UNIVERSITY CENTER, MICH. – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team swept Parkside 7-2 and 11-9 on Saturday. The Cardinals (35-13, 22-7 GLIAC) scored four runs in the fourth in game one and never looked back. Game two saw a 10-1 lead dwindle to two runs, but SVSU held out to take both games.
GAME 1 – SVSU 7 – Parkside 2
Hayden Jatczak got the start on the mound in game one as the Rangers jumped out to a quick two-run in the top half of the first after back-to-back singles brought runners across the plate. Austin Schweiger cut the deficit in half in the bottom half of the inning with a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Brandon Scheurer.
Jatczak knotted things up in the second with a single to center field that scored Jeff Reseigh. Jatczak was pulled after the third inning after surrendering seven hits, two runs, and recording three strikeouts. He was replaced by Jackson Decker (W, 6-0) who earned the win after two innings of work.
Brady Carpenter took the lead for the Cardinals in the fourth with a single to right field that scored Reseigh. Scheurer added two more with a single to center field before Schweiger hit a sacrifice fly to score Scheurer and SVSU pulled out to a 6-2 lead.
Reseigh brought the final run to the plate with a double to right field that allowed Lucas Mead to touch the plate and Parkside failed to threaten further in game one.
Scheurer finished game one 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs and two RBI. Jatczak was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Reseigh, Connor McClennen, and Jatczak all recorded doubles in the contest.
GAME 2 – SVSU 11 – Parkside 9
Chase Raymond (W, 8-2) earned the win as he started for SVSU and went 5.1 innings with four strikeouts in the winning effort.
Reed Raymond got the scoring started early with a single to center field in the bottom of the first to score Jatczak.
A single to right field scored a run for the Rangers in the third to tie the game at one run apiece. The bottom half of the inning saw four runs come home for the Cardinals as Schweiger started it with a single to left center to score Scheurer for the 2-0 advantage. Ryan Jarvis was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and a wild pitch scored another as SVSU extended the lead to 4-0. Connor Cornwell finished things with a sacrifice fly to right field and Saginaw Valley led 5-1 after three.
R. Raymond hit a double to left center to score Schweiger and Jatczak in the fourth to push the lead further. Jaccar Watkins doubled to right center to bring Con. Cornwell and Jarvis home and the lead was 9-1. Scheurer added a run on a sacrifice fly and the gap sat at nine runs after five innings.
Four hits, scored four runs in the sixth for Parkside as the Rangers chipped away at the deficit. Con. Cornwell added one last run in the bottom of the sixth with a single to left center and the score sat at 11-5 with three innings left to play.
Four more hits and one SVSU error pushed four more runs across the plate for Parkside and the lead dwindled to just two runs, 11-9, with two innings left to play.
The Cardinals closed out the final two innings with Nick Bastian on the mound in the eighth. Bastian allowed just one hit as the SVSU entered the final frame with the two-run edge intact. Scheurer pitched the final three outs to earn his fourth save after he struck out the side to seal the victory in game two.
Jatczak went 3-for-3 in game two with three runs and a triple to lead things offensively. R. Raymond recorded three RBI on two hits and a run to have a solid showing. Schweiger, Jarvis, Con. Cornwell and Watkins recorded two hits in game two. Watkins hit two doubles in the game to record his second multi-hit game this season.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals will conclude the regular season tomorrow with a single, 9-inning game against Parkside beginning at Noon EST.