HAMMOND, IND. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team split with Purdue Northwest on the road Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (22-15, 9-5 GLIAC) made a late rally in the final two innings but fell 8-7 to the Pride (22-17, 7-6 GLIAC) in game one before closing out the afternoon with a 5-3 win in game two.
GAME ONE – PNW 8 – SVSU 7
Sara Moos got the scoring starting in the top half of the opening frame with an infield single with runners in the corners to score Ella Reifschneider for the 1-0 lead. Leah Denome brought Aalana Kimble and Mya Purdy home two plays later as the Cardinals built a 3-0 lead early.
Emily Depew (L, 11-6) got the nod in the circle in game one. She went 2.2 innings and struck out three hitters in the losing effort. Kimble relieved Depew and went 3.1 innings with five strikeouts in her attempt to help the Cardinals complete the rally.
PNW got one run back in the bottom half of the first to trim the lead to two runs after one inning played. The Pride would tie things up in the second with a double to center field that scored two runs.
A three-run double in the bottom of the third flipped the advantage to the home team (6-3) and forced SVSU to make a change at pitcher.
Moos singled to right field and scored Purdy and Kimble to cut the deficit to 6-5 in the top of the fourth. The Pride added two more runs in the bottom of the inning to hold an 8-5 advantage with three innings left to play.
Paige Kolinski smacked a solo home run to lead off the fifth inning. The homer gives her a GLIAC-leading six this season.
The final run was brought home by Katelyn Pnacek off a triple to left field that scored Marissa Beck and put the score at 8-7 in the sixth inning.
Moos led offensively with three hits and three RBI in the opening game. Sydney Herioux also recorded three hits.
GAME TWO – SVSU 5 – PNW 3
SVSU loaded the bases with two outs but couldn't get a runner to cross home plate in the top half of the first inning.
Alyssa Muench (W, 6-6) started at pitcher for the Cardinals in game two. Muench went 5.1 innings and retired eight Pride batters on strikes to earn her sixth win of the season. Kimble came in for 1.2 innings of relief and recorded her third save of the year in the appearance.
Kolinski scored the first points of game two with a single to center field that brought Purdy home for the 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Maddie Campagna hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Beck to extend the SVSU lead to 2-0 after three innings.
Campagna singled to right field in the fifth to bring Natalie Savage across the plate to extend the lead to 3-0.
Emma Helvie recorded her first career triple in the top of the sixth that scored Purdy and Kimble and pushed the Cardinal lead to 5-0. The triple was Helvie's third extra-base hit this season.
A two-run home run followed by a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning gave the Pride the only runs they would score for game two as the Cardinals would close out the final 1.2 innings to secure the victory.
Helvie had a team-high two hits and two RBI in game two. Campagna also had two RBI on one hit to contribute to the win. Moos extended her current hitting streak to five straight games with her base knock. Purdy scored two runs and was walked twice.
UP NEXT
Saginaw Valley State softball completes the road trip with a doubleheader at Parkside tomorrow (Sunday) April 14. The first game of the meeting is set to begin at noon.