UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University softball team defeated the University of Indianapolis 4-1 today (5/14) in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional #2 Tournament. With the win, the Cardinals improve to 37-16 overall on the season while the Greyhounds fall to 35-13-1 overall on the season.

The match-up has become an annual postseason affair between the Cardinals and the Greyhounds, with the two teams meeting four previous times over the past two seasons.  In 2009, the Greyhounds defeated SVSU 2-1 in the best of three NCAA Midwest Super Region and in 2010 SVSU defeated the Greyhounds 3-0 in a 14-inning marathon to open the Regional at Wayne State.

Indianapolis would jump out to a early 1-0 in the top of the second inning on a Jessica Breeden lead-off homerun that hit the foul pole three quarters of the way up.  From there, starting pitcher Jade Fulton (Byron, Mich.) would settle in and control the pace of the game, throwing seven innings while-striking out 13 Greyhound hitters and allowing one run on four hits as she improved her record to 26-9 on the season.

The score would remain 1-0 until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Cardinals were able to load the bases for senior Jillian Peterson (Freeland, Mich.) with one out in the inning. With the count three and two, Peterson would lace a grand slam deep over the right-center field fence to give the Cardinals a 4-1 advantage in the bottom of the 6th.   Fulton would set the Hounds down in order in the top of the seventh, preserving the 4-1 victory for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals will be back in action Sunday (5/15) when they will play for the NCAA Midwest Regional #2 Championship. The championship game is scheduled to start at 1:00 pm, but could be changed due to inclement weather that has caused issues on day two.