UNIVERSITY CENTER, MICH. – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team defeated Ashland 11-7 in the NCAA Division II baseball Midwest Regional #1 to advance to the Super Regional next week. The win gives the Cardinals (41-16) the most wins in a single season.
Chase Raymond (W, 9-3) pitched 7.1 innings in his 12th start of the season. Raymond allowed eight hits and six runs while striking out four Eagles. Nick Bastian made an appearance in relief and Reed Raymond closed out the last inning to secure the win for SVSU.
A two-run double for Ashland put the Eagles up 2-0 in the first inning. Brandon Scheurer singled to center field to start the third inning before Hayden Jatczak walked to put two runners on base. Austin Schweiger recorded a double to right center that scored both and the Cardinals knotted things up at 2-2 with only one out in the inning. R. Raymond singled to get on base and a throwing error by Ashland scored Schweiger to give SVSU a one-run lead. A double steal gave home plate to R. Raymond and Saginaw Valley enjoyed a 4-2 lead after three innings of play.
Jeff Reseigh busted the game wide open with a grand slam to left field in the fifth inning to double the Cardinals' score and take an 8-2 lead into the final four innings. Colin Cornwell singled to right field and scored Jatczak in the sixth to widen the gap another run.
A solo home run to center field for Ashland cut the lead to 9-3 in the top of the seventh. However, the Cardinals retaliated with an RBI single to right field from Connor McClennen in the bottom portion of the inning.
The Eagles rallied in the eighth inning with four runs to bring the score to 10-7 with one more inning to complete the comeback. R. Raymond made that task a bit more difficult in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single to right field that scored Cornwell for an 11-7 advantage, and the Cardinals would close things out in the ninth to win the Regional.
Reseigh's grand slam led the way and propelled SVSU to the win. He finished 1-for-3 with four RBI and a run in the game. Cornwell, R. Raymond, and McClennen had two hits with Cornwell recording a double, one run, and an RBI. R. Raymond finished with an RBI and two runs. Schweiger tallied two RBI with his one hit. Jatczak, Scheurer, Cicerone, and Jaccar Watkins recorded one hit in the game.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals will await the winner of the Midwest Regional #2 in Indianapolis. That location is set to wrap up on Sunday or Monday (if needed). The NCAA Division II Midwest Super Regional host site will be announced after the completion of the Indianapolis Regional. The best-of-three series will begin on Friday, May 25, and conclude on Saturday, May 26.
