ALMA, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team was victorious over Alma College today by a 20-6 count. The Cardinals improve to 15-13 on the season while the Scots fall to 7-15 overall.
Saginaw Valley jumped all over the Alma pitching early and often as the Cardinals put runs on the board in each of the first six innings.
The SVSU four run first inning was highlighted by a Cam Wiechmann (Birch Run, Mich./Muskegon CC) two-RBI single, which scored Michael Craig (Milan, Mich.) and Mike VanAlst (Clio, Mich.).
A Kyle O'Boyle (Midland, Mich./Bullock Creek HS) two out single up the middle scored Brandon Schwanz (Novi, Mich./Henry Ford CC) to give the Cardinals a 5-2 lead after two innings.
In the top of the third, freshman Brad Schalk (Madison Heights, Mich./Bishop Foley HS) lined a double to deep right center field to plate both Wiechmann and Andy Orr (Utica, Mich.), giving SVSU a 7-2 advantage.
Saginaw Valley would proceed to push across four runs in the fourth on RBI base hits from O'Boyle, VanAlst and Wiechmann as well as on a passed ball which scored Craig to push their lead to 11-4.
The play of the day for the Cardinal offense came in the fifth inning when Jason Potts (Hartland, Mich.) connected on a deep fly ball to right field that carried over the high fences at Klenk Park for a two-run home run, his first of the season.
With a 14-6 lead in the top of the sixth, Matt Hunt (Howell, Mich./Concordia University) and Kyle Kaufmann (Saginaw, Mich./Valley Lutheran HS) posted back-to-back doubles scoring three runs to give SVSU a comfortable 17-6 advantage.
The Saginaw Valley scoring ended with three runs in the eighth inning as Nathan Kuehne (Midland, Mich.), Joe Galanty (Canton, Mich./Canton HS) and Potts each touched home plate to give the Cardinals the 20-6 victory.
Wiechmann led the Cardinals with three RBI on the evening going 2-for-4 from the dish, while Brad Schalk was 4-for-5 with two RBI in the contest.
Hunt, Potts and O'Boyle all added two hits and drove in a pair of runs, while VanAlst notched a pair of base hits.
Schwanz, Hunt and VanAlst contributed three runs each for the Cardinals, while Potts and Craig each crossed the plate twice.
Mike Schaaf (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) picked up the win in relief as he threw 2 2/3 innings without allowing a hit and striking out three Scots.
Aaron Woods (Menominee, Mich./Minnesota-Duluth), Dave Wierenga (Grand Rapids, Mich./GR West Catholic HS) and Derek Kilmer (Birmingham, Mich/Brother Rice HS) each threw one scoreless inning to close out the contest.
Saginaw Valley will be back on the road this weekend as they travel to Ashland University to battle the Eagles on Saturday (Apr. 14) and Sunday (Apr. 15).