TIFFIN, OHIO – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team split with Tiffin on day two of the trip to Ohio. The Cardinals fell 4-3 in game one after a late push from the Dragons. SVSU finished the day with a 9-2 win in the second game to tally a 2-2 record through the second of three doubleheaders in the Buckeye State.
GAME 1 – TIFFIN 4 – SVSU 3
Emily Depew (L, 5-4) pitched all six innings for the Cardinals as she sat down six Dragon batters in the losing effort.
Mya Purdy put SVSU on the board in the second inning as she swiped home plate during a rundown at second.
Leah Denome doubled to right center in the fourth inning to score Purdy and double the advantage to 2-0 in favor of the Cardinals.
Two runs scored for Tiffin in the bottom half of the fourth inning, before Sara Moos recorded a sacrifice fly to bring Paige Thomson home in the fifth for the 3-2 lead.
Two singles in the sixth inning flipped the advantage to the Dragons, 4-3, and SVSU couldn't make up the deficit in the final inning.
Alyssa Muench was a perfect 2-for-2 at the plate with a double. Denome also had two hits in her three appearances and tallied an RBI. Katelyn Pnacek, Aalana Kimble, Emma Helvie, and Purdy were the rest of the Cardinals with a hit in game one.
GAME 2 – SVSU 9 – TIFFIN 2
Aalana Kimble (W, 4-1) got the start and earned her fourth win of the season as she went the distance in game two. The freshman southpaw struck out four batters and allowed just two runs on five hits to earn the victory.
The Dragons took an early 2-0 lead with runs in the opening frame. The first came off a single to right field with the other happening on a triple down the right-field line.
Denome singled through the left side to score Moos and cut the TU lead in half. Pnacek hit a sacrifice fly to right field on the next play to score Ella Schneider and knot things up in the second inning. Ella Reifschneider then singled up the middle to score Denome and the Cardinals had a 3-2 lead early. Kimble helped herself out with a double to center field that brought Reifschneider home and pushed the lead to 4-2 after two.
Moos doubled to center field to score Muench in the third before Denome singled to score Moos and SVSU led 6-2. Schneider scored on a fielder's choice play during Pnacek's at-bat and the Cardinals built a 7-2 advantage with four innings left to play.
The next run came in the sixth when Muench singled up the middle to score Reifschneider. Reifschneider tallied an RBI of her own in the seventh when she singled to help Marissa Beck cross the plate for the final score of the second session.
Reifschneider ended the afternoon with a monster game two as she went 4-for-5 from the plate with two runs and two RBI. Muench went 3-for-4 to end her afternoon 5-for-6 combined. Denome was 3-for-4 in game two for a full day total of 5-for-7 at the plate with two RBI in the final game. Moos had two hits, scored two runs, and had an RBI in game two to contribute toward the win.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals will complete the trip to Ohio tomorrow (March 18) with a doubleheader against Ohio Dominican. The first game is set to begin at 1:00 p.m.
