UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball program honored six seniors Saturday as they hosted Purdue Northwest for a doubleheader. The Cardinals (28-20, 10-13 GLIAC) split the games against the Pride (17-26, 5-18), falling 2-1 in game one and winning 5-4 in extra innings in game two, notching their first walk-off victory of the season.
The SVSU pitching staff totaled 10 strikeouts across both games, bringing their season total to 425—just nine shy of breaking the single-season record of 433 set last year. Ryan Jarvis went 4-for-5 in game two with two runs scored. Lucas Mead collected three hits on the day, including two in game two, and added two runs and an RBI. Ethan Scheib and Austin Cicerone both posted multi-hit days with one hit in each game.
Game One: SVSU 1, PNW 2
The opener was a pitchers' duel between JJ Arbini (L, 6-3) and Conor Pangburn (W, 4-4). Arbini went 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out three. Pangburn threw a complete game, giving up one run on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
The Cardinals struck first in the fourth inning. Mead hit a one-out double, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Cicerone single to give SVSU a 1-0 lead. Strong defense backed Arbini, as Saginaw Valley turned three double plays through the first six innings, two ending frames and one in the fifth to prevent the tying run.
In the seventh, PNW threatened with two on and one out. A single appeared poised to tie the game, but the runner slipped between third and home and was thrown out attempting to retreat. A walk loaded the bases, bringing in Nathan Masar. He allowed a bloop single into left that plated two runs before a tagout at third ended the inning, giving the Pride a 2-1 lead.
SVSU managed a two-out double from Connor Cornwell in the seventh but couldn't bring him around to tie the game.
Game Two: SVSU, 5 PNW 4
Saginaw Valley improved to 3-0 in extra-inning games this season and earned their first walk-off win in a dramatic finish. Chase Raymond started and went eight innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits with five strikeouts.
The Pride scored solo runs in the second and third innings, continuing the weekend's trend: the team that scored first lost all three games in the series.
SVSU responded with a four-run sixth inning. Eight Cardinals saw 14 pitches and racked up five singles. Jarvis, Cicerone, Mead, Jordan Lewis, and Ryan McCartan all contributed. Mead singled home Jarvis to cut the deficit to one. Lewis then singled to drive in Mead and Cicerone, giving SVSU a 3-2 lead. McCartan followed with a sharp single down the third base line to score Lewis and make it 4-2.
In the top of the eighth, PNW opened with a pair of singles, and both runners scored on a two-out single to tie the game. Masar (W, 3-2), making his second appearance of the day, pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts to earn the win.
Nick Mangano (L, 0-1) had retired the first 10 batters he faced before Jarvis singled and Cicerone was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the 10th. A flyout advanced Jarvis to third, and with two outs, Grant Richardson delivered a blast into the left-center gap to drive in Jarvis for the walk-off win.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley baseball closes out the regular season on Sunday, May 4, as they host Purdue Northwest for the series finale. It will be "May The Fourth Be With You" Day at the SVSU Baseball Complex, with first pitch scheduled for 12:00 PM EDT.
