UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team returned home for a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader against Grand Valley State University Wednesday at the SVSU Softball Complex.
SVSU rallied in the sixth inning of game one, erasing a three-run deficit and sending the opener to extra innings. After the Lakers got two in the top of the eighth, SVSU left the tying run stranded at second in an 8-7 loss.
The Cardinal offense failed to get going in the finale, as GVSU earned the sweep with a 3-0 win. The losses drop SVSU to 18-11 overall and 7-9 in the GLIAC.
After GVSU got on the board with one in the first, SVSU answered with two runs in the bottom of the second to take a 2-1 lead. Meagan VerVaecke got the Cardinals going with an RBI double and scored later in the inning on an RBI from Sabrina Sage.
The Lakers retook control with two in the third and two more in the fourth, building a 6-3 lead. Sage came through again with an RBI single off a perfectly executed squeeze play, while Julia Salisbury tied the score with a two-out, two-run double.
Down two in the eighth, Jackie Popko kept the Cardinals alive with an RBI single, but the Lakers closed the door.
Emily Depew (4-1) pitched the complete game and took the loss for SVSU, allowing eight runs on 16 hits, walking one, and striking out three.
In game two, GVSU limited SVSU to just three hits, including a triple for Sage. Julia Mundy (6-4) was strong on the mound for the Cardinals but took the loss, allowing three runs on eight hits, walking one, and striking out three.
The Cardinals remain home to host Northwood University for a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday.
