UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State baseball team got a solid game from freshman pitcher Ryan Longstreth (Beaverton, Mich.) who went eight innings, allowing six hits, one run and striking out six batters in the Cardinals’ victory over University of Findlay, 9-1 today (March 22). The Cardinals won the series, 2-1.

With Longstreth’s strong performance, the Cardinal bats were just as powerful with 12 hits on the game, and the defense was just as precise as SVSU only allowed one run to score.

Saginaw Valley took a 3-0 lead over the Oilers in the bottom of the second inning when freshman Jason Potts (Hartland, Mich.) had a fielder’s choice RBI single, scoring freshman Mike VanAlst (Clio, Mich.). Junior Kevin Dore (Bay City, Mich.) stepped into the batter’s box and hit a single to right field, scoring Potts and sophomore Dustin Mayner (Gaines, Mich.).

Saginaw Valley held the three run advantage heading into the bottom of the seventh inning until junior Ryan Webber (Clio, Mich.) stepped up to plate, hitting a two-run single, scoring senior Kevin Schwedler (Midland, Mich.) and Dore, making the score 5-0. Junior Josh Peterson (Midland, Mich.) drove a single to left field, knocking in junior Charlie Thomas (Northville, Mich.), giving the Cardinals a six run lead, 6-0.

The Cardinals let only one run score in the top of the eighth inning, but strongly responded with a three-run bottom half of the inning, courtesy of a bunt laid down by Dore, as well as a two-run single hit by Thomas, bumping up the lead to 9-1 heading into the Oilers’ final at bats.

As the ninth inning started, sophomore pitcher Ed Naperalski (Grand Rapids, Mich.) took over on the mound, and immediately got the first batter out on a ground ball back to the mound. The Oilers got their next batter on with a single to right field before the next batter grounded into double play to end the game.

The win moves the Cardinals to 5-12 overall, and 2-3 in the GLIAC, while the Oilers fall to 3-14 overall, and 1-3 in the GLIAC. SVSU will return to action at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 25 for double-header action against Hillsdale College.