UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University softball team completed its regular season with a 26-9 overall record and finished 18-6 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play. The .750 win percentage earned the Cardinals the third seed in the upcoming 2014 GLIAC Softball Tournament, which will be played this weekend (May 2-4) at the Marathon Diamonds Complex in Findlay, Ohio.
Saginaw Valley looks to claim its first tournament title since the 2009 season, when it won its second-consecutive league championship after also claiming the crown in 2008.
The Cardinals will face the number seven seed Walsh University Cavaliers in the opening round of the tournament. Walsh finished the season 28-17 overall and 15-9 in conference play. SVSU faced the Cavaliers during the 2014 season in its GLIAC opening series in March. The Cardinals won 2-1 in 10 innings before coming out victorious in game two by a count of 8-1. Walsh recently finished its season with a sweep of Lake Erie College.
SVSU heads in to the tournament coming off of a tough 5-3 weekend against top teams in the conference. The Cards dropped two close games to Northwood before bouncing back to split with Grand Valley State in the final season doubleheader.
Saginaw Valley's .335 team batting average, as well as 29 home runs ranks them first in the GLIAC. Sophomore Shelby Weeks led the conference with a .430 batting average, .511 on base percentage and ranked second with a .746 slugging percentage and 16 stolen bases. Sophomore pitcher Sarah Appold ranks seventh in the country in strikeouts per seven innings with 10.5, equalling 109 total. She also sit in fourth position in the GLIAC in total stirkeouts (109).