UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team swept Wayne State in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon with a9-1 walk-off win in six innings in game one and an 11-4 victory in game two. The Cardinals (28-8, 15-1 GLIAC) have now swept six-straight conference opponents for a 12-game winning streak and sit firmly atop the league standings with a 15-1 mark.
GAME 1: SVSU 9 – WSU 1 (6 Innings)
Wayne State took a 1-0 lead in the second inning with an RBI single through the right side. The Cardinals were held scoreless through four innings before Aalana Kimble broke the game open with a double to right center field that scored Kate Pnacek and Ella Reifschneider and gave SVSU a 2-1 lead.
The game got busted open in the home half of the sixth inning when Reifschneider hit a sacrifice fly to score Emily Schmeltz to push the lead to 3-1. SVSU scored the next six runs with two outs, starting with Pnacek's walk, earning her second bag with a walk to put runners on the corners, and a double steal scored Mya Purdy for a 4-1 advantage. Kimble then tripled to score Natalie Savage and Pnacek before a throwing error to third gave her the plate and widened the gap to six runs (7-1). Jenna Morse walked and then stole second base before Kenzie Bromley (7th of the season) hit a walk-off bomb to left center field to end the game via run rule in the sixth inning.
Kimble (W, 11-3) got the start in the circle and pitched a complete game for SVSU to earn her 11th win of the season. She gave up just four hits with one unearned run while also sitting four Warriors on strikes in the contest. Kimble was 2-for-4 from the plate with a game-high four RBI and scored a run to help herself earn the win offensively as well. Pnacek got on base twice via balls while Reifschneider had a hit in two at-bats with a run and an RBI. Purdy went 2-for-3 with a run in the winning effort.
GAME 2: SVSU 11 – WSU 4
The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead in the second and never trailed in game two on the way to completing the sweep. Elliott singled down the left-field line to begin the inning with a runner on base. Reifschneider then singled to left field with two outs to set up a home run by Ella Schneider (3rd of the season) over the left-field fence for the three-run edge early.
Delaney Conley got the start at pitcher for the Cardinals. Conley went 2.2 innings before Olivia Elliott (W, 3-0) took over to earn her third win of the season.
Back-to-back doubles for the Warriors scored a run and cut the deficit to two runs in the top half of the third. WSU stole home to put the score at 3-2, and a third double put more runners on, and Elliott switched to pitcher for the remainder of the inning. An SVSU error allowed the game-tying run before SVSU got out of the inning on a groundout.
Purdy responded with a double to right center that brought Bromley home, and the Cardinals recaptured the lead, 4-3. Lauren Evans then doubled to right field to score Purdy before Reifschneider singled to score Evans, and SVSU moved ahead 7-3 after three innings.
Wayne State added a solo home run to left field in the top half of the fifth inning to bring the score to 7-4, but couldn't catch Saginaw Valley State for the remainder of the contest.
SVSU had another great sixth inning as four more runs were added off five singles, with Morse collecting two RBI and Elliott collecting another on their respective base hits. Morse collected the final run for the Cardinals on a stolen plate in the inning before SVSU collected the three outs in the top half of the seventh inning to close it out.
Morse finished game two 2-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored. Reifschneider went 3-for-3 while Schneider collected two hits in her three plate appearances. Elliott was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI. Purdy, Evans, and Pnacek each added a hit to the team total of 12.
UP NEXT: The Cardinals will remain at home to host Parkside on Saturday, April 12, at noon, ET.
