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Battle Creek, MI- After climbing out of the loser's bracket, the Raiders were slated to square off against a very tough Macomb squad. Ranked second in the MCCAA, undefeated in post season play and sporting the reigning NJCAA DII player of the week, Macomb was the team favored to win. The Raiders response; perhaps their best pair of outtings all season long.

GRCC played like a fine tuned machine in the first game, a game that they needed to win to stay alive.

After jumping out to a quick lead, the Raiders relied on their more than capable pitching staff to keep the normally high powered Macomb offense at bay. With a 3-0 lead after four innings of play, Sophomore David Frederick was mowing down batters as fast as Macomb could supply them. Frederick pitched 6.2 innings for his team, and struck out 13 batters in the process. Reliever Eric "Swampy" Musselman stepped in for the final pair of innings and stuck out four more Macomb batters for a combined total of 17 strikeouts. The Raiders pitching staff held the Monarchs to only 4 hits.

With the Raiders pitching staff providing defensive stability, the Raiders batters joined in on the action as well. After being held to only a trio of runs through the first 7 innings, GRCC exploded in the eighth. The team scored 10 times in the eight to put the Raiders up by 13.

Leading the team in their 13-0 win were Brian Portelli with 3 RBI's, Steve Ayala and Tyler Duke with a pair of RBI's and EJ Grochowalskiwith 3 runs scored. The 13 runs were nearly double the highest total that Macomb had allowed in any game this season.

With their confidence shaken, the Monarchs proved that they are still not a team to be taken lightly in the second half of the double header. With the stakes high, both teams clawed their way into extra innings.

The Raiders got on the board first after scoring a pair of runs in the second inning. The lead would be short lived, with Macomb scoring a single run in both the third and sixth innings.

With the game tied at a pair apiece, the Raiders scored three times in the 7th inning to put themselves up by a score of 5-3. Portelli, Orlowski and Ayala each singled during the inning to bring runners home.

Macomb's response; score three times in the eighth.

With the game now tied at 5 all, things got intense. Ron Sanders advanced home on a wild pitch to put the Raiders up by a single run, and Musselman limited the Monarchs to a single before closing out the game.

Musselman earned the win with 5 innings pitched. Swamp threw 4 strikeouts and limited the Monarchs to 3 runs.

The gritty Raiders have now earned the right to compete in Enid, Oklahoma beginning May 26th for the NJCAA DII championship. The schedule and opponents are yet to be released.