MIDLAND, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State
University softball team split with Northwood University today
(Apr. 14) in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
(GLIAC) contest. The Cardinals took game one winning 5-2, but
fell in game two with a score of 6-2.
Game One
Saginaw Valley came out swinging their bats in game one scoring
one run in the first inning when senior Billi Hoeppner (Hemlock,
Mich.) led off with a walk. Lauren Memmer (White Lake, Mich.
/ Lakeland HS) singled to left field and Jessica McKeith (River
Rouge, Mich.) singled to center field scoring Hoeppner.
Northwood answered back scoring one unearned run in the bottom of
the first innings. Saginaw Valley continued to string their
hits together scoring two runs in the second inning to put them up
3-2. Freshman Kailah Happ (Waterford, Mich.) led off the
inning with a single to right center and senior Nicole Bigelow
(Grandville, Mich.) singled to second base. Junior Ashley Jordan (Freeland, Mich.) singled to center field scoring both
Hoeppner and Bigelow.
Northwood tried to come back one more time on the Cardinals in
the bottom of the second inning scoring one more run in the
contest. Saginaw Valley scored two more times in the game,
once in the fourth inning when McKeith reached on a fielding error
and scored Ashley Coffin (Sterling Heights, Mich.). The
Cardinals final run came in the sixth inning when Memmer singled to
left field scoring Coffin.
Memmer started game one in the circle for Saginaw Valley making
her 3-2 on the season with eight strikeouts and only one
walk. Hoeppner and Coffin both went two-for-two for the
Cardinals.
Game Two
Northwood got on the board early taking a 2-0 advantage over the
Cardinals in the top of the first inning and increased their lead
to four in the top of the fifth. Saginaw Valley was finally
able to string some hits together in the bottom of the fifth
scoring one run. Coffin led off the inning with a single to
left field and Bigelow singled through the right side of the
field. Coffin came around to score when Hoeppner grounded out
to the left side of the field.
The Cardinals would be able to only put one more run on the
board in the bottom of the sixth inning. Saginaw Valley
capitalized on two walks and a hit by sophomore Kalie Burdick
(Milford, Mich.) scoring one run in what looked like a two out
rally in the bottom of the inning. The Timberwolves were able
to score two more runs in the top of the seventh inning off of
Cardinal errors.
Senior Kari Bowlby (Elkhart, Ind.) got the start in the circle
for game two, pitching a complete game with three strikeouts.
Bowlby is now 7-1 on the season.
With the split Saginaw Valley falls to 22-5 overall on the
season, and 9-3 in the GLIAC, while Northwood falls to 15-11
overall on the season, and 7-2 in the GLIAC. The Cardinals
will be back in action on Sunday (Apr. 18) when they travel to
Wayne State for a GLIAC contest. The double header is
scheduled to start at 12:00pm.
