CLERMONT, Fla. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team extended its win streak to seven after wins over Minnesota State-Mankato and Sioux Falls on Monday morning. The Cardinals (8-2) pulled out a 5-4 win in nine innings against the Mavericks before ending the day with a 7-5 victory over the Panthers in the second game.
Sarah Gersch led the way again for SVSU as she recorded four hits in her eight at-bats with three RBI. Gersch hit one of the team's four doubles on the day. Paige Thomson (2-for-3), Jackie Popko (2-for-6), Alexis Gills (2-for-8), and Sara Moos (2-for-8) each had two hits on day two. Moos finished with two RBI while Gills scored three runs. Marissa Beck and Popko both crossed the plate twice in the winning effort.
Game 1: Saginaw Valley State def. Minnesota State-Mankato, 5-4 (9 Innings)
The scoring began early as a double to left center put MSU-Mankato up 1-0 in the top half of the first inning.
Maddie Campagna knotted things up with an RBI-double that scored Gills in the bottom of the second. Moos scored Popko with a ball out to right field and the Cardinals took the 2-1 lead into the fourth inning.
A single to center field scored the tying run for the Mavericks in the top of the fifth inning and the score would stay there through the seventh.
With the international tie-breaker in effect, MSU-Mankato used a single to left center to drive that run across home and move ahead 3-2. Gersch responded in the bottom half with a knock to left field that scored Beck and the score was tied a third time.
Much like the eighth inning, the ninth saw the Mavericks move ahead with a run in the top half of the inning. The difference was Sydney Herioux busting a single to right field that brought Gills home and loaded the bases with just one out for SVSU. A change in pitcher resulted in a wild pitch and Muench crossed the plate for the winning run.
Emily Depew got the start in the circle for Saginaw Valley. She pitched 4.1 innings and allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out two Mavericks. Alyssa Muench (W, 5-0) earned her fifth win of the season in relief as she was in the circle for 4.2 innings and struck out two opposing batters.
Game 2: Saginaw Valley State def. Sioux Falls, 7-5
The scoring started early with the Cardinals building a 4-0 lead after two innings. Gersch doubled to left center to score Popko in the first inning before Popko hit a single to score Leah Denome in the second. Gersch recorded another hit in the second with an RBI single to right that brought Thomson home and give SVSU the 3-0 advantage. Moos ended the scoring in the inning with a single to right center that allowed Olivia Sabin to score.
The Panthers rallied in the third and fourth innings as they were able to tie things up at four runs as the game moved into the final three frames of regulation.
The fifth inning proved to be the difference as Gills popped a double to left field that scored Katelyn Pnacek and gave SVSU back the lead, 5-4. Beck then singled to right center to score Gills and Sabin hit a fly to left field foul territory that was caught and allowed Beck to cross the plate for a 7-4 edge.
Sioux Falls tallied one run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Cardinal defense stopped the rally short to seal the win and keep the streak alive.
Jaclyn Groves (W, 2-0) earned the win after six innings of work where she allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits while striking out five Panthers. Muench (Sv, 1) earned her first save of the season after pitching the final inning for the Cardinals.
UP NEXT
The SVSU softball team will face Walsh in a rematch from the Rosemont Dome games a week ago before ending day three against Holy Family. The first game starts at 10:00 a.m. with the last one scheduled for a 12:30 p.m. start.