UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw
Valley State baseball team got a solid game from freshman pitcher
Ryan Longstreth (Beaverton, Mich.) who went eight innings, allowing
six hits, one run and striking out six batters in the
Cardinals' victory over University of Findlay, 9-1 today
(March 22). The Cardinals won the series, 2-1.
With Longstreth's strong performance, the Cardinal bats were
just as powerful with 12 hits on the game, and the defense was just
as precise as SVSU only allowed one run to score.
Saginaw Valley took a 3-0 lead over the Oilers in the bottom of
the second inning when freshman Jason Potts (Hartland, Mich.) had a
fielder's choice RBI single, scoring freshman Mike VanAlst
(Clio, Mich.). Junior Kevin Dore (Bay City, Mich.) stepped into the
batter's box and hit a single to right field, scoring Potts
and sophomore Dustin Mayner (Gaines, Mich.).
Saginaw Valley held the three run advantage heading into the
bottom of the seventh inning until junior Ryan Webber (Clio, Mich.)
stepped up to plate, hitting a two-run single, scoring senior Kevin
Schwedler (Midland, Mich.) and Dore, making the score 5-0. Junior
Josh Peterson (Midland, Mich.) drove a single to left field,
knocking in junior Charlie Thomas (Northville, Mich.), giving the
Cardinals a six run lead, 6-0.
The Cardinals let only one run score in the top of the eighth
inning, but strongly responded with a three-run bottom half of the
inning, courtesy of a bunt laid down by Dore, as well as a two-run
single hit by Thomas, bumping up the lead to 9-1 heading into the
Oilers' final at bats.
As the ninth inning started, sophomore pitcher Ed Naperalski
(Grand Rapids, Mich.) took over on the mound, and immediately got
the first batter out on a ground ball back to the mound. The Oilers
got their next batter on with a single to right field before the
next batter grounded into double play to end the game.
The win moves the Cardinals to 5-12 overall, and 2-3 in the GLIAC,
while the Oilers fall to 3-14 overall, and 1-3 in the GLIAC. SVSU
will return to action at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 25 for
double-header action against Hillsdale College.
