University Center, Mich. – Saginaw Valley State University baseball wrapped up their four-game Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) series against Wayne State University with a big win. Solid pitching mixed with seven runs in their last two innings gave the Cardinals a 9-1 victory to split the weekend against the Warriors.
After a scoreless three innings to start, Wayne State (29-9, 16-5) got on the board first with a solo home run in the top of the fourth. That lead would be wiped away in the Cardinal half of the inning after Martin Money singled with two outs to extend the frame and bring Reed Raymond up to bat. Raymond drove a ball deep to right center and over the fence for his third home run of the season and gave SVSU the 2-1 lead.
Steven Hecht (W, 2-3) had one of his best outings as he pitched seven innings allowing only two hits and one run while striking out three. Hecht followed up the solo home run with three more scoreless innings and got more insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh. Griffin Kilander (L, 4-3) did not make it through the fifth for the Warriors after pitching 4 1/3 innings allowing five hits and two runs.
In the seventh, Saginaw Valley added two more. Connor McClennen singled to lead off and Tucker Roe walked to put two on with no outs. After a fly ball moved McClennen to third, Colin Cornwell bounced him home with an RBI ground out. Roe scooted up to second, and after a pitching change, scored on the next at-bat with Austin Schweiger singling him home making it 4-1.
Nick Bastian took over the pitching duties in the eighth and after allowing a walk and a hit, he stranded the two runners to keep the three-run lead. SVSU did not need any more runs, but added five more in the eighth for good measure. Raymond singled, Jeffrey Reseigh walked, and Brandon Scheurer singled to load the bases. A wild pitch scored Raymond and Roe doubled home the others pushing it to 7-1. Jaccar Watkins singled and stole second base to put two runners in scoring position for Cornwell who also drove in two runs with a single.
The nine runs on 13 hits would hold after Chase Gruno donned the mound in the ninth. He gave up a double to start, but got a ground out and two strikeouts to shut the door and earn Saginaw Valley a split of the series. Wayne State leads the season series three to two with the final game between the two teams being played next Tuesday at Saginaw Valley.
Money, Raymond, and McClennen all finished 2-for-3 and Schuerer had a 3-for-4 afternoon as all nine in the starting line up got on base. The pitching staff struck out five Warriors and allowed only four hits through the nine innings of work.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals get set to host the third annual Dow Classic Tuesday evening as they play Northwood University (29-12) at Dow Diamond in Midland, Mich. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
