EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Saginaw Valley State University softball team opened its 2014 season with a trio of games at the University of Southern Indiana Tournament. After numerous weather-related delays and a great amount of uncertainty on when their season would actually begin, the ladies finally got to step out between the chalk lines and play some ball.
The Cardinals began the day with a 5-3 victory over St. Joseph's (Ind.) before moving their record to 2-0 with another 5-3 victory, the latter coming against Missouri S&T. SVSU would drop the nightcap to the host University of Southern Indiana, however, to end the tourney with a 2-1 record.
Game One - St. Joseph's
Saginaw Valley hopped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first after Mackenzie Rousse laid down a bunt single that scored Shelby Weeks, who tripled to lead off the game.
The Pumas would answer with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to grab a 2-1 lead.
That lead would not hold for long, however, as the Cardinals would respond with a pair of their own runs in the top of the third to take a 3-2 edge . Abby Stoner began with a double, which brought Lindsay Hayward to the plate with one out. Hayward ripped a double to left-center, scoring Stoner. The second run would come on throwing error by the St. Joe's pitcher, scoring Hayward from third.
St. Joe's would plate a single run in the bottom half of the inning to knot the score at 3-3.
The Cards would get the game's final two runs in the top of the fifth inning. An RBI single from Kari Knight knocked-in Deanna Stickler-Gatson and an Amanda Best RBI single would score Hayward, making the score 5-3.
SV starting picther Sarah Vrabel (1-0) would hold the Pumas in check from there, as she would only allow two hits the rest of the way while shutting out the opponents and closing-out for her first victory in the circle on the year.
Hayward finished the game with three hits, two runs scored and one driven-in. Knight was 2-for-4 with an RBI while Rousse, Amanda Best and Jordan Randall each had a hit and an RBI.
Game Two - Missouri S&T
For the second straight game, the Cards held a 1-0 advantage after the first inning. As the home team for this contest, SV used a Stoner RBI double to score Weeks, who had doubled herself and was moved up to third by a sacrifice bunt from Rousse.
S&T answered with a pair of runs in the top of the second and would hold a 2-1 lead until the bottom half of the third.
In their half of the third, the Cardinals got another pair of RBIs from Stoner, who laced a single to right field to plate Rousse and Weeks, giving the team a one run lead at 3-2.
The top of the fifth saw the Miners draw even at three runs-apiece with a run of their own.
Saginaw Valley got two runs in the bottom of the sixth, as Hayward led-off the inning with a double and was pushed across the plate after an RBI single by Randall. Randall would move up to second base on the throw home, putting her in scoring position. Marcy Medina would follow with an RBI single of her own to score Randall, making the score 5-3 in SVSU's advantage.
Alexa Gehrls (1-0) would take it from there, using the two-run cushion and shutting down the S&T lineup in the top of the seventh, sealing the 5-3 victory. Gehrls finished with nine strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work.
Stoner was 2-for-3 in the second game with three RBIs while Weeks had a pair of hits and two runs scored. Randall and Medina added RBI singles for the Cardinals.
Game Three - Southern Indiana
The Cards made it 3-for-3 in 1-0 leads after the first inning on the day, as Weeks led the game off with a home run to left field. SV tacked-on another run in the top of the second on an RBI single by Chelsea Adcock that scored Randall to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Screaming Eagles responded with a big inning in their portion of the second, using four hits and two Cardinal errors to plate five runs and make the score 5-2 in their advantage.
The top of the third would witness a two RBI single by Best which scored Hayward and Kimes, cutting the deficit to 5-4.
Medina would lead-off the top of the fourth with a home run. Adcock would follow with a triple and scored on a throwing error by the right fielder to give the Cards a 6-5 lead.
USI would score two runs of its own in its half of the fourth to re-gain the lead at 7-6.
Stickler-Gatson scored on a failed pick-off attempt in the sixth inning to knot the score at 7-7.
The Eagles would answer once more in the bottom half of the inning, this time scoring three times to take a 10-7 lead heading into the last inning.
Randall ripped a two-out RBI double that scored Best, but that's all SVSU could muster as the tournament hosts claimed the 10-8 victory.
Adcock had a three-hit effort at the plate, scoring a run and adding two RBIs. It was her second-career game with three hits. Best added two hits, two RBIs and scored one run.
SVSU used four pitchers in the day's final game, with Gehrls (1-1) taking the loss in the circle after working 1.1 innings, giving up one run.
The Cardinals are off until Tuesday (Mar. 4), when they travel to Clermont, Fla. to take-on Cedarville (Ohio) and Quincy (Ill.) in the team's opening contests of the NTC Games. Game times are set for 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm, respectively.