Caledonia, Mich. – Saginaw Valley State University baseball wrapped up their season and weekend series with a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) matchup against Davenport University Saturday afternoon. SVSU was able to tie it up in the ninth, but a two-run home run walked things off for Davenport to split the games this weekend.
SVSU (14-16, 6-7) got on the board first with a run in the first inning. Jaccar Watkins reached on a walk before Colin Cornwell doubled into the left center gap to score Watkins and give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. DU (14-19, 8-5) answered back in their half of the inning. Three runs on three hits, including a two-run triple gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead.
Both starters went five innings allowing four or more runs. For the Cardinals, Hunter Merillat (3-1) gave up five runs on nine hits while striking out six over his five innings. Davenport scored their fourth and fifth run against Merillat in the third. Another run scoring triple and a fielder's choice pushed their lead to four.
Saginaw Valley cut that lead to one with three runs of their own in the top of the fourth. Martin Money and Reed Raymond both doubled to start the inning. Raymond moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a Brandon Scheurer sacrifice fly. With the bases clear, Connor McClennen hit an inside-the-park home run to make it 4-3 Davenport.
Jackson Decker pitched the sixth for SVSU allowing one run on two hits and striking out two. The run came off a double steal attempt of home. After Decker, Steven Hecht donned the mound. He threw two innings of one hit baseball, but gave up one unearned run in the eighth to make it a 7-4 Davenport lead.
In the ninth, both Scheurer and McClennen walked to lead off. Roe tripled down the right field line scoring both and making it a one-run game. After Watkins walked, Cornwell singled to left field scoring Roe and tying the game. SVSU had the momentum with two on and no outs after tying the game, but a double play and strikeout ending the inning.
Chase Gruno (L, 1-2) came in to pitch the ninth and after a ground out, Davenport got a runner in scoring position with a double. However, that didn't matter as the next batter hit a walk-off home run to win 9-7. Logan Bursick (W, 1-3) who blew the save in the ninth, ironically gets credited with the win.
UP NEXT
The next game on the schedule was a home game on Tuesday against Spring Arbor, but that game has been cancelled. The next scheduled game is Friday when the Cardinals head to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (8-19, 2-10) to start a four-game GLIAC series. First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.