CLERMONT, Fla. - The Saginaw Valley State University softball team split its games on the second day of the NTC Games in Clermont, Florida. The Cardinals got to play in their first scheduled doubleheader of the season. 

Saginaw Valley used a huge five run fifth inning to claim a 9-4 victory over Notre Dame (Ohio) before dropping a 5-0 contest to Rollins College in the second game. The Lady Cardinals improve their record to 4-3 overall on the season after the split.

Game One - Notre Dame (Ohio)

Notre Dame began the opening inning with two runs to take a 2-0 lead, but the Cardinals did not waste any time scoring runs of their own. The top of the order delivered three runs off of three hits in the half inning. Sophomore Shelby Weeks started things off with a triple that was followed by an Abby Stoner homerun and capped-off by a Lindsay Hayward double to give the Cardinals the 3-2 lead.

Three singles and a hit batter led to a Falcon run, tying the game up at three. The score would remain the same until the bottom of the fifth inning. 

SVSU exploded offensively after two of its first three batters who walked up to the plate flew out. A Marcy Medina single along with Hayward and Chelsea Adcock walks loaded the bases for Deanna Stickler-Gatson. The junior outfielder drew a walk, scoring Amanda Best. The bases remained loaded for leadoff hitter Weeks who delieverd a stand-up triple, scoring all three baserunners. The Cardinals would take an 8-3 lead.

A Best double that scored Hayward in the sixth increased the SVSU lead to six runs. A Falcons rally in the top of the seventh fell short as they could only plate one run. Saginaw Valley earned the 9-4 win to improve their record to 4-2. 

Samantha Willman pitched all seven innings giving up five hits, five walks and four earned runs.

Game Two - Rollins

The 15-5 Rollins College Tars started out the first inning by plating two runs off of three hits and a fielding error, giving them a 2-0 lead.

The score reamined the same until the bottom of the fifth inning when Rollins added three runs off of five hits. 

The Tars earned the 5-0 win improving their record to 16-5 while the Cardinals fell to 4-3 on the season. 

Sarah Vrabel pitched four and one third innings in the loss, giving up 12 hits and four earned runs. Sarah Appold relieved the sophomore pitcher giving up one hit and striking out three batters.

The Cardinals are back in action on Thursday (Mar. 7) as they take on West Virginia Wesleyan at 11:00 am before facing St. Anselm at 1:00 pm.