UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team split a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) match-up Ohio Dominican today (Apr. 17). The Cardinals defeated the Panthers 9-0 in five innings in game one and fell 3-0 in game two.

Saginaw Valley came out strong against Ohio Dominican scoring eight of their nine runs in the bottom of the first inning of game one. The Cardinals first run came across the plate when freshman Marcy Medina (Valparaiso, Ind. / Wheeler HS) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded allowing Ashley Coffin (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Stephenson HS) to score. Junior Kalie Burdick (Milford, Mich.) dug in for Saginaw Valley and singled up the middle driving in both Jillian Peterson (Freeland, Mich.) and Natalie Wellman (Fairhaven, Mich. / Anchor Bay HS) giving SVSU the 3-0 advantage.

Senior Monica Gathright (Baroda, Mich. / KVCC) helped to put the Cardinals up by four when she hit a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Medina. Saginaw Valley took a 5-0 lead over Ohio Dominican when sophomore Kailah Happ (Waterford, Mich.) laced a single up the middle scoring Burdick. The Cardinals would tack on two more runs when Coffin reached first on a Panther error that allowed both Happ and McKeith to cross the plate. The final run of the inning came in when Wellman singled up the middle scoring Coffin and extending the Saginaw Valley lead to eight.

The Cardinals added one more run in the bottom of the fourth when Medina singled to the pitcher bringing in Peterson from third base for the 9-0 victory over Ohio Dominican. Senior Jade Fulton (Byron, Mich.) got the start in the circle for Saginaw Valley pitching all five innings with eight strikeouts, one hit, and no walks. Fulton is now 17-5 overall on the season.

In game two, the contest would remain scoreless until Ohio Dominican scored one run on two hits in the bottom of the third inning. The Panthers would add two more runs in the bottom of the fourth on two hits. Saginaw Valley would try and battle back loading the bases in the top of the seventh inning with two outs, but were unable to score allowing Ohio Dominican to go on to a 3-0 victory.

Sophomore Alexa Gehrls (Caledonia, Mich.) suffered the loss for the Cardinals pitching six innings, making her 10-4 overall on the season.

With the split Saginaw Valley is now 28-11 overall on the season, and 15-5 overall in the GLIAC, while Ohio Dominican is 8-32 overall on the season, and 3-19 in the GLIAC. The Cardinals will be back in action on Wednesday (Apr. 20) when they travel to Lake Superior State. The double header is scheduled to start at 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm.