UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team swept Hillsdale on the road on Wednesday afternoon to improve to 11-7 on the season. The Cardinals took game one 5-3 in nine innings before closing out the afternoon with a 9-2 win in game two.
GAME 1: SVSU 5 – Hillsdale 3
SVSU left three runners on base and only advanced as far as second base through the first five innings before getting on the board in the sixth. Jenna Morse singled with one out to get on first before advancing to second on a ground out. Olivia Elliott walked to have two runners on base. An error by the Chargers allowed Morse to score and the Cardinals hopped out to a 1-0 lead.
A walk, sacrifice bunt, and a single to right field allowed Hillsdale to tie things up at one run each in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Neither team was able to put another run on the board through seven innings to push the game to extras. Saginaw Valley threatened in the top of the eighth after Aalana Kimble advanced to third, but she was put out for the second out of the inning.
Evelynn Rybicki was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second base with no outs. Mya Purdy hit an infield single to load the bases. Kate Pnacek reached on a fielder's choice but an error by the catcher allowed Rybicki to score and break the deadlock, 2-1. Ella Reifschneider singled to left field to score Emma Helvie and Purdy for the 4-1 lead. Natalie Savage added a sacrifice fly to left field to score Pnacek and the Cardinals needed three outs to earn the win.
A two-run home run in the opening at-bat cut the SVSU lead to 5-3, and a walk put another on base. However, two strikeouts and a pop-up to second base sealed the win for the Cardinals.
Reifschneider led offensively in game one going 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI. Morse, Elliott, Purdy, and Pnacek recorded a hit for SVSU. Savage scored the team's third RBI. Elliott hit the Cardinals' only double of the contest.
Macy Irelan (W, 5-3) pitched all nine innings to earn her fifth win of the season. She struck out a career-best 13 batters in the game while only allowing two earned runs in her eighth complete game.
GAME 2: SVSU 9 – Hillsdale 2
Game two was all Saginaw Valley State as the team built a 7-2 lead through five innings and never looked back.
Aalana Kimble singled to left field to lead off the game on base. Lillia Sherman singled to right center two plays later and scored Kimble for the 1-0 lead early.
Helvie singled to right field to lead off the second inning and Kenzie Bromley brought her home with a home run to left field to increase the lead to 3-0. Emma Bolding then added another run with a two-out single to right field that scored Savage.
The Chargers prevented the shutout with a run in the bottom of the fourth and added another run in the fifth for their final run of the game.
Purdy singled to score Morse in the top half of the fifth before Helvie hit a home run to left field to score two more to move to a 7-1 lead.
The final two runs of the game came in the sixth when Bromley walked, Ella Schneider was hit by pitch, and Kimble was walked to load the bases. A Hillsdale error on the next play scored Schneider and Morse's single to left field scored Kimble for the final run of the afternoon.
Helvie had the hot bat in the game with three hits including her home run to finish with two RBI and two runs in her four at-bats. Sherman had two hits and an RBI to contribute to the win. Kimble scored two runs and recorded a hit. Bolding, Morse, Lauren Evans, Purdy, Faith Maloney, Bromley, and Savage also recorded hits.
Kimble (W, 5-2) tallied her fourth complete game in the circle. She allowed one hit and struck out five Charger hitters in the winning effort.
UP NEXT: The Cardinals open up GLIAC play with a doubleheader against Ferris State on Saturday, March 22. The two games against the Bulldogs are also SVSU's home opening games with game one set to begin at 1:00 p.m.