EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- The Cardinal Baseball team came back from an early deficit on the road and would end up claiming the weekend series over McKendree with a 19-7 victory on Sunday in Illinois. After dropping the first game on Friday 5-3, Saginaw Valley responded with offensive outbursts in the last two games with 22-3 and 19-7 victories.
With the win on Sunday, Saginaw Valley improves to 2-4 overall on the year while McKendree falls to 1-5.
The Bearcats took a 4-0 lead after plating all of those runs in the bottom of the first inning but the Cards responded with three in the top of the 3rd to trim the deficit to a single run. Derrek Clyde had an RBI single to score Craig Wilson Jr. and Joshua Riggs drove-in Clyde and Joran Swiss.
McKendree held strong in the home half of the 3rd, however, keeping the lead and making the score 6-3.
The top of the 4th saw a big offensive inning for SVSU, scoring seven runs to grab a 10-6 edge. The Cardinals had seven runs on five hits in the frame, highlighted by a three-RBI double from Swiss. Anthony Kania had two RBI while Riggs and Collin Winters added a run driven-in.
After seven innings, the visitors held an 11-7 lead but Saginaw Valley put up seven more in the top of the 8th and one more in the 9th to separate for the 19-7 win.
Swiss finished with five RBI, going 3-6 at the plate with a double and two stolen bases. Riggs had three hits and three RBI, adding two steals himself on the base paths. Kania had four RBI with two hits and a double while Andrew Burke, Clyde and Winters all had two hits and an RBI.
Kyle Henigan (1-0) picked up the victory with 6.0 innings of stellar relief, allowing three runs (1 ER) on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts. John Fantauzzo and Swiss combined to work the final two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
Up Next...
The Cardinals hit the road once again this upcoming weekend, traveling to play at Missouri S&T in a four-game weekend slate. Full details are available on the SVSU Baseball schedule here.
@svsubaseball | #svsubsb | @svsuathletics | #BeaksUp
--- www.svsucardinals.com ---