DETROIT, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team was swept by Wayne State University today (Apr. ) Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest. The Warriors took game one with a score of 7-0 and game two with a score of 8-7.
Game One
Saginaw Valley would be unable to score although leaving eight runners on base throughout the contest. The game remained scoreless until the fourth inning when the Warriors capitalized on two Cardinal errors to score two runs.
The Cardinals had four hits on the game. Sophomore Lauren Memmer (White Lake, Mich. / Lakeland HS) had two hits and two stolen bases.
Freshman Alexa Gehrls (Caledonia, Mich.) got the start in the circle going four innings, while Kari Bowlby (Elkhart, Ind.) and Amanda Astor (Dyer, Ind. / Marion HS) both pitched one innings. Gehrls is now 1-2 on the season.
Game Two
The Cardinals came out swinging in the second game going up 4-0 after the first inning. Senior Billi Hoeppner (Hemlock, Mich.) led off the inning with a walk and Memmer singled to third base. Jessica McKeith scored both Hoeppner and Memmer when she laced one up the middle for a single. Senior Shannon McLaughlin (Benton Harbor, Mich. / KVCC) dug in for Saginaw Valley and singled through the right side of the field brining around McKeith to score. Jill Peterson (Freeland, Mich.) doubled to center field and score McLaughlin to give the Cardinals a 4-0 advantage in the first inning.
The Warriors answered right back scoring four runs in the top of the second inning on five hits. Saginaw Valley got the bats going again in the fifth inning when junior Ashley Jordan (Freeland, Mich.) started a two out rally with a single to center field and advanced to second on an error. McKeith walked and McLaughlin had a double down the right field line scoring Jordan. McLaughlin was able to advance to third on a throwing error and McKeith scored on the error. Peterson had her second double of the game to right field scoring McLaughlin to give the Cardinals a three run lead. Wayne State came within one run in the top of the sixth to make the score 7-6. Although the Cardinals battled hard it would not be enough as the Warriors would score two runs in the top of the seventh to take the 8-7 lead.
Memmer got the start in the circle pitching a complete game and is now 3-3 on the season. Peterson, McLaughlin, and McKeith were all two-for-three in the second game, while Jordan was two-for-four.
With the loss Saginaw Valley falls to 22-7 overall on the season, and 9-5 in the GLIAC, while Wayne State improves to 37-8 overall on the season, and 13-3 in the GLIAC. The Cardinals will be back in action on Wednesday (Apr. 21) when they travel to Grand Valley. The double header is scheduled for 3:00pm.