HAMMOND, Ind. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team kept the winning streak rolling with a pair of wins over Purdue Northwest on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (24-8, 11-1 GLIAC) won 12-2 and 12-4 to end both games in the fifth inning and move to an eight-game winning streak.
GAME 1: SVSU 12 – PNW 2 (5 innings)
Olivia Elliott, Emma Helvie, and Aalana Kimble batted 1.000 in game one, with Elliott and Helvie going 3-for-3, while Kimble was 2-for-2 in game one. Elliott was a triple away from hitting for the cycle, and she totaled six RBI, including a grand slam in the bottom of the second inning. Helvie tallied two RBI with two doubles and a single for her trio of base knocks. Kimble scored twice and brought home another run in her plate appearances.
Macy Irelan (W, 11-3) earned her 11th win of the season in the circle as she sat down seven batters and surrendered just two runs on four hits in her 12th complete game.
The Pride (7-24, 2-10 GLIAC) scored first with a sacrifice fly to left field in the top half of the opening inning for the 1-0 lead.
Elliott brought home Jenna Morse with a single to center and two outs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the score 1-1.
Irelan went to work in the top half of the second, striking out the side. Kimble recorded an RBI single up the middle to score Helvie after she doubled to left field. Lillia Sherman then singled through the left side and scored Natalie Savage and loaded the bases. That set the stage for Elliott, who cleared the base paths with a grand slam to center, and SVSU held a 7-1 advantage after two innings of work.
A home run to left field by the Pride trimmed the deficit to five in the fourth inning; however, the Cardinals would leave no doubt by adding five more runs in the bottom half of the frame and end the game in the fifth. Kimble reached first with a single to kick things off. Kate Pnacek walked, then Elliott cleaned up again with a double to right field that scored Kimbled and moved Pnacek to third. Kenzie Bromley then hit a sacrifice fly to score Pnacek, and Helvie singled up the middle to score Emily Schmeltz and Emma Bolding to put the score at 11-2. Savage finished things off with a single to push Ella Reifschneider over the plate for the final run.
GAME 2: SVSU 12 – PNW 4 (5 Innings)
Kimble (W,9-3) continued her stellar day with three more hits to bring her daily total to 5-for-6 with three RBI and three runs on the afternoon. She also got the start and the win in the circle, where she struck out three batters to earn her ninth win. Bromley had a team-high four RBI, while Elliott added three more for a total of nine on the day.
Purdue Northwest scored quickly again with an RBI single through the left side in the first inning and took the 1-0 lead.
Elliott homered to left field in the bottom half of the inning to score Reifschneider and captured the lead 2-1 in the bottom of the first.
Kimble singled to the left to score Pnacek and Ella Schneider to widen the game to 4-1. Bromley pushed the advantage further with a three-run blast over the left field wall, and just like that, SVSU led 7-1 after two.
The Pride scored three runs on three hits and took advantage of two errors by SVSU to trim the lead to 7-4 through three innings.
The fourth was all Cardinals as a run scored on a walk with the bases loaded, and a sacrifice fly by Elliott pushed across another. Mya Purdy scored Reifschneider with a sacrifice bunt, and Helvie singled down the left field line to score Bromley for an 11-4 lead after four innings.
A PNW error with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning gave SVSU the run needed to end the game early as Bolding would score on the play and push the lead to 12-4 and end the afternoon.
The wins put the Cardinals on top of the GLIAC at 11-1. SVSU currently sits four games ahead of Parkside and Grand Valley State, who are 7-5.
UP NEXT: SVSU will face Grand Valley State in a doubleheader tomorrow that begins at 1:00 p.m. (ET) in Allendale, Michigan.