DETROIT – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team split with Wayne State on Wednesday evening. The Cardinals (16-8, 3-1 GLIAC) took game one 13-1 in five innings before dropping game two to the Warriors (13-16, 2-4 GLIAC) 8-3.
GAME 1: SVSU 13 – WSU 1 (5 Innings)
SVSU got going early in game one after loading the bases in the top of the first inning with two walks and a hit-by-pitch that put Aalana Kimble, Kate Pnacek, and Lillia Sherman on base. Olivia Elliott then walked to score Kimble for an RBI and the 1-0 lead. Emma Helvie hit a ground out but scored Pnacek to move the lead to 2-0, but Wayne State got out of the jam with minimum damage to keep the score the same.
Macy Irelan (W, 8-3) pitched her 10th complete game and started her appearance by striking out two batters in the first on her way to eight total Ks while giving up just one hit.
Natalie Savage doubled to left field to bring Ella Reifschneider home in the second inning to push the lead to three runs. Pnacek doubled to center field two plays later to bring Savage across the plate. Pnacek then scored on the throw during a run down that caught Evelynn Rybicki stealing second, and the Cardinals led 5-0 heading into the third inning.
Back-to-back home runs from Helvie and Kenzie Bromley over the left field wall widened the gap to seven in the third. A double steal in the bottom of the fourth put WSU on the board to bring the score to 7-1.
SVSU then finished the game in the fifth after scoring six runs on four hits and one Warrior error.
Kimble brought two runners home with a single to left center with two outs. Pnacek singled to left center on the next play to score Kimble and Reifschneider before Rybicki doubled down the left-field line to score Pnacek. A dropped fly ball extended the inning and allowed Rybicki to score the game's final run.
Kimble and Pnacek led the way in game one with two hits. Kimble scored two runs and had two RB, I while Pnacek had three runs and three RBI in game one. Helvie scored twice with one hit while recording two RBI. Reifschneider tallied two runs in the high-scoring opening game.
GAME 2: WSU 8 – SVSU 3
Jenna Morse hit a two-run home run to left field to jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of game two.
Kimble (L, 6-3) got the start in the circle for the second contest of the doubleheader. She struck out six in the outing while pitching 3.0 innings. Irelan relieved for two innings to add four more strikeouts for a total of 12 between the two games. Delaney Conley finished the game with an inning pitched while recording a strikeout.
Bromley hit a home run over the left-field fence to put the Cardinals lead at 3-0 in the top half of the second inning.
Three singles in the bottom of the third loaded the bases for the Warriors, and three runs resulted from a ground out and a single to tie the game at three runs each.
A throwing error gave a base to Maddie Hool before three-straight singles loaded the bases and scored a run to break the tie and give the Warriors a 4-3 tie. A walk and a double brought in four more runs for WSU, and the lead sat at 8-3 after four innings, where it would stay for the rest of the game.
Morse finished 2-for-2 at the plate with two RBI and a run to lead SVSU in game two. Kimble and Bromley tallied a hit to complete the four-hit total for the Cardinals in game two.
UP NEXT: The SVSU softball team will travel to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to face GLIAC opponent Parkside on Friday, March 28. Game one will begin at 1:00 p.m.