WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Lewis baseball had the tying run thrown out at the plate in the ninth inning of a 2-1 loss to No. 7 Grand Valley on Thursday afternoon.

Lewis was trailing 2-0 with two outs in the eighth when senior Mike Vucsko (Evergreen Park, Ill./Marist) got on base thanks to an error by Grand Valley. Vucsko scored on an RBI single by senior Richard Forkin (Orland Park, Ill./Lockport) to cut the lead in half.

Junior Andrew Brauer (Bolingbrook, Ill./Montini/College of DuPage) started the ninth with an infield single. He advanced to second when the Grand Valley shortstop's throw was wild. Sophomore Stephen Kaffel (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg/Butler) singled to right. Brauer came around to try to tie the game but was thrown out by Grand Valley right fielder Paul Young.

"It was a day when runs were at a premium," head coach Tim McDonough said. "It was going to take a great throw get him and he made a great throw."

The Flyers stayed with the Lakers thanks to tough luck loser senior Joey Gradney (Rantoul, Ill./Rantoul/Cleveland State). In his Lewis debut, Gradney went 6.0 innings and allowed two runs (one earned). He scattered 10 hits and walked two.

"Joey threw great," McDonough said. "All day our pitchers were outstanding."

Junior Drew Hicks (Pekin, Ill./Pekin) and freshman Tom Durkin (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

Kyle Schepel pitched eight innings and earned the win for Grand Valley. He improved his record to 1-0.

Grand Valley scored their two runs with tallies in the third and fifth innings.

"I'm proud of how the guys battled and went toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the country," McDonough said. "You can feel good about that but at the same time to not get the win is unsatisfying."

Grand Valley and Lewis are now both 4-1 on the season. Lewis plays Mary (N.D.) on Friday at 1:30 p.m. CT.