ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team opened play for the 2017 season at regional foe Maryville on Friday afternoon. The Cardinals dropped both ends of the doubleheader, falling by a 7-2 score in the seven-inning opener before dropping a 16-6 count in the nightcap. 

Game One 

SVSU registered the first hit in the contest with Chad Carson's double in the top of the first inning. Carson advanced to third on an Adam Fitzgibbon single and then scored on the next at bat on a wild pitch, giving the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead.

Maryville then tacked-on three runs in the bottom half of the inning to jump ahead 3-1.

The Cardinals threatened to score in the top of the fourth inning after Jason Clark was hit by a pitch and took first base. He recorded his first stolen base of the season on SVSU's next at bat and then advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Clark was left stranded at third.

Maryville added four more runs to the box score in the bottom of the sixth inning after SVSU brought Trevor Friday in for Scott Sency, who started on the mound. The Saints scored four runs on three base hits and ended the sixth inning with a 7-1 lead on SVSU. 

The Cardinals bats got going in the top of the seventh inning with a one-out triple from Colton Brooks. He would score on the next at-bat, as Carson grounded out to second and cut the deficit to 7-2.

SVSU would groundout to end the game and drop Game 1 by a 7-2 final score. 

Inside the Boxscore

• The Cardinals registered five hits in the season opener from four different players. 
• Chad Carson recorded his first RBI of the season and finished 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. 
• Colton Brooks scored the other SVSU run on a one-out triple. He finished 1-for-3 at the plate. 
• Adam Fitzgibbon notched his first multi-hit game of the season, being the only Cardinal to register two in the game.
• Clark and Brooks each got their first hit as well for the Cardinals. 
• Scott Sency (0-1) took the loss on the mound for SVSU. He went five innings and allowed three runs on five hits and struck out five batters. 

Game Two 

After the Saints jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st, SVSU scored its first run of the second game in the top of the 3rd when Carson singled-in Jordan Swiss to make the score 4-1. 

Maryville added four more in the 3rd and another in the 4th, pushing its lead out to 9-1. 

The Cards got a pair in the 5th inning when Adam Turner had an RBI double to score Derrek Clyde and a Carson RBI double plated Turner. That made the count 9-4. 

The home squad kept out in front, however, adding another trio of runs in the 6th to make the score 12-4. They would answer three SVSU runs with another four-spot in the 8th, sealing the 16-6 victory.

Inside the Boxscore

• The Cardinals had 12 hits in the nightcap, three coming from Clyde for his first career hits. He added an RBI, walk and scored twice.
• Carson added three hits with two RBIs and a run scored. 
• Collin Winters notched two hits and scored a run as well. Those mark his first two career hits as well. 
• Craig Wilson had two hits in the nightcap as well as an RBI. 
• Mason Schwellenbach (0-1) took the loss on the hill, allowing eight runs on as many hits. 

Up Next...

The same two teams are at it again on Saturday, with the Cardinals facing the Saints in another regional doubleheader. The first game is slated to begin at 1 pm eastern time. 

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