FINDLAY, OHIO – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team swept Findlay in a non-conference doubleheader on the road Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinals (33-9) took game one 4-2 over the Oilers (27-11) before completing the sweep with a 10-8 win in the nightcap.
GAME 1: SVSU 4 – FINDLAY 2
Three SVSU batters recorded two hits in game one, including Aalana Kimble, who registered a double and a triple in the 4-2 win. Kenzie Bromley went 2-for-4 with a double and a home run to collect two RBI and two runs, leading the Cardinals in scoring, while Olivia Elliott completed the two-hit trio going 2-for-4.
Macy Irelan (W, 14-3) was dominant in the circle for SVSU as she registered a season-high 17 strikeouts in the contest. Her double-digit output was the seventh time this season to sit 10+ batters on strikes. The six-time GLIAC pitcher of the week registered her 15th complete game in her debut season.
Bromley gave Saginaw Valley a 2-0 lead with her home run to left field in the top half of the opening inning of play.
Findlay responded with back-to-back doubles, each scoring a run in the home half of the first to knot things up at two runs each.
Kimble hit a two-out triple in the second, but was stranded as the Cardinals left four baserunners on until scoring again in the fifth inning on a wild pitch to take a 3-2 lead. Mya Purdy stole home with two outs in the same inning to double the lead and score the final run of the game, 4-2.
Irelan sealed things, punching out two batters in the fifth, sixth, and seventh inning.
GAME 2: SVSU 10 – FINDLAY 8
Bromley had another fantastic game at the plate for the Cardinals as she added three more hits, a double, and three RBI to her afternoon to help SVSU to the sweep. Ella Reifschneider grabbed two hits in three at-bats and scored a run. Purdy, Ella Schneider, Kate Pnacek, and Natalie Savage also recorded two hits in the contest. Purdy and Pnacek added two RBI, with Pnacek also scoring a run.
Kimble (W, 14-3) got the start in game two and achieved her 14th win with her 10th complete game. She struck out four Oilers on her way to earning the win.
Bromley got things going with a two-RBI double in the top of the first to give SVSU a quick 2-0 lead.
A double steal in the second put a third run on the board for the Cardinals. Pnacek added another run at the top of the third with a double to center field, and SVSU led 4-0 after three innings of play.
Purdy added another with an RBI single to left field that brought Bromley home to push the lead to five. An error with the bases juiced scored Emma Bolding for the second run of the inning, and the Cardinals led 6-0 after four innings.
Findlay got on the board in the bottom half of the inning with three runs to cut the SVSU lead in half, 6-3.
Pnacek smashed a solo home run to left field to move the gap to four runs in the top of the fifth, but the Oilers scored on a triple to right field in the bottom to trim the lead back to three.
Bromley singled in the seventh to score Savage before a wild pitch brought Kimble home for a 9-4 edge. Purdy scored the final run with an RBI-single to center that allowed Bromley to cross the plate and put the score at 10-4 with just three outs remaining in the game.
Findlay went on a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh with a bases-loaded infield single and a double to right center that scored four runs and brought the Oilers within two of catching Saginaw Valley, but a ground out to first on the next play ended the game in favor of SVSU.
UP NEXT: SVSU will return to GLIAC play with a road doubleheader at Davenport on Friday, April 18, beginning at 3:00 p.m.