FINDLAY, Ohio - Looking to bounce-back from a pair of losses at Tiffin on Saturday, the No. 21 Saginaw Valley State University softball team made the short trip over to Findlay on Sunday (Apr. 23) afternoon for another league twinbill. The Cardinals responded with a sweep over the Oilers, taking the opener in comeback fashion, winning 5-4 in 10 innings. The visitors then cruised to a 6-1 victory in the nightcap, improving to 27-12 overall on the season and 12-6 in the GLIAC.
Game One
After the Oilers took an early 1-0 lead in the 1st inning, the Cards responded to knot the score at 1-1 in the top of the 3rd when Evy Lobdell had a sacrifice fly that pushed Danielle Hamilton across the plate.
Findlay added a trio of runs in the 4th, making the score 4-1 in the home team's favor.
That count held true until the top of the 7th, when SVSU had one last attempt to get more runs on the board. Madison Burgess came through with a one-out RBI single that scored Lauren Bachert to make the score 4-2. Then, with two outs, Meredith Rousse came through with a clutch two-RBI double that allowed Hamilton and Burgess to score the game-tying runs, sending the game to extra-innings.
Both teams had opportunities to score, but the chances would stall in the 8th and 9th innings. The 10th would come, with the international tiebreaker rule in effect.
Courtney Reeves was placed on second to begin the 10th for SVSU and she was promptly moved up to second on a Breanna Dinsmoore sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout, there was two outs with Reeves sitting in scoring position. Becky Corbett would come through, notching an infield single that would allow Reeves to score, giving Saginaw Valley the 5-4 edge.
Cardinal starting pitcher Samantha Willman would buckle-down from there, retiring the Oilers in order to seal the 5-4 victory.
Inside the Boxscore
- Burgess went 4-6 in the opener, adding an RBI and run scored.
- Rousse was 3-5 with two doubles and two RBI.
- Reeves had two hits with a double and scored the game-winning run.
- Hamilton added a 4-4 performance with two runs and a walk.
- Willman pitched all 10.0 innings, allowing four runs (2 ER) while scattering seven hits. She had 10 strikeouts and six walks.
- Corbett had a hit and the game-winning RBI, adding the team's only stolen base.
Game Two
Findlay grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 1st again in the nightcap, with the Cardinals answering in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 1-1. Aubree Mouthaan ripped an RBI double that scored Rousse for the first SVSU run.
Another run in the 2nd inning came when Corbett had a sacrifice fly that allowed Dinsmoore to score and make the score 2-1.
In the 3rd, Reeves pushed the lead to 4-1 after she laced an RBI single to left field that plated Lobdell. Mouthaan scored on the same play on an error by the Findlay catcher.
Reeves would strike again for the visitors in the 5th when she added two insurance runs for the Cardinals. She had a two-RBI double that scored Lobdell and Burgess to make the lead 6-1. That's where it would remain, with the visitors coming away with the GLIAC sweep.
Inside the Boxscore
- Reeves was 2-3 with a double and three RBI in the second contest.
- Mouthaan added two hits with a double, run scored and one RBI.
- Lobdell and Dinsmoore each added a double as well.
- Rousse had a hit, run and the team's only stolen base in game two.
- Willman (14-5) worked all 7.0 innings, notching her second win of the day. She allowed one run on five hits, striking-out three and walking three.
Up Next...
The Cardinals host Cleary on Wednesday in a non-conference doubleheader, scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. at the SVSU Softball Complex.
@SVSU_Softball | #svsusb | @SVSUAthletics | #GoSVSU