COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Cardinal Softball team posted its second sweep of the weekend on Sunday (Mar. 18), defeating the Ohio Dominican University Panthers in a non-conference twinbill. Saginaw Valley recorded a 3-1 victory in the opener before claiming a 10-4 decision in the second game, running its winning streak to four games.
Game 1 (W, 3-1)
The Cardinals took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning, using a Courtney Reeves RBI single that pushed Maddy Burgess across for the game's first run.
In the top of the 3rd inning, that same duo would account for two more runs to make the SV lead 3-0. Burgess had a double and would be driven home by Reeves again, who hit her sixth home run of the season to left center field.
The Panthers scored their only run of the game in the home half of the third, but the game would eventually finish with the Cardinals claiming the 3-1 victory.
Mikayla Alexandrou (3-3) was solid in the circle for the Cardinals, working a complete game for the victory. She scattered four hits, allowing just a single unearned run while striking-out four batters with three walks.
Reeves had all three RBI for Saginaw Valley, going 2-for-2 with a walk and run. Burgess, Meredith Rousse and Lauren Bachert had the other three hits for the Cardinals.
Game 2 (W, 10-4)
The script for scoring was similar in the second game, as SVSU scored one in the 1st and two in the 3rd, leading 3-1 after three complete innings. Rousse drove-in Bachert with an RBI double for the first run. In the 3rd, Reeves drove-in two more runs when she scored Rousse and Bachert with an RBI double.
ODU tacked-on two runs in the bottom of the 4th after scoring a single one in the 3rd, knotting the score at 3-3 after four.
The Cardinals broke the game open in the 5th and 6th innings, scoring five and two runs, respectively, pushing their lead to 10-3. The 5th inning featured a Rousse 2 RBI double, sacrifice flies from Aubree Mouthaan and Danielle Hamilton and a Becky Corbett RBI single. The 6th had an RBI infield single from Julia Miller and another Corbett RBI base hit.
The home Panthers added an unearned run in the 7th, making the score at 10-4. That would prove to be the final count.
Anna Conard picked-up her second win of the weekend while improving to 6-2 on the season pitching. She allowed seven hits in 4.0 innings, giving up three runs while walking one and striking-out a batter. Elayne Young and Kasey Bagelmann combined for 3.0 innings of shutout relief as well, with Bagelmann recording three strikeouts.
Rousse had a big game in the nightcap, going 4-5 with two doubles, three RBI, steal and two runs. Miller was 3-4 in the victory with an RBI. Bachert had a trio of hits in five tries, including a double and three runs scored. Corbett was 2-3 with a pair of RBI singles while Reeves had the two-RBI double.
Up Next...
The Cardinals begin 2018 GLIAC play on Wednesday (Mar. 21) on the road at Purdue Northwest. The doubleheader is set to begin at 4:00 p.m. eastern time.
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