By Shane Madden
The Grand Rapids Community College men’s baseball team added two solid conference wins to their resume, Saturday April 9, defeating the Muskegon Community College Jayhawks 7-4 in game one, and 8-5 in game two.
Raider leadoff-man redshirt-freshman Jacob Gumieny spent game one marking up the box score, with two extra base hits, an RBI and two runs scored. Freshman Xander Reisbig had two hits and two RBIs, while redshirt freshman Andres Rivera-Calderon went 2-3 with an RBI.
Starting pitcher redshirt-freshman Jerad Berkenpas held the mound for six innings, giving up four hits and two earned runs (four runs total). He sat down nine Jayhawk batters on his own while walking just one and got himself the win.
With the game tied 4-4 in the top of the seventh, two outs, redshirt-freshman Ryan Dykstra stepped to the plate and drilled an RBI double into right field on a full count. Reisbig and freshman Dylan Chargo followed suit, each launching RBI doubles of their own to take a 7-4 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh inning.
Redshirt-freshman Eliott Traver came out of the bullpen in the seventh and struck out the side, earning the save and securing game one.
Dykstra was locked in for game two as he wasted no time setting the tone, blasting a line-drive home run into right field on his first at-bat, giving the Raiders a two-run lead early. He would finish 4-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored. Chargo had two hits and an RBI, while Gumieny added an RBI double.
Freshman Dean Sommer took the mound and recorded the win for game two, giving up three hits and two earned runs (three total) while striking out six. Traver again struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh, marking save number two on the day.
After a 1-10 start including a tough southern road trip, the Raiders have clawed their way back to 10-14 and are sitting atop a seven-game win streak.
