COLUMBUS, OHIO – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team split with Ohio Dominican on Monday to complete the three-day trip to Ohio with a 3-3 record. The Cardinals took game one after a 4-run fourth inning to earn the 5-3 win. The Panthers got a 6-2 win in the finale to complete the split.
GAME 1 – SVSU 5 – OHIO DOMINICAN 3
Emily Depew (W, 6-4) earned the win in the circle in game one after a seven-inning, five-strikeout performance in the 5-3 win. Depew tallied her seventh complete game of the season.
Paige Kolinski got the scoring going in the fourth inning with a double to left center that scored Sara Moos. Leah Denome tripled down the right-field line to bring Kolinski home to double the lead to 2-0. Emma Helvie then doubled to left field to bring Denome across the plate for a third run. Ella Reifschneider singled through the left side for the final run in the fourth when Helvie scored to push the score to 4-0.
ODU scored three runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning to cut the gap to one run. The first two runs were a result of two errors by the Cardinals. The third happened on a double to center field to put the score at 4-3.
Aalana Kimble secured the final tally on the board with a single to third base that allowed Reifschneider to cross the plate.
Reifschneider and Mya Purdy led the way with two hits. Reifschneider was 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI; Purdy went 2-for-4 in game one. Moos, Kolinski, and Helvie each hit a double while Denome registered a triple.
GAME 2 – OHIO DOMINICAN 6 – SVSU 2
SVSU scored first when Purdy got an RBI on a ground out where Reifschneider scored for the 1-0 lead.
Kimble (L, 4-2) got the start inside the circle for the Cardinals. She went 4.0 innings in the losing effort. Alyssa Muench completed the game with two innings of work where she sat down four ODU batters and allowed no hits or runs.
The Panthers knotted things up in the bottom half of the inning on a stolen base play that brought a runner home.
Ohio Dominican took the lead in the third inning after RBI singles brought in three runs for the 4-1 advantage.
Two more runs were scored by ODU in the fourth inning to push the margin to 6-1.
Katelyn Pnacek hit a solo home run to left center to inch the Cardinals closer in the fifth inning, but SVSU could not get any more points on the board before the final out of game two.
Purdy and Pnacek recorded an RBI in game two. Four SVSU players recorded a hit for the team, with Reifschneider and Pnacek tallying runs.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals will begin Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play on Saturday, March 23 with a doubleheader at Ferris State beginning at 1:00 p.m.