CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team fell to the top seed UT Tyler 5-3 on Friday afternoon. The Cardinals (49-14) led on the scoreboard three times before the Patriots (59-5) scored two runs in the sixth and closed out the final two innings to secure the win.
SVSU's defense got off to a good start with a three-up-three-down top of the first. Macy Irelan (L, 23-4) recorded the first two outs of the game with a pop out and a swinging strikeout. Irelan went 6.0 innings with two K's while allowing nine hits and five runs in her outing.
Aalana Kimble (1-for-3) reached base with an infield single to lead things off for the Cardinals. She advanced to second on an errant throw on the play. Ella Reifschneider moved Kimble to third with a ground out, and Jenna Morse walked to put runners on the corners, but SVSU couldn't score in the first.
UT Tyler advanced to third base with two outs, but failed to capitalize on the scoring chance, and the game remained scoreless going into the home half of the second.
Kate Pnacek gave Saginaw Valley its first lead with the first of two home runs on the day, both solo shots, and with two outs on the board. This one went over the left field fence and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
The Patriots responded in the third with an RBI double to center that tied the score at one run each. The tie didn't last long, as Olivia Elliott singled to left center to put Reifschneider in scoring position on second. Emma Helvie then singled to center field with two outs to score Reifschneider, and SVSU recaptured the lead, 2-1.
Megan Geyer hit a double with two outs in the top of the fourth to bring a runner home, and UT Tyler responded for a second time to tie things up at two.
Pnacek repeated her previous at-bat with her second solo home run. This time, over the center field fence to pull the Cardinals back ahead 3-2. This was the first time in Pnacek's career that she hit two home runs in a single game.
The Patriots would go quietly as they responded a third time with a home run to right field in the fifth inning to knot the score for the third time in the game.
UT Tyler took its first lead in the sixth with two runs scoring on a double to right field and an infield single to put the score where it would stay for the remainder of the game, 5-3.
Pnacek led the way offensively with two hits, both home runs, and two RBI. Kimble, Elliott, and Helvie each tallied a hit. Helvie collected the third RBI for the Cardinals. Kimble pitched the final inning of the game and struck out one Patriot hitter in her relief appearance.
UP NEXT: The Cardinals will return to Frost Stadium at Warner Park on Saturday, May 24 at 6:30 p.m. ET. Saginaw Valley will face the winner of the 1:30 p.m. game between Pace and Shippensburg.
