CLERMONT, Fla. - The Saginaw Valley State University softball team used victories over Felician College and the College of Saint Rose on Wednesday (Mar. 4) to improve its record to 8-4 overall for the 2015 campaign. The Cardinals opened the day with a 12-0 victory over the Golden Falcons before edging out a 4-2 decision over the Golden Knights.
Game One | Felician
Saginaw Valley jumped right out in front in the bottom of the first inning, scoring a pair of runs to take the 2-0 lead. Madison Burgess led things off with a base hit and would be driven in by an Evy Lobdell sacrifice fly after she advanced to third base. That same sac fly moved up Mackenzie Rousse to third base. She would score as the next batter, Shelby Weeks, executed a squeeze bunt to score Rousse.
The Cardinals added a run in the bottom of the 3rd inning to extend the lead to 3-0. A Jessica Wood single to center field scored Taylor Gordon, who pinch-ran for Lobdell after she singled to start the bottom half of the inning.
SV starting pitcher Anna Conard would keep the opponents in check and keep them scoreless, surrendering zero runs over 5.0 innings of work and allowing just a single hit. She improved to 3-0 on the young season and notched her first-career shutout in the effort.
That stellar work on the mound helped SVSU close-out for the mercy victory after blowing-up for nine runs in the bottom of the 4th inning. Rousse and Amanda Best each tripled in the frame, with Rousse driving in three runs and Best adding two RBIs. Nicole Romain had a two-RBI single while Weeks and Brenna Bourdage also added RBIs.
The Cards had twelve hits in the contest compared to the one for the Golden Falcons.
Burgess was 3-for-4 in the game from the leadoff spot while Wood was 2-for-2 with an RBI. Rousse had the three-RBI triple and Best had the two-RBI three-bagger. Weeks knocked-in two for SVSU as well.
Game Two | Saint Rose
SV had itself a battle in the second game of the day, as both teams failed to score a run through the first four innings of play.
It wasn't until the top of the 5th inning that some crooked numbers went up, starting in the Cardinals' favor. A Burgess single scored DeAnna Stickler-Gatson for the first run and a throwing error on the next play allowed Burgess to score to make the score 2-0 after the frame.
The Cards added a single run in the top of the 6th when a Kari Knight RBI single scored Wood, who opened the action with a double to left field. That made the score 3-0.
The Golden Knights made it a tighter game after adding two runs of their own in the bottom of the 6th to cut the lead to 3-2.
Saginaw Valley got an insurance run in the top of the 7th, however, as Stickler-Gatson gave the Cardinals some instant offense after dropping a bunt single on the defense and promptly stealing second base after that. She would scored on another throwing error by the defense, making the score 4-2.
That was all that relief pitcher Sarah Vrabel would need to close the door, as she worked 1.2 scoreless innings to record the save. She allowed no hits or runs and just a single walk. She relieved winning pitcher Annie Hansen, who got her first-career victory after tossing 5.1 innings and scattering six hits and surrendering two runs.
Three different SV players had multiple hits in the game as Burgess, Rousse and Wood all had two. Wood had the only extra-base hit for the Cards while Stickler-Gatson scored two of SVSU's four runs.
The Cardinals (8-4) return to action with a pair of games Thursday (Mar. 5) against Saint Anselm. The doubleheader begins at 1:00 pm in Clermont, Florida. SVSU is now 6-1 on its spring trip to Florida.