UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team completed its seventh consecutive sweep with wins of 7-0 and 8-4 over Parkside on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (30-8, 17-1 GLIAC) have now won 14 in a row and reached the 30-win mark for the fourth-straight season.
GAME 1: SVSU 7 – Parkside 0
Macy Irelan (W, 13-3) highlighted game one for SVSU as she threw a no-hitter for the Cardinals in her 15th start of the season. Irelan was dominant as she was just two walks shy of a perfect game after a complete seven innings of work where she sat seven Rangers down on strikes.
Jenna Morse was hit by a pitch in the second inning to reach base first for Saginaw Valley State. Ella Schneider was then walked to put two runners on base with one out. After a pop-out to second base, Emily Schmeltz singled through the left side to bring Morse home for the 1-0 lead. Natalie Savage then singled up the middle to score Schmeltz and Schneider, and the Cardinals were up three after two.
Irelan struck out the side in the top half of the third inning, and Kenzie Bromley belted a two-run home run to left center in the home half to extend the lead to 5-0, Cards.
Kate Pnacek singled to start the bottom of the fourth inning and scored on a ground out by Aalana Kimble to widen the gap to six going into the fifth inning.
Schneider brought the final run in for game one with a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Bromley in the bottom half of the fifth inning, and the Cardinals recorded the final six outs needed to secure the shutout victory.
Bromley and Schmeltz finished game one 2-for-3. Bromley scored twice and tallied two RBI on her home run in the third inning. Schmeltz added a run and an RBI to her stat line for the game. Olivia Elliott, Pnacek, and Savage collected a hit, while Ella Reifschneider scored a run on the home run.
GAME 2: SVSU 8 – Parkside 4
Kimble (W, 12-3) got the start in game two for SVSU. She went the full seven innings and allowed four hits and three earned runs, with three strikeouts, to earn her 12th win of the season.
A Cardinal error surrendered a run in the top of the first inning to give the Rangers their first lead of the afternoon, 1-0.
Bromley erased the deficit with a two RBI triple that scored Reifschneider and Kimble to flip the advantage to 2-1 in favor of the Cards. A Parkside error two plays later scored Bromley and pushed the lead to two.
SVSU scored a run in the bottom of the second inning on a ground out that increased the lead to 3-1.
The Rangers added another run with a home run to center field to trim the deficit to one run. Another error by Parkside scored Schneider and Morse for two more. A Kimble single through the right side scored Pnacek, and the Cardinals held an 8-2 lead after three.
A two-run home run to right field by GLIAC leader Mia Johnson halved the SVSU lead to 8-4, but the Rangers couldn't claim any more runs in the final two innings of play.
Kimble recorded two runs in her four at-bats with two RBI and a run to help herself to her win in the circle. Pnacek finished 2-for-3 to be the only other player with multiple hits in the contest. Reifschneider had a hit and an RBI, while Bromley, Morse, Schneider, and Schmeltz tallied a hit and a run.
UP NEXT: The Cardinals remain at home for a conference doubleheader against GLIAC newcomer Roosevelt tomorrow at noon.
