MELBOURNE, FLA. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team improved to 7-5 after winning 8-2 over Holy Family and 3-1 over Walsh in Melbourne, Florida on Tuesday.
GAME 1 – SVSU 8 – Holy Family 2
Emily Depew got the start in the circle for SVSU in game one. She pitched a complete 7.0 innings and struck out seven Tigers. She allowed four hits and two runs, with only one earned on her way to increasing her win-loss record to 3-2 for the year.
The one earned run by Holy Family came in the bottom of the first inning when an RBI single to center field scored a runner for the early 1-0 lead.
Alyssa Muench would respond in the second with a single to left field that brought Paige Kolinski home to tie the score.
Aalana Kimble stole second and advanced to third on an error, allowing Ella Reifschneider to score and give the Cardinals their first lead of the game. Mya Purdy hit a sacrifice fly on the very next play to score Kimble to double the SVSU advantage, 3-1.
Sydney Herioux singled to left with the bases loaded in the fourth inning to increase the lead. Kimble added another run to the board with a single to left that brought Muench across the plate. Purdy added the final score in the fourth inning as Leah Denome touched home on a fielder's choice play to put things at 6-1 after four innings of play.
A second run made it home for Holy Family in the fifth off a single to left field. That score trimmed the margin to 6-2 with two innings left to play.
Herioux hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth, and Kolinski hit another in the seventh for the final two runs in the Cardinal win.
Kimble finished 3-4 from the plate with two runs and an RBI. Muench totaled two hits in her three at-bats with a run and an RBI. Purdy and Herioux led the team with two RBI and a hit apiece.
GAME 2 – SVSU 3 – Walsh 1
Muench (W, 2-2) got the nod and went the distance in game two to earn her second win of the season. She finished her seven innings of work with five hits, one run, and three strikeouts.
The Cavaliers struck first with a run in the top of the first inning. A triple in the game's second at-bat set up the scoring play.
Olivia Sabin would put SVSU on the board in the bottom half of the second inning with a double that would score Paige Thomson and knot things up.
Kimble added to her day with a single to center field that scored Kaitlyn Pnacek in the fifth inning and gave the Cardinals a 2-1 edge. Kolinski would double the lead later in the inning with a single to right field, bringing Natalie Savage in for the game's final score.
Five Cardinals recorded a hit in game two, with Kimble, Kolinski, and Sabin each recording an RBI. Thomson, Pnacek, and Savage each recorded a run to contribute to the win.
UP NEXT
SVSU gets back to it tomorrow with a doubleheader against Holy Family beginning at 10:00 a.m., EST.