CALEDONIA -- The SVSU Baseball team opened GLIAC play for the 2019 season with a solid 7-5 road victory at Davenport University on Friday (Mar. 22) afternoon.

The Cardinals used a pair of runs in the 9th inning to secure the victory, moving to 6-8 overall and 1-0 in the GLIAC on the season. Davenport falls to 11-5 and 0-1 in league play.

A Joshua Riggs sacrifice fly and Craig Wilson RBI triple put the Cards up 2-0 after the top of the 1st. 

The Panthers responded with four runs in the home half of the 3rd inning, taking a 4-2 lead over the visitors. 

After Davenport added another run in the 5th to make the count 5-2, the Cards went for a three-spot in the top of the 6th to knot the game at 5-5. Derrek Clyde had a two-RBI single to plate Adam Turner and Anthony Kania. Jordan Swiss then knocked-in Andrew Burke on a fielder's choice.

The game remained tied at 5-5 until the top of the 9th, when the Cardinals put up a pair of runs to make the score 7-5 in their favor. After the bases were loaded, Adam Turner was hit by a pitch, scoring Swiss for the first run. Gerrit Eding then collected a sac fly to push Riggs across for the second run of the inning. 

Swiss would enter the game in the bottom of the 9th on the mound for SVSU, shutting down the Panthers for the win and his second save of the season. John Fantauzzo picked up the win in his 2.0 innings of relief work. Both allowed just one hit and had one strikeout for Saginaw Valley. 

Clyde finished 1-3 with a run, two RBI and a pair of walks. Kania had two hits with a run. Wilson had the RBI triple while Swiss, Turner, Eding and and Riggs all added a run driven-in. 

Up Next...

The teams return to action on Saturday in a league doubleheader. First pitch of game one is slated for 1:00 p.m.

--- www.svsucardinals.com ---