UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - In a game that lasted 15 innings, the Saginaw Valley State baseball team rebounded after two losses Saturday to defeat the Tiffin Dragons today (April 5), 4-3.

In the lone game of the afternoon, the Cardinals fell behind early as Tiffin scored in the first inning, but SVSU would come right back to put two runs on the board in the third inning. Sophomore Dustin Mayner (Gaines, Mich.) led off the inning with a sinle up the middle, followed by a sacrifice bunt from senior Kevin Schwedler (Midland, Mich.) to move MAyner to second base. Junior Andy Ferraiuolo (Perry, Mich.) hit an RBI single, but was tagged out trying to reach second base after Mayner rounded third to tie the game, 1-1. Junior Chase Coulter (Clio, Mich) hit a double down the right field line, and then advanced to third on a pass ball. Junior Charlie Thomas (Northville, Mich.) didn’t waste time moving Coulter from third to home with a single up the middle to give the Cardinals the lead, 2-1.

Saginaw Valley would add one more run in the fourth inning, as freshman Mike VanAlst (Clio, Mich.) hit his second double of the game to lead off the inning before junior Josh Peterson (Midland, Mich.) laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance VanAlst to third base. VanAlst would the touch home plate on a passed ball, putting the Cardinals up, 3-1.

That lead would stand until the top of the seventh inning, when the Dragons were able to break through the strong pitching performance put on by junior Colin Coulter (Clio, Mich.). Coulter, however, would bounce back from the two runs, and pitch a flawless eighth inning before relinquishing the ball in the ninth inning. For the game, Coulter pitched nine innings, giving up nine hits, three runs and striking out six. Stepping in for the next six innings, sophomore Scott Horman (St. Louis, Mich.) gave up two hits, and fanned four of the 20 batters he faced.

The score would remain tied until senior Andy Plouff (Gladstone, Mich.) would step in to pinch hit for freshman Ryan Ermers (Utica, Mich.), and laid down a one-out single to center field that scored junior Kevin Dore (Bay City, Mich.) who reached on a single to lead off the bottom of the 15th inning, and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt off Ferraiuolo’s bat.

The win improves the Cardinals’ record to 10-17 overall and 7-8 in the GLIAC, while Tiffin falls to 11-19 overall and 6-9 in the GLIAC. SVSU will return to at the SVSU Athletic Complex action at 2 p.m. Tuesday (April 7) to take on GLIAC rival Grand Valley.