Parkside 6, Grand Valley State 4
The Parkside baseball team got a series-opening win on Friday afternoon against Grand Valley State at Historic Simmons Field, the Rangers' first victory of the season. The Rangers will battle the Lakers three more times this weekend, starting with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
While GVSU pounded out 14 hits, the duo of redshirt-senior Aaron Cusimano and redshirt-senior Austin Emanuel combined to hold the Lakers to four runs with six strikeouts. Cusimano earned the win while Emanuel took home the save.
 
GVSU hit a 2-run home run in the first inning, but Parkside responded in the bottom of the first as senior Dominic Esposito drilled a 2-run homer of his own deep over the left field wall. The Rangers took a 3-2 lead on a redshirt-senior Nicolas Eisenmenger RBI double that plated Carlos Arteaga in the first inning as well.
 
After GVSU tied it up in the second and took a 4-3 lead in the fourth, Parkside used a big fifth inning to pull back in front. Eisenmenger came through with another big hit, this one being a 2-run double to left center that scored Esposito and Emanuel. Later in the inning, Junior Noah Tyrrell drove in Eisenmenger with an RBI fielder's choice.
 
Cusimano pitched 7.0 innings allowing four runs on 11 hits with four strikeouts while Emanuel tossed the final 2.0 innings scoreless with a pair of strikeouts. Eisenmenger went 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBI while Esposito went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Redshirt-junior Kurt Mlachnik went 1-for-4 with a double.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Rangers will battle the Lakers in a doubleheader at 1 p.m. on Saturday and finish the series off with a single game on Sunday at 2 p.m.