HARROGATE, Tenn. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team fell to Bloomsburg 9-8 on the first game of day two at the Abe's Invitational in Harrogate, Tennessee.
The Cardinals (4-2) responded in game two with a decisive 13-5 win in five innings over host Lincoln Memorial. SVSU finished the weekend 3-0 against the Railsplitters, and 1-0 against Clarion. The Huskies from Bloomsburg were able to take both contests with Saginaw Valley.
GAME 1 – SVSU 8 - Bloomsburg 9
The Cardinals got on the board first with six runs in the opening inning. Paige Kolinski singled to left to score both Aalana Kimble and Ella Reifschneider for the 2-0 lead. Maddie Campagna singled to left field two batters later to score Kolinski and Alyssa Muench and the lead doubled. Sydney Herioux topped things off with Campagna and Sara Moos scoring on the play for the 6-0 advantage.
Emily Depew got the start in the circle and pitched all 6.1 innings for SVSU. She struck out five batters in her first loss of the season, putting her at 1-1 through the first weekend of the season.
Kolinski hit her second home run of the season to increase the lead to 7-0 through the first two innings of offense for SVSU.
The Huskies got on the board in the bottom half of the second with a home run and the score was 7-1 after two innings.
A Cardinal error in the third allowed two runs to score and the SVSU lead was trimmed to 7-3.
Campagna hit another single to score Marissa Beck in the fourth inning.
Bloomsburg recorded a bit fourth inning, scoring five runs and tying the score at eight all with three innings left in regulation.
The winning run would come in the bottom of the seventh when a fielder's choice play scored a run for the Huskies.
Campagna finished game one with three hits, three RBI, and a run. Kolinski and Moos registered two hits. Kolinski had three RBI and a home run while also scoring two runs. Moos finished with a run scored as well.
GAME 2 – SVSU 13 – Lincoln Memorial 5 (5 Innings)
The Cardinals struck early in the final game against LMU, scoring five runs in the opening frame. Kolinski reached base on a fielder's choice that scored Reifschneider for the first point of the game. Moos then scored Campagna on a ground out to short before Purdy hit a three-run home run for the 5-0 advantage.
Kimble got the start in the circle for game two. She pitched a complete game with five strikeouts and five runs given for a 2-0 start to her record as a pitcher.
The Railsplitters hit back with two runs in the bottom of the first. The first came off a fielder's choice to cut the margin to four runs. A ground out on the next play scored another run and the score sat at 5-2 after the first inning.
SVSU steadily grew the lead with another run from Reifschneider on a single to center from Muench in the second. Emma Helvie then singled to center field to score Purdy for the first of three runs in the third inning. Reifschneider scored Olivia Sabin and Campagna hit an RBI single to bring Sydney Herioux across the bag for a 9-2 lead after three innings.
An error in the fourth inning allowed runs from Evelynn Rybicki and Purdy to extend the advantage to nine runs through the first four innings. The final two runs were brought in by Kolinski who belted a double to left field to score Kimble and Pnacek for a 13-2 edge going into the bottom half of the fifth inning.
LMU would attempt a rally with three runs in the bottom half of five, but the Cardinals shut the door with the third out and ended the game in five with the run-rule win.
UP NEXT
SVSU will make its way south for a week of Spring Break contests. The first is against Assumption and Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach, Florida on Saturday, March 2. The first game is set to start at 1:00 p.m., with the second slated for 5:00 p.m., EST.