UNIVERSITY CENTER – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team opened the home portion of its 2015 season Friday (Apr. 3) against the University of Findlay Oilers. The Cardinals posted a 4-1 victory in the first game, a seven-inning affair. After SVSU knotted the score in the second game, the Oilers came back and claimed an 8-6 win in a nine-inning game.
Game One
The Oilers came out strong, leading off with two singles followed by an RBI groundout, giving them a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first.
The Cardinals answered in the bottom of the inning when Dylan Schultz was able to score after reaching on a walk and being driven-in by a single from Chad Carson. That tied the score at 1-1.
Saginaw Valley struck again in the bottom of the second. A double from senior Kyle Kaufmann was followed by a Brad Schalk single to score the first run. Schalk later advanced on a single and then stole third before scoring on a balk to make the score 3-1 going into the third.
Both teams remained hitless leaving the second before the Cardinals made their final stand in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring another run when Richard Guglielmi led-off with a single and later scored after Schalk drilled an RBI double to make the score 4-1.
Saginaw Valley was able to hold the Oilers in the top of the seventh to claim the conference win.
Scott Sency improved to 4-0 on the season after tossing all seven innings, allowing just seven hits and striking-out five batters. He allowed no walks in the contest. Sency currently leads the conference with a 1.80 earned run average. He needed just 58 pitches in the complete game, 45 of those going for strikes. He faced just two over the minimum (23), allowing just two hits, one run and striking-out five.
Schalk went 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the matchup. The Cardinals out-hit their opponents 6-2.
Game Two
After a bases-loaded walk to give Findlay the lead 1-0 in the top of the first, the Cardinals remained hitless until the bottom of the third when Schalk singled to the right side, advancing Kaufmann to third. A two RBI double from sophomore Connor Foley followed to give Saginaw Valley a 2-1 advantage.
The Oilers answered quickly with back-to-back two run innings in the fourth and fifth, taking the 5-2 lead.
Saginaw Valley was unable to get their offense going again until the bottom of the eighth, with a leadoff single by Schultz, followed later by a single from Carson that put two runners on base. Guglielmi followed next, belting a three-run home run to tie the game at 5-5 heading into the ninth.
Offense was strong in the ninth with the Oilers striking again for three runs off of two hits and an error from the Cardinals. This made the score 8-5 for Saginaw Valley's final offensive stand in the bottom of the ninth.
SV got the inning going with a leadoff walk from Chris Perkovich, who advanced to third on a fielder's choice and a throwing error. Another error from the Oilers allowed Perkovich to score, however it would be the final run for the Cardinals, making the final score 8-6.
Gugliemi led the offense with one home run and three RBIs and Foley notched a double and two RBIs. Carson had two hits with a run scored in the nightcap as well.
Brian Feinauer starded on the mound for the Cardinals, allowing two hits and one run in his two innings pitched. Andrew Tidwell (1-1) took the loss for Saginaw Valley, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing no hits and two earned runs while striking out three.
The Cardinals are now 8-10 overall on the season with a 3-7 mark in GLIAC play. Findlay is 7-19 and 2-8 in league play.
The two teams face each other again tomorrow (Apr. 4) in another league doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for noon at the Saginaw Valley Baseball Complex.