LEESBURG, Fla. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team remained unbeaten in Florida with two more wins on the third day of competition in the sunshine state. The Cardinals (10-2) extended their current winning streak to nine games with a 7-6 win over Walsh and a 6-0 victory over Holy Family on Tuesday afternoon.
Cam Coonan (4-for-6) led offensively with four hits and three RBI on the day. She also scored a run of her own as well. Sarah Gersch (3-for-5) continues her stellar start to the season with a .600 batting average on the day with four runs scored and an RBI. She is currently batting .500 in Florida. Katelyn Pnacek was 3-for-6 this afternoon with a team-high four RBI. Sara Moos (2-for-6) had another multiple-hit showing along with two RBI and a run.
Game 1: Saginaw Valley State def. Walsh, 7-6
Walsh took a quick 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to center field that brought a runner across the plate. The score remained there until the bottom of the third inning when the Cardinals scored three runs to take the lead from the Cavaliers.
Moos singled to center that scored both Gersch and Popko for the 2-1 edge. Coonan then hit a two-out single to right field to extend the lead to 3-1 with four innings to play.
One run in the top half of the fourth cut the SVSU lead to one run before two more in the fifth tied things at three runs all.
The tie didn't last long as Pnacek brought two runs across the plate in the bottom half of the fifth on a single to right field. Another run crossed the plate with a throwing error to push the advantage to 6-4.
Two more runs were scored by Walsh in the sixth to tie the game for a second time, but Pnacek prevented extra innings with a walk-off double to left field that moved Maddie Campagna home and score the game-ending tally.
Emily Depew got the start as pitcher for SVSU. She threw 4.0 innings and gave up two hits and one earned run while striking out two. Alyssa Muench pitched 1.2 innings in relief while Jaclyn Groves (W, 3-0) earned the win with 1.1 innings pitched to close out the game.
Game 2: Saginaw Valley State def. Holy Family, 6-0
Pnacek returned to big hits in game two as she scored Gersch in the top of the first with a single to center field. The score stagnated for a few innings before Coonan doubled to center in the fourth to score Gersch and double the lead.
Coonan scored Gersch again in the sixth to move ahead 3-0. A throwing error extended the play on a bunt single and allowed Coonan to score to give the Cardinals the 4-0 advantage.
Gersch singled to right field and scored Sydney Herioux before Gills capped off the scoring with a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Emily Beckas to tag up and cross the plate for the final 6-0 result. Beckas got on base with her first career hit when she doubled down the left-field line on the previous at-bat.
Margot van Eijl (W, 1-0) earned her first win in a Cardinal uniform after a complete game performance where she sat down nine batters and gave up just three hits in the contest.
UP NEXT
The SVSU softball team will enjoy a day off on Wednesday before returning to action in Florida on Thursday, March 9 with games against Seton Hill at 2:00 p.m. and Ashland at 4:30 p.m.