Cardinals split pair of extra inning contests in Florida

AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team continued play at The Spring Games with a pair of contests on Monday in Auburndale, Fla.

The Cardinals went to extra innings in both games, topping Lake Erie 5-4 in eight innings before dropping a marathon pitching duel to Minnesota State University-Mankato 3-1 in 11 innings to close day two in Florida.

The split moves SVSU to 6-3 overall this season.

Game One Breakdown:

• The Storm started the scoring with a two-run home run in the first.
• The Cardinals cut the deficit in half with a solo home run from Leah Denome in the fourth.
• Olivia Sabin hit the first home run of her Cardinal career to tie the game at 2-2 in the fifth.
• Lake Erie took advantage of an error by SVSU in the bottom of the fifth to retake a two-run lead.
• Down to their final out, the Cardinals tied the game with back-to-back RBI singles from Julia Salisbury and Sarah Gersch in the top of the seventh.
• Meagan VerVaecke put SVSU up 5-4 with an RBI single in the eighth and the Cardinals held on for the win.
• Emily Depew (3-0) pitched two perfect innings of relief to earn the win, striking out three.
• Gersch was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Game Two Breakdown:

• The first 10 innings resulted in no runs scored.
• SVSU starter Alyssa Muench went 3.2 innings, striking out three before Depew entered in the fourth inning and pitched the rest of the way.
• Both teams led off the fifth with a double, but neither came around to score.
• Rules for The Spring Games dictated the start of each half inning after the seventh, starting with a runner on second. The pitching and defense held until the 11^th on both sides.
• The Mavericks broke through with a sacrifice fly in the 11^th, followed by a two-run home run to take a 3-0 lead.
• SVSU fought back and had runners on second and third with no outs in the bottom of the 11^th. The Cardinals got on the board with an RBI single from Denome, but Minnesota State closed the door for the win.
• Gersch finished with three hits, while Blasia Moyler added two. Maddie Campagna had the lone extra-base hit for SVSU with a double.

Up Next:

The Cardinals continue play in Florida with two games on Tuesday starting against Winona State at 2:30 pm, followed by a matchup with Augustana University at 4:45 pm. Both games will be played at the DiamondPlex in Winter Haven, Fla.