UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State baseball team came close in the one-run loss to the #1 Grand Valley State Lakers today (April 9) at the SVSU Sports Complex, 7-6. In Game 2, the Cardinals and Lakers fought to a 4-4 tie when the game was called due to darkness, and will be completed when these teams meet April 25 in Allendale, Mich.

Game 1
SVSU got off to a quick lead as junior Chase Coulter (Clio, Mich.) clobbered a one-out homerun to centerfield, followed by another homerun off the bat of junior Charlie Thomas (Northville, Mich.) that cleared the centerfield fence, putting the Cards up 2-0, and putting the Lakers on their heels, as junior Ryan Webber (Clio, Mich.) stepped to the plate and drew a walk, before freshman Mike VanAlst (Clio, Mich.) drove a double to left field, putting two on, with only one out for junior Josh Peterson (Midland, Mich.). Peterson dug in, and drove a single through the left side, scoring Webber to put the Cardinals up 3-0 to end the inning.

In the second, junior Kevin Dore (Bay City, Mich.) singled up the middle, before Coulter flied out to the center fielder. With one out, Thomas cracked his second homerun of the game, putting the Cardinals up, 5-3.

The SVSU bats would calm down until the fourth inning, when Dore would lead off with an infield single, followed by an RBI double that hooked down the right field line from Coulter, giving the Cardinals a 6-5 lead, heading into the fifth inning.

Grand Valley would add one run in the fifth, and one more in the seventh to take Game 1, 7-6.

Game 2
In the nightcap, it took both teams until the fourth inning to score, as the Lakers got on the board first with one run, but the Cardinals would answer with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Coulter led off the inning with a single to right field, followed by Thomas reached on a walk. Next up, Webber reached on a fielder’s choice, while Thomas advanced to second and Coulter reached third on a throwing error by the Lakers’ pitcher, loading the bases. Peterson then reached on a fielder’s choice, as Coulter was tagged out at the plate, keeping the bases loaded for VanAlst, who singled through the right side to drive in two runs, giving the Cards a one-run lead to end the fourth inning.

In the fifth, the Cardinals came back and scored one more run as Coulter drew a two-out walk, and would advance to second on a Thomas single to center field. Next up, Webber dug in a drove an RBI single to left field, extending SVSU’s lead to 3-1.

Grand Valley would draw even in the sixth with two runs, and then would go up by one in the top of the eighth, putting SVSU’s backs against the wall. With one out, Webber dug in and hit a solo homerun to knot the score, 4-4 to close out the game’s scoring.

After the 10th inning, the game was called due to darkness with two outs, and nobody on base for the Cardinals.

The loss drops SVSU’s record to 11-18 overall and 7-9 in the GLIAC, while GVSU improves to 29-4 overall and 13-2 in the GLIAC. These teams will conclude on April 25 in Allendale, Mich. Saginaw Valley will return to action tomorrow (April 10) to take on Wayne State in a doubleheader that is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m.