CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team fell twice in its final day of competition on the annual spring trip to Florida. The Cardinals lost in 12 innings to Slippery Rock by a score of 5-4 before dropping a 12-5 decision to the #14 team in the nation, Seton Hill.
Game One | Slippery Rock
The Cardinals fell behind early in the game with the Rock scoring a single run in the top of the 1st inning to make the score 1-0.
SVSU went for a pair of runs in the bottom of the 4th, taking a 2-1 advantage. An RBI single from Dylan Schultz scored Kyle Kaufmann, who reached base via the walk. Brad Schalk would step in next and duplicate what Schultz did, knocking a single through the left side to score Brendan Harrison, who also reached base on a walk.
Slippery Rock added another run in the top of the 6th to knot the game at 2-2 but the Cards would respond and take the lead once more, scoring another two in the bottom of the 6th to make the score 4-2. David Arnold had a sacrifice fly that plated Kaufmann and Schalk had another RBI single that scored Harrison.
SRU knotted the game at 4-4 in the top of the 7th after a three-hit inning.
Both teams got runners in scoring position but couldn't push them across the plate. The game would go into extra innings.
The game would remain at 4-4 until the top of the 12th inning. That's when The Rock used a double and single to begin the frame to take a 5-4 advantage. The Cardinals would get out of a second and third jam with just one out and keep the deficit at one run.
The Cardinals couldn't get anything going in the bottom of the inning and Slippery Rock finished-off the one-run victory, 5-4.
SV had seven hits in the game, with Schalk registering two of those with his two RBIs. Demetrius Dunlap added a pair of knocks himself while Schultz and Arnold each had a hit with an RBI.
Game Two | Seton Hill
Saginaw Valley held an early 2-0 lead over the Griffins after scoring a pair in the top of the 1st inning when Luke Valutis drilled a two-RBI single that scored Chris Perkovich and Connor Foley.
The Cardinals added another run in the top half of the 3rd, making the score 3-0 over one of the nation's top programs when another Valutis single scored Foley.
Seton Hill tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the 3rd after a three-run home run.
SV grabbed the lead back in the top of the 5th, using a Kaufmann RBI single that scored Chad Carson and a Schultz single that scored Kaufmann, making the score 5-3.
The Griffins scored five runs in the bottom of the 6th, moving ahead and taking an 8-5 lead. The game's home team would add a single run in the 7th and three more in the 8th to extend the lead out to 12-5. That's what the game's final score would be.
Saginaw Valley knocked 11 base hits in the game. Valutis had a big game with three of those hits and three RBIs. Carson added three hits himself to the cause.
The Cardinals fall to 5-3 overall as they head back north to continue the 2015 season. SVSU opens up at Tiffin University with a four game weekend series on March 21-22. Start times are set for 1:00 pm and noon, respectively, for the doubleheader.