The Dragons were praying for a big hit to earn a split at Grand Valley State as they entered their last at-bats. Little did they know they had to go to the Temple to get their wish.

Amanda Temple drilled a clutch two-run home run with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving TU a dramatic 4-3 come-from-behind victory in the nightcap at Grand Valley State. It capped a wild day in Michigan in a big GLIAC matchup of the 26th-ranked Lakers and the 34th-ranked Dragons.

TU (23-10, 14-4 GLIAC) got a strong pitching performance from Mindy Meredith, who went 7 innings against the hot-hitting Lakers and held them to 3 earned runs and just 4 hits with 7 strikeouts.


Grand Valley got 2 runs in the top of the first inning but did not score again until the top of the seventh inning. The Dragons got a run back in the bottom of the first inning and tied it in the bottom of the second inning on Jessie Creakbaum's home run.

The score remained tied until the Lakers squeezed home a run to take a 3-2 lead entering the bottom of the frame. A pinch-hit single from Alyssa Brown was followed by Temple's game-winning bomb in the walkoff victory.

Creakbaum had 2 hits in the game while Caitlin Houk and Lauren Mazzuca had doubles.

In the opener, the Lakers had their way with TU, winning 13-0 in five innings. Amber Young took the loss, allowing 9 earned runs in 2.1 innings while Abbey Cooksey also allowed 4 earned runs in 1.2 innings.

TU managed just three hits in the opener, with Temple getting two of them. Grand Valley pounded out 14 hits.

Photo by Lisa Bobotas