UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - Saginaw Valley State University's baseball team faced-off against Malone University on Saturday afternoon at the SVSU Baseball Complex in GLIAC action. The Cardinals would drop a pair of matchups to the Pioneers, losing a close 1-0 game in the opener before falling by a 12-9 count in the nightcap despite an eighth-inning comeback effort.
The first game went scoreless through the first two innings, with the only run being scored by Malone in the top of the seventh after an RBI single to take the 1-0 advantage.
Saginaw Valley threatened in the bottom of the seventh for the second straight inning, sitting with a runner on second base with one out. The Cards weren't able to push the run across, however, and woudl fall by the final score of 1-0.
Bailey Magsig (1-3) was solid on the hill in the game. He worked all 7.0 innings, allowing six hits, one run, a walk and posted a trio of strikeouts.
SVSU's only hit of the game came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Jordan Swiss hit a hard line drive down the third base line.
Scoring did not lack in the second game, with the teams combining for 22 hits and 21 runs.
Malone ran out to a 5-0 lead after the top of the fourth frame but Saginaw Valley responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit in half at 5-2. Garrett Soule ripped an RBI single to plate Carson Eby and a Brendan Harrison sacrifice fly allowed Chad Carson to cross the plate.
The teams traded single runs in the fifth inning, making the score 6-3 in the visitors' favor. SV's run came after an Eby infield single scored Swiss.
The Pioneers then tacked-on another pair in the top half of the sixth to make the score 8-3.
The Cardinals would score the next five runs, knotting the score at 8-8 after eight full innings of play. Four runs came in the seventh on a Luke Valutis RBI single to score Swiss, Carson RBI grounder to plate Craig Wilson and a Kyle Randick double off the right field fence to score both Carson and Valutis. The other run came in the eighth when Adam Fitzgibbon had a triple and was brought home by a Swiss RBI single.
Malone would come back with a four spot in the top of the ninth, however, and make the score 12-8. A single SVSU run in the bottom of the inning would not be enough and the Cardinals fell by the 12-9 final.
Randick had a big game at the plate, going 3-of-4 with two doubles off the fence and another single. He had two RBIs and walked once. Eby, Fitzgibbon and Swiss all added two hits and an RBI. Swiss scored twice and Fitzgibbon did once.
Andrew Tidwell (2-1) took the loss in relief, allowing four runs on two hits. The SVSU pitchers walked nine batters in the second game and struck-out six.
SVSU is now 14-18 overall on the season and 6-8 in the GLIAC while Malone is 18-13 and 10-4 in league action. The same two teams are at it again on Sunday (Apr. 17) with another doubleheader set to begin at noon.
@SVSUBaseball | #svsubsb
--- www.svsucardinals.com ---
