YPSILANTI, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University baseball dropped a 9-7 decision to Wayne State University today (May 8) in the opening game of the 2013 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament. The double-elimination tournament is being held at Oestrike Stadium on the campus of Eastern Michigan University.
Three straight singles with one out in the top of the first enabled the Cardinals to take the early 1-0 edge. With the bases loaded, senior Kyle O'Boyle (Midland, Mich. / Bullock Creek) took the first pitch to right field for a sacrifice fly scoring Ryan Hotmer (Walbridge, Ohio / Lake) from third.
It did not take long for the Warriors to answer back in the bottom half of the first as Wayne State posted a pair of runs to take the 2-1 lead.
The offensive success continued in the second for the Cardinals starting the inning with three consecutive hits. A fielder's choice RBI from Brad Schalk (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Bishop Foley) scored Dylin Eschenburg (Shelby Township, Mich. / Utica Eisenhower), followed by a Hotmer groundout RBI to bring home Michael Craig (Milan, Mich.) as Saginaw Valley regained the lead, 3-2.
Wayne State once again tied up the contest in their next at bat with a two-out RBI as both squads totalled 11 hits through two innings.
With two outs in the top of the third, Michael Craig came through with a two-out RBI single to right bringing home Kyle O'Boyle to give SVSU a 4-3 lead. The next batter was Chris Perkovich (Canton, Mich.) who laced a single through the right side plating both Craig and Eschenburg.
On the next pitch, Brad Schalk hit a rocket passed the first baseman increasing the Cardinal lead to 7-3 as Perkovich came around to score.
The Warriors reclaimed the lead in the fourth with five runs for the 8-7 edge. WSU tacked on a run in the sixth inning to take a two-run lead, 9-7.
In both the seventh and eighth innings, the Cardinals put two runners on base but were unable to manufacture runs late as SVSU dropped the contest, 9-7.
Six Cardinals tallied two hits or more, with Craig and Eschenburg each notching three hits each. Craig and Schalk also drove in two runs a piece.
Saginaw Valley produced 16 hits on the day but did not score any runs after the third inning. The Cardinal offense recorded double-digit hits in consecutive games for the fourth time this season. Overall, the two teams went for 27 total hits - all of which were singles.
Carson Beauchaine (Fraser, Mich.) started on the mound for SVSU giving up seven earned runs in 3 1/3 innings with four strikeouts.
Aaron Woods (Menominee, Mich.) came on in relief for the Cardinals and gave up four hits and two runs in 4 2/3 innings on 72 pitches.
SVSU will return to action tomorrow (May 9) at 10:30 a.m. in a win or go-home situation against Lake Erie College, who fell 8-0 to Grand Valley State today.