AVON, Ohio - The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team fell in its opening two games of Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play for the 2014 season to Tiffin University on Friday (Mar. 21).
The Cardinals dropped a 2-0 decision in the opener before falling by a score of 5-1 in the second game of the day.
Game One
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, which is there the only two runs of the contest would cross the plate. The Cards got two quick outs via a groundout and strikeout, but consecutive hit-by-pitches gave the Dragons runners on first and second. A wild pitch followed and moved boty Tiffin runners into scoring position. A soft chopper up the middle was stopped by second baseman Dylin Eschenburg on a sliding play, but with both runners going on contact the home team scored two on the infield single.
Saginaw Valley would not push any runs across the plate despite out-hitting the Dragons by a 6-3 margin and would end up losing by the 2-0 final score.
Sophomore Luke Valutis had a pair of hits in the game to lead the offense for SV.
Dylan Wisniewski took the loss on the mound, working 5.0 innings while allowing two hits and two runs, striking-out five Dragon hitters.
Game Two
The nightcap had the same flow to start as the first game, with both teams making quick work of their opponents at the plate. SVSU starter Andrew Geese struck-out 10 of the first 11 batters he faced.
Tiffin, however, would capitalize on a couple of walks and a hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the fourth to get the bases loaded with two outs. A double by Tiffin scored a pair of runs, giving it a 2-0 lead.
SVSU would score its only run of the day in the top of the fifth after Brad Schalk reached base on an error by the left fielder and advanced all the way to third when the ball rolled to the wall. Austin Nogiec drove-in Schalk with a grounder to second, cutting the deficit to just one run.
TU would plate three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to extend its lead to 5-1. The Dragons would then set the Cards down in order in the top of seven, closing-out for the four run victory.
Freshman Connor Foley and sophomore Richard Guglielmi had the only two SVSU hits in the second game.
Geese took the loss on the bump, throwing 5.0 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and four walks. He struck-out a career-high 12 batters.
The Cardinals fall to 3-9 overall and 0-2 in the GLIAC after the two defeats while Tiffin improves to 3-16 overall and 2-0 in league play.
The two teams will return to the field for the third game of their weekend series tomorrow. The game will be played at Toledo Catholic Central High School with first pitch set for 7:00 pm.
