MIDLAND, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team split with Northwood University today (Apr. 14) in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest. The Cardinals took game one winning 5-2, but fell in game two with a score of 6-2.
Game One
Saginaw Valley came out swinging their bats in game one scoring one run in the first inning when senior Billi Hoeppner (Hemlock, Mich.) led off with a walk. Lauren Memmer (White Lake, Mich. / Lakeland HS) singled to left field and Jessica McKeith (River Rouge, Mich.) singled to center field scoring Hoeppner. Northwood answered back scoring one unearned run in the bottom of the first innings. Saginaw Valley continued to string their hits together scoring two runs in the second inning to put them up 3-2. Freshman Kailah Happ (Waterford, Mich.) led off the inning with a single to right center and senior Nicole Bigelow (Grandville, Mich.) singled to second base. Junior Ashley Jordan (Freeland, Mich.) singled to center field scoring both Hoeppner and Bigelow.
Northwood tried to come back one more time on the Cardinals in the bottom of the second inning scoring one more run in the contest. Saginaw Valley scored two more times in the game, once in the fourth inning when McKeith reached on a fielding error and scored Ashley Coffin (Sterling Heights, Mich.). The Cardinals final run came in the sixth inning when Memmer singled to left field scoring Coffin.
Memmer started game one in the circle for Saginaw Valley making her 3-2 on the season with eight strikeouts and only one walk. Hoeppner and Coffin both went two-for-two for the Cardinals.
Game Two
Northwood got on the board early taking a 2-0 advantage over the Cardinals in the top of the first inning and increased their lead to four in the top of the fifth. Saginaw Valley was finally able to string some hits together in the bottom of the fifth scoring one run. Coffin led off the inning with a single to left field and Bigelow singled through the right side of the field. Coffin came around to score when Hoeppner grounded out to the left side of the field.
The Cardinals would be able to only put one more run on the board in the bottom of the sixth inning. Saginaw Valley capitalized on two walks and a hit by sophomore Kalie Burdick (Milford, Mich.) scoring one run in what looked like a two out rally in the bottom of the inning. The Timberwolves were able to score two more runs in the top of the seventh inning off of Cardinal errors.
Senior Kari Bowlby (Elkhart, Ind.) got the start in the circle for game two, pitching a complete game with three strikeouts. Bowlby is now 7-1 on the season.
With the split Saginaw Valley falls to 22-5 overall on the season, and 9-3 in the GLIAC, while Northwood falls to 15-11 overall on the season, and 7-2 in the GLIAC. The Cardinals will be back in action on Sunday (Apr. 18) when they travel to Wayne State for a GLIAC contest. The double header is scheduled to start at 12:00pm.