ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team split their games on the second day of the Lewis Dome Games in Rosemont, Illinois. The Cardinals (2-2) dropped game one to Winona State 7-3 before defeating Truman 9-1 in five innings in the nightcap.
Game 1: Winona State def. Saginaw Valley State, 7-3
The Cardinals couldn't dig out of a six-run deficit in the game one loss to Winona State. A two-run home run in the bottom half of the 1st-inning gave the Trojans the early lead. Four additional runs were added by WSU in the bottom half of the 3rd-inning.
Sarah Gersch singled down the right-field line to score Marissa Beck. Jackie Popko also scored on the play as a result of an error by Winona State and the score was cut to 6-2.
The Warriors added an additional run in the sixth to move the needle to 7-2 with just one inning remaining. Gersch scored the final run for the Cardinals in the final inning after a sacrifice fly brought Popko home, however, SVSU wasn't able to close the gap further before the final out of the contest.
Game 2: Saginaw Valley State def. Truman State, 9-1 – 5-innings
A wild pitch in the bottom of the first inning scored Popko and gave SVSU an early 1-0 lead. Sara Moos knocked a double to left field in the third that scored Gersch and Popko and extended the lead to 3-0.
A double to center scored a run for the Bulldogs and cut the deficit to two in the top of the fifth.
The Cardinals ended the contest in the sixth with a six-run explosion in the bottom half of the inning. Paige Thomson got things going with a double to center that scored Emily Beckas. Popko singled to right and scored Alyssa Muench. Gersch walked with the bases loaded to score Thomson before Beck scored on a fielder's choice play to put the lead 7-1. Katelyn Pnacek busted a walk-off double to center that scored Moos and Gersch to end the evening's competition.
UP NEXT
The SVSU softball team will wrap up the Lewis Dome Games with showdowns against Minnesota-Duluth and Walsh on Saturday, February 25. The first game starts at 3:30 p.m. with the second scheduled for 8:00 p.m.