LIBERTY, Mo. – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team completed a three-game series sweep against William Jewell Sunday afternoon. The SVSU Cardinals (18-6) defeated the WJU Cardinals (13-15) 16-4 in run-rule fashion in eight innings.
Buck Snabes went 4-for-5 with two doubles, scoring two runs and driving in three. Austin Cicerone added three hits and two walks, contributing two runs and three RBI. Ethan Scheib and Ryan Jarvis each had two-hit performances, with Scheib leading the team with three runs. Lucas Mead singled and walked twice, extending his on-base streak to 22 games.
JJ Arbini (W, 5-0) pitched seven innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits and three walks. He also struck out seven batters. Jacob Bardwell pitched the eighth inning, allowing a solo home run, a walk, and striking out one.
William Jewell controlled the game for the first five innings, jumping out to a 3-0 lead with two runs in the second and one in the fifth. Saginaw Valley surged ahead with two seven-run innings, starting in the sixth. Connor Cornwell, Brady Carpenter, and Scheib each had an RBI single to tie the game, and Cicerone walked to score the go-ahead run. Snabes doubled home three more runs, giving SVSU a 7-3 lead. The Cardinals added two more RBI singles in the seventh, with Jarvis and Cicerone each contributing.
Saginaw Valley's second seven-run inning came in the eighth, beginning with a two-RBI double by Jordan Lewis. An RBI ground out, three RBI walks, and an RBI sacrifice fly followed, pushing the lead to 16-3.
Arbini settled in, striking out three batters in the sixth and one in the seventh before handing the ball off to Bardwell in the eighth. The first batter Bardwell faced hit a solo home run to make it 16-4, and Bardwell walked the next batter. However, he responded by striking out one and getting two fly outs to finish the game.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley baseball returns home for another nonconference mid-week game. The Cardinals will host Hillsdale on Tuesday, April 1, with first pitch set for 3:00 PM EDT.