XENIA & BATAVIA, Ohio – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball program had four games on the slate for the opening weekend of the 2025 season. Due to weather, the two games against Tiffin were played Friday and the two games against Findlay were canceled. The Cardinals (1-1) split the doubleheader against the Dragons (1-1) losing the seven-inning game 17-8 and shutting out game two 2-0 in eight innings.
Austin Cicerone led with two hits over six at-bats as he totaled four RBI, including a three-run home run. Zane Wilson drove in a pair with his first career at bat. Connor Cornwell also deposited a ball over the fence with a two-run home run in game one. The Cardinals tallied 12 hits and worked 11 walks over 15 innings. The pitching staff struck out 16 as well.
Game One:
At Athletes in Action in Xenia, Ohio, TU took the early lead with a single in the top of the first to go ahead 1-0. SVSU took it back when Cicerone blasted a ball to left field for his first home run of the season in his first at-bat of 2025. The long ball scored Ryan Jarvis and Brady Carpenter putting the Cardinals ahead 3-1.
Errors bit Saginaw Valley through the next few innings as Tiffin scored six in the second and three in the third, going ahead 10-3. Cardinal starter Chase Raymond (L, 0-1) pitched three innings allowing 10 runs but none of them were earned. He struck out two allowing eight hits and three walks as well.
Henry Stempky took over in the fourth and another six-spot followed. An RBI single followed by a grand slam and another RBI single pushed the lead to 17-3 for the Dragons. Zach Johnson (W, 1-0) took over for Tiffin in the fourth and pitched two clean innings to earn the win. Daniel Wilcome and Nathan Masar both pitched a scoreless inning in relief for Saginaw Valley with Masar striking out three of the batters he faced. Will Juday pitched the seventh, allowing one run on three hits.
Some life was found in the Cardinal offense in the bottom of the seventh when Wilson singled home Steve Getts and Corbin Larkin. Brendan Conkle followed up with an RBI single to score Wilson before Cornwell hit his first home run of the season as well, cutting the lead to 17-8. It was too little too late for SVSU in game one however.
Game Two:
Both teams packed up and drove an hour south to Batavia, Ohio for game two. A scheduled nine-inning game was cut short at the end of the eighth due to darkness. Jack Decker (W, 1-0) struck out six over seven innings of work, only allowing two hits and a walk in the victory. Scotty Adelman (L, 0-1) pitched 4.2 innings allowing the only two runs of the game on five hits, two walks, while striking out two.
After a scoreless pair of innings, Jarvis got the Cardinals on the board in the top of the third. With two on and two out, a single to center field scored Ryan McCartan from second and gave SVSU the 1-0 lead. They doubled the advantage in the fifth when Cicerone added another RBI to his day. Another single to center field drove in Grant Richardson from third and gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
Jake Shelagowski (Sv, 1) took over in the bottom of the eighth and struck out all three batters he faced. After the final out of the inning, the game was called and Saginaw Valley earned the split against Tiffin.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley baseball has the rest of the weekend off with both games against Findlay being canceled. The Cardinals head to Springfield, Missouri next weekend for two doubleheaders. SVSU takes on Drury and Maryville on Friday before facing Colorado St.-Pueblo and Drury on Saturday in the Drury Baseball Classic. Friday is set for 3:30 and 7:00 PM EST first pitches with Saturday scheduled for 12:00 and 3:30 PM EST.