UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball program swept Roosevelt University in a doubleheader on Sunday to wrap up the first weekend of GLIAC play. The Cardinals (14-6, 3-1 GLIAC) took home two wins with scores of 13-2 and 11-8 against the Lakers (6-16, 1-3 GLIAC).
Lucas Mead hit two home runs, one in both games, to power the Cardinal offense going 6-for-9 from the plate. Ryan Jarvis had two hits in both games while Austin Cicerone Casey Joppie, and Brady Carpenter all had a multi-hit game. The pitching had solid performances for SVSU with only one earned run allowed from five separate arms. JJ Arbini (W, 4-0) got the start in game one and pitched all seven innings, allowing two unearned runs on two hits, three walks, and five strikeouts. Brady Baalaer had the start in game two with 3.2 innings of work allowing seven unearned runs on five hits and five walks. Ryan Adams pitched 1.1 innings allowing one run on one hit and two walks. Nathan Masar (W, 1-1) pitched a scoreless two innings allowing one hit and striking out three. Jake Shelagowski (Sv, 5) earned his fifth save with two scoreless innings as well.
Game One: SVSU 13, RU 2
SVSU surged ahead in game one with four runs in the second and six in the third. Jordan Lewis started the scoring with an RBI double before coming in to score on a Joppie RBI single. An RBI ground out from Jarvis made it 3-0 before Buck Snabes was hit by a pitch to push home another run. The Cardinals extended their lead to 10-0 in the third with RBI doubles coming from Joppie and Jarvis and a two-run shot capping the inning from Mead.
Saginaw Valley kept the foot on the gas, scoring a run in the fourth and two in the sixth as Arbini carved up the Roosevelt lineup. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning where a single to lead off broke up the rare feat. RU scored a pair in the seventh with a single and two hit-by-pitches before a throwing error scored two runs to make it 13-2.
Game Two: SVSU 11, RU 8
The teams traded leads early on in series finale with SVSU taking the lead first. Mead hit a solo shot in the bottom of the second, his second home run of the day and third of the season, to make it 1-0. Lewis drove home another on a sacrifice fly to double the lead. The Lakers responded in the next frame with two of their own to tie it. The Cardinals took the two-run lead back with a Jarvis RBI double and Cicerone RBI single in the bottom half of the third.
Roosevelt took their first lead of the day with a five-spot in the fourth as they took advantage of errors. The only earned run of the day against the SVSU pitching staff came in the fifth with a fielder's choice to make it 8-4. SVSU responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth to knot it at eight a piece. Lewis singled home a pair before a throwing error scored two more for the Cardinals. In the sixth, Mead took the lead for Saginaw Valley for good with an RBI double. Two insurance runs came across the plate on another throwing error to make it 11-8.
Masar and Shelagowski combined for four scoreless innings to earn the sweep of the doubleheader and a 3-1 series victory.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley hosts Rochester on Tuesday for a non-conference game. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 PM EDT at the SVSU Baseball Complex.
