ROSEMONT – Lundin Cornelius hit a walk-off bloop single into right field to help Roosevelt snap its eight-game losing streak Wednesday at the Parkway Bank Sports Complex in Rosemont.
The Lakers rallied from 4-0 down to earn the 7-6 extra-innings win over Grand Valley State in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader. Roosevelt (8-24, 2-10 GLIAC) had 10 hits in the triumph and twice overcame multi-run deficits to win. Grand Valley State took the second game of the doubleheader 13-0 in a five-inning run-rule.
ROOSEVELT 7, GRAND VALLEY STATE 6
Madisyn Schrad drilled an infield single to third base with one out in the eighth inning and Cassidy Sullivan followed with a four-pitch walk. Cornelius then stepped up to the plate and looked at two strikes before working the count to 2-2. She didn't get much on her hit, but she placed it perfectly into shallow right field, allowing Schrad to hustle home from second base and slide in with the winning run.
Grand Valley State opened the game with three runs in the first inning and the Lakers were set down in order in the first two innings. Cornelius reached with a two-out single in the third inning, but was left stranded there. The visitors then tacked on another run on a sacrifice fly after a leadoff double, but the hosts came ready to attack in the fourth.
Roosevelt's second time through the order proved much more fruitful with Kendall Pearson leading off the fourth with a walk. Kendall Calderon dropped a single into right field then moved up to second when Pearson took off for third as right fielder bobbled the ball. Rebecca Urbaniak plated the pair with a well-hit single into left field, cutting the Roosevelt deficit in half.
With Urbaniak at second after advancing on the throw home on her single, Sophia Barofsky strode to the plate. The freshman locked in on the third pitch she saw and sent a long drive with the wind that sailed over the fence in left field for her first career home run.
The visitors responded with a two-run homer of their own in the fifth inning, but Roosevelt wasn't ready to let its bats cool down. In the bottom of the frame, Cornelius reached when the pitcher dropped a pop fly in front of the circle. Ella Dvoracek found a soft space in the infield for a single then Pearson laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners.
Calderon stepped to the plate and drove a 1-0 offering down the left-field line for a game-tying two-run double. Urbaniak followed with a double of her own that never left the infield as the Grand Valley State shortstop made a spectacular attempt at catching the line drive and it instead ricocheted behind third base.
Roosevelt had two chances to take the lead in the fifth after Urbaniak's hit left the Lakers with runners on second and third with one out. Despite the missed opportunity, Riley Czarnecki came out of the bullpen and made sure her team would continue to have chances to win. The sophomore allowed just one hit in three innings of relief to earn her fifth win of the season. She threw a perfect sixth in her first inning of work then worked around a two-out single in the seventh and a two-out walk in the eighth.
Cornelius finished the game 2 for 3 with an RBI and a walk at the plate, but also made a spectacular diving grab in left field to rob Grand Valley State of extra bases. Calderon and Urbaniak both had two hits with two RBI while Barofsky drove in a pair with the home run with her only hit of the game.
GRAND VALLEY STATE 13, ROOSEVELT 0
Grand Valley State scored in four of the five innings to earn the run-rule victory. Barofsky picked up the only hit for Roosevelt with a single up the middle in the second inning, and was the Lakers' only base runner.
UP NEXT: The Lakers continue their homestand Friday with a doubleheader against Wayne State starting at 3 p.m. in Rosemont.
