ALLENDALE, Mich. – A late-game surge and stellar relief pitching helped the Purdue Northwest baseball team salvage a split with a 5-4 victory in Game 2 against No. 25 Grand Valley State.
PNW moved to 14-13 (3-9 GLIAC) overall on the season and will return home this weekend. The victory for the Pride snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Lakers that included the first three meetings of this season and all four games last season. PNW last defeated GVSU on April 27, 2019, with a 7-0 decision in Allendale. GVSU (23-13, 6-6 GLIAC) won the first game on Tuesday, 10-5, where the Lakers scored five runs each in the fifth and sixth innings.
Game 1: GVSU 10, PURDUE NORTHWEST 5 (7 inn.)
Anthony Fumagalli (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield North High School) got PNW on the board first when he doubled to right center in the top of the second to plate
Alex Gasbarro (New Lenox, Ill./St. Laurence High School) and
Ethan Imlach (Mokena, Ill./Mount Carmel).
PNW starting pitcher
Sam Shively (Mishawaka, Ind./Mishawaka (Taylor)) tossed four excellent innings on the bump without giving up a run and limiting the Lakers to just one walk and one hit. It was in the fifth that the defense let Shively down with a pair of errors in the first three batters or else PNW would have maintained the 2-0 lead.
GVSU was able to capitalize on those mistakes and would eventually knock Shively from the game two batters later. By the time the fifth stanza was complete, the Lakers had scored five runs on three hits coupled with two PNW errors for a 5-2 lead.
The Pride fell victim to another pair of errors in the sixth as the Lakers extended the lead to 10-5.
PNW showed signs of life in the seventh when
Jake Soules (Troy, Mich./Troy High School) belted his first home of the season, which also scored
Jack Gallagher (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North High School) and Fumagalli on the play to draw within 10-5 but that is as close as they would before succumbing to defeat two outs later.
Shively took the loss going 4.2 innings giving up three unearned runs on just one hit to go along with two walks and six strikeouts. The PNW pitching staff gave up just three earned runs all game.
GAME 2: PURDUE NORTHWEST 5, GVSU 4 (9 inn.)
Down 4-1 going into the top of the sixth, PNW would score two in the sixth along with single runs in the eighth and ninth innings for the 5-4 comeback victory.
Hayden Matulich (San Jose, Calif./Pioneer) staked the Pride a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a single to the pitcher to score Imlach, but defensive miscues in the first and fourth innings helped push GVSU out to a 4-1 lead.
PNW starting pitcher
Anthony Noble (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central High School) lasted 3.1 innings, giving up four runs with two earned on one walk and two strikeouts.
The bullpen clamped down and kept the Pride in the game, and eventually the win, by giving up a mere three hits.
Joe Sullivan (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein High School) got the no-decision but did everything he could do on the mound to keep his team in the game. Sullivan tossed 3.1 scoreless innings allowing one hit, two walks and one strikeout.
Noah Burgh (Warsaw, Ind./Warsaw Community High School) (2-0) picked up the win with 1.1 innings of scoreless pitching and matching Sullivan in hits, walks and strikeouts.
Back-to-back infield hits in the top of the sixth inning resulted in a pair of runs for the Pride as Gasbarro grounded out to score Matulich, just prior to Fumagalli singling to plate
Tyler Schultz (Hobart, Ind./Hobart).
Station-to-station baseball brought in the game-tying run in the eighth. Schultz led off the inning with a single to right before being sacrificed over to second by Gasbarro and eventually scoring on a single through the right side by Fumagalli.
Schultz would be involved in the game-winning run when his one-out single to left field in the top of the ninth pushed across Imlach.
Riley Gallagher (Bloomington, Ind./Bloomington North High School) picked up his second save of the season after tossing a scoreless ninth with one hit and one strikeout.
Four PNW batters collected multi-hit performances including Fumagalli, who went 4 for 5 with two RBIs, and Schultz, who batted 3 for 5 with a double, one RBI and two runs scored.
UP NEXT
PNW will have two days off to prepare for a big weekend series with Parkside at Dowling Park. The Pride are currently in sixth place in the GLIAC standings while Parkside is seventh with only the top six advancing to the GLIAC Tournament. First pitch for Friday's single game is scheduled for 3 p.m. CDT.
FOLLOW THE PRIDE
For all the latest information on Purdue Northwest Baseball, please visit PNWathletics.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Pride (@pnwathletics / @PNW_Baseball) on Twitter. You can also find the Pride on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
