becky Rudenga all notched two hits for Grand Valley State.

Van't Wout and Robyn Haig were 2-for-3 for Wayne State. Stephanie Cole (16-7) was the winning pitcher, while Molly Yetman (24-5) suffered the loss.

Grand Valley State faces Ferris State Sunday at noon, with the winner advancing to play undefeated Southern Illinois Edwardsville in the championship round at 2:30.