BAY CITY, Mich. — Saginaw Valley State University baseball starting pitcher Mike Saunders (Mt. Morris, Mich./E.A. Johnson HS) was selected to the 2012 GLIAC Baseball All-Conference First Team by the league's head coaches in all-conference balloting.
The awards were handed out at a recognition ceremony tonight (May 7) in front of coaches and players at V.A. Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.
Saunders threw a complete game two hitter for a 3-1 victory over Tiffin in game one of a weekend series this past Saturday (May 5) to earn GLIAC 'Pitcher of the Week'. The SVSU ace struck out six batters and walked three. Saunders gave up just one earned run in the game improving his conference leading ERA to 1.40.
The highlight of Mike's season came with a four hit shutout against eventual GLIAC Champion Grand Valley State. Saunders outdueled GLIAC 'Pitcher of the Year' Kyle Schepel for the 2-0 victory.
This is the first time since 2008 that an SVSU starting pitcher has been named to the GLIAC All-GLIAC First Team when Andrew Doyle (Grand Blanc, Mich./Powers Catholic HS) and Scott Roy (Mt. Morris, Mich./E.A. Johnson HS) both earned the exclusive recognition.
Saunders has thrown at least seven innings in each of his last six GLIAC starts. Mike has thrown complete games in seven of his nine starts this year and has given up just 10 earned runs. He is now 6-2 on the season in 64.1 innings with 65 strikeouts, third best in the conference. Opponents have batted .194 against Saunders in the 2012 season.
Brandon Schwanz (Novi, Mich./Henry Ford CC) and Carson Beauchaine (Fraser, Mich.) were selected to the GLIAC Baseball All-Conference Honorable Mention Team. Schwanz is batting .369 this season good enough for ninth best in the conference, while Beauchaine has the league's fourth best ERA at 2.02.
The Cardinals are currently preparing for the 2012 GLIAC Baseball Tournament in Chillicothe, Ohio. SVSU will face Wayne State tomorrow morning (May 9) at 10:30 AM.
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