ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team advanced to the third day of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) tournament after a 2-1 win over Parkside in the first game of day two in Rosemont, Illinois.
Junior pitcher Macy Irelan (W, 18-3) sat down 10 Rangers (26-23) on strikes to earn her 18th win of the season for the Cardinals (41-12). She completed her 19th game of the season and surrendered just three hits with no earned runs while walking three.
Ella Reifschneider (1-for-4), Aalana Kimble (1-for-1), and Mya Purdy (1-for-3) recorded hits for SVSU. Reifschneider and Kimble scored the runs for the Cardinals. Kimble reached base on all four of her plate appearances (1B, 3 BB). Emma Helvie and Ella Schneider recorded RBI for Saginaw Valley State in the winning effort.
SVSU loaded the bases in the first after Reifschneider singled to lead off the inning. Kimble and Olivia Elliott walked to juice the bases with only one out. Helvie recorded a groundout RBI on the next play that scored Reifschneider, and the Cardinals swiped a 1-0 lead early.
The bases were loaded for SVSU again in the third inning when Kimble hit an infield single to lead things off. Elliott walked for a second time, and Helvie reached on a fielder's choice where all runners were safe to set up Schneider for a sacrifice fly and score Kimble from third base, and the lead widened to 2-0.
Parkside loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the fourth inning, but Irelan got out of the jam by striking out the final batter.
An RBI single up the middle in the fifth scored the only run for the Rangers, and the score sat at 2-1 with two innings to play.
Irelan slammed the door in the seventh with a strikeout swinging and a strikeout looking to begin the inning. A walk and a wild pitch gave Parkside life, but Irelan struck out GLIAC Player of the Year Mia Johnson for the exclamation point.
UP NEXT: The Cardinals will play Grand Valley State in the first game of day three (Saturday, May 3) at noon, ET. The winner will advance to the final day and have the advantage of needing to be beaten twice to lose the tournament championship.