MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball program traveled to face NCAA Division I opponent Central Michigan Tuesday afternoon. The Cardinals (14-7, 3-1 GLIAC) fell 11-1 in seven innings against the Chippewas (7-18, 3-6 MAC) in a wet and windy game that had two separate weather delays.
SVSU got a solid four inning performance from their starter JJ Arbini (L, 0-4) who got the tough luck loss after allowing one unearned run on two hits while striking out three. Saginaw Valley totaled five hits with two coming from Colin Cornwell and the biggest one being his RBI triple in the sixth.
It was a slow game to start. The Chippewas scored on an RBI walk in the first inning after a fielding error extended the inning to make it 1-0. Both teams would go scoreless through the fourth before Central Michigan got back on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Ryan Adams took over for Arbini and pitched one inning allowing one hit and one walk with one strikeout, however, another error extended the inning and two unearned runs came across to score to make it 3-0.
In the sixth, Col. Cornwell smashed a line drive into the right center field gap to score Brandon Scheurer from first and make it 3-1. The lone run came against Ben Vitas (W, 1-2) who pitched four innings in relief and took over for starter Sean Knorr after the initial lighting delay. Vitas allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out six.
CMU broke open the scoring in the bottom of the sixth with seven runs. Christopher Schmees started the inning and after a hit, a walk, and a hit batter, Chase Gruno took over. The first three runs of the inning were taxed to Schmees while Gruno allowed four more on two hits and one walk through his one inning of work. The final blow being a two-run home run to make it 10-1.
Derek Slocum donned the mound in the bottom of the seventh and after a walk to lead off, a 33-minute rain delay ensued. After the delay, a stolen base and an RBI double made it 11-1 Chippewas and the game was called due to a run rule.
After the loss, Cardinal baseball gets back on the road due to some scheduling changes with the recent weather. SVSU was set to host Wayne State on Wednesday, March 27, but will head to Detroit due to field conditions at Saginaw Valley. In return, the Cardinals will now host the Warriors on Tuesday, April 9 for the season finale against Wayne State. First pitch from Detroit on Wednesday is set for 2:00 PM EST.