Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- After going 3-0 over its first three Florida games, Notre Dame ran into a tough foe in No. 4 (d2baseballnews.com) Grand Valley State (Mich.) on Tuesday.

The Lakers (2-0) jump-started their 2013 season by sweeping NDC, 8-1 and 5-2. The Falcons (6-9) managed just three runs over 14 innings just one day after scoring 16 in nine frames on Monday. The twin losses against the likely NCAA-II national title contender come on the heels of NDC winning six of its previous seven games.

In 2012 the Grand Valley Lakers won their ninth Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in the last 10 years, and they advanced to the NCAA-II tournament for an 11th straight year.  GVSU went 43-16 and posted a staff ERA of 3.17 (11th D-II).

Game One
Junior first baseman Giancarlo Brugnoni hit a first-inning two-run home run off NDC starter Zach Gresch, who had been masterful over his first two starts this season. Those two runs would be the only scores in the game until the top of the fourth, when Grand Valley added a solo marker.

Then in the fifth the Lakers broke the game wide open, piling five hits on top of two Falcon errors en route to scoring five times. Much of that damage was done against Gresch, who exited having yielded eight runs (six earned) over four innings.

The Lakers' 8-0 lead was handed over to the GVSU bullpen. Starter Chris Ward pitched four scoreless innings before being lifter for freshman right-hander Patrick Kelly. On more than one occasion Notre Dame got a runner to second base, but Laker pitchers won the two-out battles in the clutch, keeping NDC off the board. For the game, Notre Dame would go 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

The Falcons ended their scoring drought in the bottom of the seventh when two singles and two walks produced a solo run. But for Notre Dame it was too little, too late, and Grand Valley emerged an 8-1 winner.

Designated Shane DeFranco paced the NDC offense by going 3-for-4 with a double. A Notre Dame bullpen comprised of Dan Poskocil (one inning) and Steve Dorsey (two) pitched three scoreless innings in the game.

Game Two
The Falcons got on the board in quicker fashion in Tuesday's nightcap. Center fielder Bryan Blondeaux led off the game with a walk and then stole second before advancing to third and then home on a pair of wild pitches. That run gave starter Tyler DeCrapio a 1-0 lead.

DeCrapio, making his first start of the year, allowed three singles and a walk in the bottom of the first. Along the way the Lakers took a 2-1 lead.

NDC plated a tying run in the second, but GVSU scored two in the bottom of the third to go up, 4-2. One of those two Laker runs in the fourth was unearned, and Grand Valley scored another unearned run in the fourth.

Staked to a 5-2 lead, junior right-hander Sean Clancy was solid for the Lakers. Clancy pitched scoreless frames in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth, after which he was lifted for lefty Brad Zambron. Clancy allowed seven hits and three walks, but only two of those base runners came around to score. He fanned five.

Also solid was DeCrapio, who gave up five runs (three earned) on six hits over five innings. He was replaced by Eric Napoli in the sixth.

Zambron pitched a scoreless seventh to log a save in the eventual 5-2 Grand Valley win.

Clutch hitting proved key in the Laker victory. NDC outhit GVSU, 8-6, in the contest, but the Falcons went just 1-of-9 with runners in scoring position, while Grand Valley went 4-of-10.

Jon Koepf went 3-for-4 in game two and 5-for-8 for the day. Koepf is batting .533 (8-of-15) over the Falcons' five games in Florida.

Keifer Quick had a seven-game hitting streak snapped in the opener, and he then came back to go 2-for-3 in the nightcap. Quick did, however, reach base in both games, he has now gotten on base in 10 straight games.

NDC's Tuesday twin bill will be followed by an off-day. The Falcons are slated to return to action on Thursday with an afternoon doubleheader against Gannon (Pa.).