CLERMONT, Fla. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team extended the winning streak to 11 with two more wins on Thursday afternoon. The Cardinals (12-2) picked up a 4-2 win over Seton Hill before ending the day with an 11-4 thrashing of Ashland.
Jackie Popko (3-for-7) led the way with three hits, four RBI, and a run on a day where she batted .429. Olivia Sabin (2-for-5) and Alexis Gills (2-for-5) hit .400 and tallied an RBI. Katelyn Pnacek (2-for-4), Sarah Gersch (2-for-8), Sydney Herioux (2-for-4), and Cam Coonan (2-for-4) had multi-hit afternoons for SVSU. Coonan had the second-most RBI on the team with three. Gersch and Herioux crossed the plate twice to lead the team in that category.
Game 1: Saginaw Valley State def. Seton Hill, 4-1
The game was scoreless through two innings before Paige Kolinski hit a single to center field that brought home Gersch and Herioux for the two-run lead. Coonan followed with a single through the left side that scored Sara Moos and extended the lead to 3-0 after three.
Gersch pushed the advantage to four in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly that scored Herioux. SHU prevented the shutout with a run in the bottom half of the inning, but the Cardinals got the last out to seal the win.
Emily Depew (W, 2-2) earned her second win in the circle with a complete game where she allowed just one run on five hits and struck out four Griffins.
Game 2: Saginaw Valley State def. Ashland, 11-4
Coonan got the party started with a triple in the bottom of the first to score two runs for SVSU. Popko put another two on the board in the second inning with a double to right center that scored Maddie Campagna and Leah Denome to grow the lead to 4-0 through just two innings.
The Eagles cut the deficit in half with two runs in the top of the fourth, but the Cardinals left no doubt with seven runs in the bottom half of the same inning. Moos got things started with a single down the right-field line that brought home Gersch and Popko. Gills added an RBI single through the left side that scored Marissa Beck. Paige Thomson singled to score Emily Beckas. Sabin singled to score Gills and Popko hit a sacrifice fly that scored both Thomson and Pnacek for an 11-2 lead at the end of four.
Two runs in the fifth prevented an early finish, but SVSU got the outs needed to end the game in regulation with a large margin of victory.
Jaclyn Groves (W, 4-0) remained unbeaten when starting at pitcher after she struck out two through four innings. Alyssa Muench finished the game in relief and allowed just one hit through three innings of work.