MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team won its eighth straight game on Wednesday after close wins over Tiffin and Davis & Elkins in Melbourne, Florida. The Cardinals (9-3) defeated the Dragons (10-5) 2-0 before a walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh inning gave SVSU a 4-3 win over the Senators (4-15) in game two.
GAME 1: SVSU 2 – Tiffin 0
The Cardinals broke the deadlock after three scoreless innings of play. Aalana Kimble tripled and scored on a sacrifice by Mya Purdy on the next play to take a 1-0 lead.
The final run of the game came in the sixth when Kenzie Bromley hit a double that brought Kimble home to double the advantage to two runs.
The Dragons pressed in the bottom half of the seventh, getting a runner in scoring position on a double to lead off the inning. A single on the next at-bat put runners on the corners, but a fly out, line out, and a ground out on the next three plays sealed the victory for the SVSU.
Kimble (W, 2-0) earned her second win of the season after a complete game in the circle. She allowed just four hits and no runs with one strikeout. Kimble also led the team with two hits in her three plate appearances while scoring both runs. Jenna Morse tallied a hit in both of her at-bats. Bromley and Ella Reifschneider recorded a hit with Bromley registering an RBI.
GAME 2: SVSU 4 – Davis & Elkins 3
The Senators scored in the top of the second inning with a double to left field for a 1-0 advantage. The Cardinals flipped the advantage in the bottom of the fifth inning when Natalie Savage hit an infield single and Emma Helvie singled through the left side to put Savage in scoring position. An error by Davis & Elkins scored Savage to tie the game before a sacrifice bunt by Ella Reifschneider brought Helvie across the plate for a 2-1 SVSU lead.
A double to center field and a Cardinal error gave the Senators a run in the top half of the sixth and the score was tied at two runs.
Helvie would recapture the lead in the bottom half of the same inning with a two-out single that scored Jenna Morse
Davis & Elkins refused to go quietly as they scored the game for a third time in the seventh after a single put a runner on and another SVSU error allowed a third Senators run to score.
Kate Pnacek walked in the bottom half of the seventh to get on base. She was moved to second by an infield single from Sherman that set up two baserunners with one out for Mya Purdy. Purdy then sealed the contest with a double to right field, scoring Pnacek, and preserving the SVSU winning streak in walk-off fashion.
Sherman and Helvie both recorded two hits in the winning effort. Helvie tallied an RBI and scored a run. Purdy hit the game-winning double in her only recorded at-bat. Delaney Conley (W, 2-0) earned the in the circle as she went 6.0 innings with six strikeouts to her credit. Kimble entered the game in the seventh inning to earn her first save of the season. She struck out one batter and gave up a hit but no runs to complete the win for SVSU.
UP NEXT: These two games were the final in Melbourne, Florida. The Cardinals will now travel to Miami Shores to face Barry University in a true road doubleheader on Friday, March 7. The first game will begin at 4:00 p.m. (ET).