UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team split with Northwood University today (Apr. 4). SVSU won the opener by a 5-3 final score, while dropping the second game by a 2-1 count. The Cardinals move to 11-10 overall and 8-2 in the conference, while the Timberwolves go to 13-8 on the season and 4-6 in the GLIAC.
Game One
The Cardinals fell behind early as Northwood jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two innings of action.
In the third inning, Chet LaFave (Charlotte, Mich./Olney CC) singled through the right side to score Mike VanAlst (Clio, Mich.), who was hit by a pitch to leadoff the frame.
The Saginaw Valley bats would come alive in the third inning. VanAlst notched the first RBI of the day for the Cardinals as he walked on a full count with two outs and the bases loaded to bring home Ryan Ermers (Sterling Heights, Mich./Henry Ford II HS), who singled to leadoff the inning.
Andy Orr (Utica, Mich.) followed with a two-RBI single down the right field line to score both Kyle O'Boyle (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek HS) and Brandon Schwanz (Novi, Mich./Henry Ford CC), who both singled with two outs. VanAlst also scored on the same play after a throwing error by the right fielder to give the Cardinals a 5-2 advantage.
The Timberwolves would get one run back in the sixth inning and threaten in the seventh, but Justin Drzewicki (Bay City, Mich./Central HS) slammed the door and picked up his second save of the season.
Orr led the Cardinals in game one going 3-for-3 with two RBI, while VanAlst scored twice and recorded an RBI.
Starting pitcher Andrew Doyle (Grand Blanc, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) picked up his first win of the season throwing six strong innings giving up just two earned runs on five hits, while striking out seven batters.
Game Two
The second game featured a pitchers duel for much of the contest that made runs tough to come by.
Saginaw Valley picked up their only run of the contest as VanAlst ripped an RBI single to right field on a 3-2 count to bring home Schwanz, who singled through the box earlier in the third inning.
Northwood posted their only runs of game two in the top of the fifth as they rallied with two outs to bring two Timberwolves home and ultimately hold on for the 2-1 victory.
Starting pitcher Scott Sency (Medina, Ohio/Medina HS) was the pitcher of record for the Cardinals as he pitched 4 2/3 innings allowing just two runs on five hits. Sency threw just 70 pitches and struck out two batters.
LaFave went 2-for-3 in game two, while VanAlst also recorded two hits in the loss.
Andrew Tidwell (Canton, Mich.) pitched well in relief as he gave up just one hit in 2 1/3 innings of action.
The Cardinals will be back in action at home on Friday at 1:00 pm as they start a weekend series with Grand Valley State University. The two squads will also square off on Saturday starting at noon.