UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team split with rival Grand Valley State University today (Apr. 6). SVSU took game one, 2-0, before dropping game two, 3-2. The Cardinals move to 12-11 on the season and 9-3 atop the GLIAC standings, while the Lakers go to 16-10 overall and 6-6 in the conference.

Game One

The first game of the weekend series between the two rivals featured a pitching match-up between Saginaw Valley's Mike Saunders (Mt. Morris, Mich./E.A. Johnson HS) and Grand Valley's Kyle Schepel, two of the top pitchers in the conference.

The lone runs of the contest came in the bottom half of the third inning as the Cardinals put two runs on the scoreboard. Michael Craig (Milan, Mich.) started the frame by drawing a walk on five pitches. Matt Hunt (Howell, Mich./Concordia) brought home the first run of the game with a two-out RBI single through the right side of the infield to plate Craig.

Hunt then proceeded to steal second base before Brandon Schwanz (Novi, Mich./Henry Ford CC) ripped a single to center field to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead and ultimately on to the victory by the same score.

Starting pitcher Mike Saunders picked up the win on the mound for the Cardinals with a complete game shutout, his fourth of the season. Saunders scattered three hits while striking out ten Lakers to improve to 4-1 on the season with a 1.59 ERA.

Game Two

The Lakers went up 1-0 in the top of the first inning for the early advantage in game two.

Saginaw Valley pushed their first run of game two acrossed as Craig touched home plate on a Ryan Ermers (Sterling Heights, Mich./Henry Ford II HS) fielder's choice to tie up the contest at 1-1.

The Cardinals would add a run in the bottom of the fifth inning as Schwanz reached first base on a tough infield chopper, plating Cam Wiechmann (Birch Run, Mich./Muskegon CC) to knot the game at 2-2.

The defensive highlight of the afternoon came when Kyle Parks (Flushing, Mich.) started a difficult four-six-three double play to get the Cardinals out a one out jam in the top of the sixth as Grand Valley was threatening to score with runners on second and third.

However, SVSU was unable to rally the rest of the contest and fell by a 3-2 final in eight innings.

Starting pitcher Jeff Schalk (Madison Heights, Mich./Bishop Foley HS) pitched well in his second start of the season giving up six hits in 5 1/3 innings of action and one earned run. Justin Drzewicki (Bay City, Mich./Central HS) was the pitcher of record for the Cardinals and he allowed one earned run on four hits in 2 1/3 innings of relief.

The Cardinals will face Grand Valley State once again at home on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at noon.