UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team split in their first homestand of the year against University of Findlay today (April 3) to take 2-out-of-3 from the Oilers.
Game One - Findlay 6, SVSU 5 - Box Score
Saginaw Valley (6-13, 4-5 GLIAC) opened the scoring in the bottom of the second with a pair of unearned runs for the early lead. The Cardinals get on the board after a throwing error plated Kyle O'Boyle (Midland, Mich. / Bullock Creek). Niko Gonzalez (Rochester, Mich. / Stoney Creek) followed O'Boyle with a sacrifice fly to bring home Brendon Hayes (Livonia, Mich. / Stevenson) for the 2-0 edge.
In the third inning, Kyle O'Boyle (Midland, Mich. / Bullock Creek) lined a single back up the middle scoring Andy Orr (Utica, Mich.) who came barreling home from second base. SVSU tacked on another run in the third to lead 4-0 when Chris Perkovich (Canton, Mich.) advanced home on a balk by the Findlay pitcher.
Findlay fought back in the top of the sixth inning with four runs to tie up the contest at 4-4.
SVSU responded in the bottom half of the inning to take the 5-4 lead after an infield single to the shortstop off the bat of Chet LaFave (Charlotte, Mich.). Dylin Eschenburg (Shelby Township, Mich. / Eisenhower) touched home on the play to give the Cardinals the go-ahead run.
However, with two down in the top of the seventh, a Saginaw Valley throwing error brought home two Oilers as the Cardinals trailed 6-5 heading into their last at-bat.
SVSU was unable to make a comeback as Findlay went on to steal a 6-5 victory in game one.
In game one, Andy Orr and Kyle O'Boyle each tallied two hits to pace the Cardinal bats.
Game Two - SVSU 5, Findlay 2 - Box Score
The Cardinals faced a 2-0 deficit heading into the bottom of the fifth inning before they put together a five-run rally to take a 5-2 advantage.
Junior Michael Craig (Milan, Mich.) put SVSU after taking a 3-1 pitch to left center field to score Richard Guglielmi (Canton, Mich. / Plymouth) after an errant throw advanced the runners.
Senior Chet LaFave followed with a triple to left center field scoring both and Brad Schalk (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Bishop Foley) to give SVSU the 3-2 lead and force a Findlay pitching change.
The next batter, Andy Orr, took a first pitch fastball down the left field line for a double as LaFave came around to score. The rally was capped off with a single to right center field from Kyle O'Boyle scoring Andy Orr for the 5-2 edge after five innings of play.
Starting pitcher Dylan Wisniewski (Southgate, Mich. / Riverview Community) finished off his complete game, five-hit performance by preventing a Findlay rally in the late innings for the 5-2 victory. Wisniewski moved to 2-1 on the year by throwing all seven innings on just 95 pitches giving up two runs and striking out two.
Brad Schalk, Dylin Eschenburg and Andy Orr all posted two hits to lead the SVSU offense in game two. Orr recorded a base hit in the fourth inning to extend his current hit streak to 10 games.
Saginaw Valley will be back in action this weekend when they travel to Lake Eric to battle the Storm.