UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team lost both games against Grand Valley State in a battle between the top two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams on Saturday. The Cardinals (23-9, 7-3 GLIAC) had a rough outing in game one with an 11-3 defeat in five innings before rebounding in game two with a 10-9 result.
Katelyn Pnacek hit .750 on the afternoon after recording three hits in her four appearances at the plate. She also earned a base on balls four times in the two games. Alexis Gills registered four hits and tied for a team-high two RBI in the matchup. Cam Coonan, Paige Kolinski, Jackie Popko, and Sarah Gersch tallied two hits in the outing. Gersch and Sara Moos matched Gills' high of two RBI.
Game One: Grand Valley State def. Saginaw Valley State, 11-3 (5 Innings)
The Lakers took a 9-0 lead through the first two and a half innings of play in game one. Popko singled to left center. Gersch then brought her and Sydney Herioux home with a single up the middle to put the Cardinals on the board and cut the margin to 6-2 in the third.
GVSU scored a run in both the fourth and fifth innings to build a lead large enough to activate the run rule and end the first game after five innings, but not before Popko singled again in the bottom of the fifth inning to score Coonan and bring SVSU one run closer to the lead.
Game 2: Grand Valley State def. Saginaw Valley State, 10-9
The Lakers got things going with two runs in the top of the first inning. Pnacek responded with a double to center field in the bottom half that scored Popko and put the score at 2-1. Paige Kolinski then hit a sacrifice fly to right field that allowed Pnacek across the plate and knot things up, 2-2, after one inning.
A trio of singles in the bottom of the third gave the Cardinals a 3-2 lead. Gersch hit the first one through the left side to move Pnacek to scoring position then Kolinski added the second to the right field to load the bases. Gills then hit the third to score Pnacek for the lead. A throwing error by GVSU gave SVSU another run in the inning before Coonan added another on a sacrifice fly that tagged up Gills and the Cardinals lead 6-2. A wild pitch then scored one more run in the inning and Saginaw Valley State took a 7-2 lead into the next inning.
Two singles from the Lakers pushed four runs across the plate to bring the score within one run of a tie. Gills then hit a single to center to score Pnacek before a wild pitch on the ensuing play scored Gersch and widened the SVSU lead to 9-6.
Two of the three runs in the fifth were the result of Cardinal errors and caused the score to be deadlocked at nine all with just two innings left in regulation.
Kolinski doubled to lead off the bottom of the sixth with a runner in scoring position but SVSU failed to make anything of the play as the game moved into the final inning with the score still tied. The Lakers held SVSU scoreless in the final inning as well to force extras.
A home run to left center in the top of the eighth proved to be the difference as GVSU escaped game two with a 10-9 decision as the Cardinal bats went cold in the late stages of the second contest of the day.
UP NEXT
The SVSU softball team will remain at home to host Davenport in a GLIAC doubleheader on Wednesday, April 12. The first pitch is set for 2:00 p.m.
