HILLSDALE, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team traveled to Hillsdale College Wednesday (Apr. 23) for a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) doubleheader with the Chargers. After falling in the opener by a score of 4-2, the Cardinals posted a decisive 8-2 victory in the nightcap to split the games.
SVSU's record now stands at 13-22 overall for the 2014 season and 10-15 in the GLIAC. Hillsdale is 14-28 overall and 12-14 in the league.
Game One
Saginaw Valley jumped on the board early, as Chris Perkovich scored on a wild pitch to give the Cards the 1-0 lead.
The Chargers scored in the bottom of the second and third innings, respectively, to take the lead at 2-1.
The Cards knotted the score at 2 runs-apiece in the top of the fourth, Luke Valutis reached base on a hit-by-pitch and was promptly brought all the way around to score on a Tyler Schwanz double to left center.
Consecutive doubles gave Hillsdale the lead back at 3-2 and the Chargers added another run in the bottom of the sixth on a home run to lead 4-2.
SVSU couldn't push any more runs across the plate and Hillsdale would close-out for the 4-2 win in the first game.
Five Cardinals had a hit in the game, as Valutis and Schwanz posted a double each. Schwanz added the lone SVSU RBI.
David Freed took the loss on the mound for SVSU. He gave up four runs on eight hits, striking-out three batters.
Game Two
Wednesday's nightcap had a similar beginning for the Cardinals but a very different ending.
Perkovich scored on a wild pitch to open the second game as well, giving the visitors the early 1-0 advantage after the first inning.
The Cards took a 2-0 lead after Schwanz tripled to start the top of the second and Dylin Eschenburg had an RBI single to drive him in.
Hillsdale responded with single runs in the bottom of the second and third to tie the game up at 2-2.
SVSU would score in the top of every inning for the rest of the game, plating single runs in innings four through six and notching three in the seventh to grab an 8-2 lead.
Sacrifice flies from Eschenburg and Michael Craig scored Kyle Kaufmann and Connor Foley and a Richard Guglielmi RBI single allowed Eschenburg to cross the plate.
In the seventh, Craig scored on a wild pitch and Kaufmann launched a shot over the right field fence to make the score 7-2. It was Kaufmann's second long ball of the season. A Guglielmi sac fly would then score Valutis to make the score 8-2, which is what the final would be.
The Cardinals pounded-out 14 hits in game two while surrendering just one to the home squad.
Kaufmann was 3-for-4 with an RBI and Eschenburg had a pair of hits with two RBIs. Foley and Schwanz each had a pair of knocks and Guglielmi had a single and two ribbies.
SVSU had a season-high five extra-base hits in the second game, as it ripped three doubles, a triple and a homer.
D.J. Reetz came on in relief of SVSU starter Matt Stojkov, who worked the first three innings of the game. Reetz was dialed-in, earning his first victory in a Cardinal uniform while tossing four innings of no-hit ball, walking nobody and recording eight strikeouts.
Saginaw Valley returns home this weekend for a three game series against the Ohio Dominican Panthers. A doubleheader will take place Saturday (Apr. 26) at noon, followed by a single game on Sunday (Apr. 27) at noon as well.
