SVSU Sweeps Saturday at Lake Erie, Drzewicki Sets New Saves Record

SVSU Sweeps Saturday at Lake Erie, Drzewicki Sets New Saves Record

PAINESVILLE, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team swept Lake Erie College today (April 6) by scores of 14-9 and 4-2.

Game One - SVSU 14, LEC 9 - Box Score

The Cardinals (8-13, 6-5 GLIAC) opened the scoring in the second inning with a two-out rally that ignited the SVSU offense.

Freshman Dylin Eschenburg (Shelby Township, Mich. / Eisenhower) came through with a two-out single to drive home Brendon Hayes (Livonia, Mich. / Stevenson) from second for the first run of the contest. The next batter, junior Ryan Hotmer (Walbridge, Ohio / Lake), connected with a 2-2 pitch and took it deep over the fence in center field for a 2-run home run giving SVSU a 3-0 edge.

In the third inning, Saginaw Valley's offense continued to shine as Michael Craig (Milan, Mich.) scored on a sacrifice fly RBI from Chris Perkovich (Canton, Mich.). With two outs in the frame, Brendon Hayes drove a 2-1 pitch through the left side of the infield to plate Andy Orr (Utica, Mich.) to extend the Cardinal lead to 5-1. Orr lengthened his current hit streak to 11 with a base hit.

With the bases loaded and one down in the fourth inning, Andy Orr reached on an infield single for the RBI as Brad Schalk (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Bishop Foley) touched home on the play to force a Storm pitching change. After a bases loaded walk brought home another SVSU run, Kyle O'Boyle (Midland, Mich. / Bullock Creek) cleared the bases as he laced an 0-1 pitch to center field for a 3-RBI double.

Brad Schalk capped off the SVSU rally with an RBI single as the Cardinals put up seven runs on seven hits in the fourth to take a commanding 12-3 lead.

Lake Erie responded in the fifth and sixth innings with a pair of 3-run blasts to cut the SVSU lead to 12-9.

Chris Perkovich gave the Cardinals some insurance runs in the seventh as he registered a rare 2-RBI bunt double as Craig and Chet LaFave (Charlotte, Mich.) came around to give SVSU a 14-9 edge.

Saginaw Valley staved off a Storm comeback effort to pick up the 14-9 victory with season-highs in runs (14), hits (16) and doubles (4). SVSU was clutch at the dish going 9-for-16 with runners in scoring position and 6-for-13 with two outs. The Cardinals were also 5-for-6 with runners on third and less than two outs and 2-for-2 with the bases loaded.

Mike Schaaf (Saginaw, Mich. / Arthur Hill), now 2-1 on the year, got the start on the mound for SVSU and picked up the victory after throwing five strong innings with seven strikeouts allowing three earned runs on 103 pitches.

Reliever Justin Drzewicki (Bay City, Mich. / Central) came in to pitch a scoreless seventh inning to break the SVSU school record with 54 career pitching appearances.

Game Two - SVSU 4, LEC 2 - Box Score

Lake Erie came out swinging in game two and posted a pair of runs in the first inning.

Senior Andy Orr stretched his current hit streak to 12 games with a base hit to lead off the second inning. Orr eventually came around to score thanks to a Ryan Hotmer sacrifice fly to cut the SVSU deficit to 2-1.

In the second inning, Chet LaFave recorded a two-out, 2-RBI double to the gap in left center. Brad Schalk and Kyle Kaufmann (Saginaw, Mich. / Valley Lutheran) both came home to score and gave SVSU a 3-2 edge.

Ryan Hotmer scored the fourth run of the day for SVSU when he took advantage of a field error by the second baseman in the fourth for a 4-2 lead.

Senior Justin Drzewicki came on in the ninth inning to slam the door on a Storm attempt at a comeback with runners on second and third with two outs. Drzewicki fought off a 3-1 count to strikeout the Lake Erie hitter for the 4-2 victory.

The save for Drzewicki was his third of the year and the new SVSU school record 16th of his career. He passes the previous mark of 15 which was set by Scott Clark from 1994 to 1995.

Starting pitcher Andrew Geese (Saginaw, Mich. / Carrolton) moved to 2-2 on the year after throwing 6.2 innings on 92 pitches for the victory. Geese recorded five strikeouts and allowed eight hits.

SVSU Baseball will finish the weekend series at Lake Erie tomorrow (April 7) with a single, nine-inning contest at noon.