WESTFIELD, Ind. – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team earned a split on Valentine's Day, earning a 14-3 (7-innings) win over Lewis before falling, 4-3, to Cedarville. Head coach Adam Piotrowicz earned his 100th career win with the Cardinals (2-2) in their win over the Flyers.
Game 1: Cardinals 14, Flyers 3 (7-innings)
Jack Sequin (W, 1-0) (Bay City, Mich. / Bay City Western HS) earned a win in his first career pitching appearance, tossing six innings and allowing three runs on six hits while earning two strikeouts.
Saginaw Valley State struck early, scoring four runs in the top of the first. Ryan Jarvis (Macomb, Mich. / Dakota HS) had a double to center field that scored Ethan Scheib (Mattawan, Mich. / Mattawan HS). Jarvis also scored on the play after he advanced home on an error. Connor Cornwell (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Henry Ford II HS) singled to right field to earn an RBI, sending Buck Snabes (Rochester, Mich. / Rochester Adams HS) home for the third run of the game. Cornwell later scored on a wild pitch.
The scoring onslaught continued in the second inning after Scheib swiped home. Austin Cicerone (Troy, Mich. / Troy) scored off a single from Jacob Pitt (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Grand Rapids Catholic Central HS) to make the score 6-1 at the end of the second.
The Cardinals tacked on another four runs in the fifth inning, highlighted by a two-RBI double from Scheib. Lewis tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the inning. SVSU put the game away with back-to-back two-run innings. Snabes had a two-RBI single in the sixth and Jarvis followed with one of his own in the seventh to give the Cardinals a 14-3 lead. Ryan Walters pitched the final inning of the game and faced just four hitters before striking out the final batter of the game.
Vince Gohlke (L, 0-1) was credited with the loss for Lewis. He pitched two innings and allowed six runs on four hits. Three Cardinals had multi-hit games, with Jarvis leading the way, going 3-for-5. Snabes and Aaron Bess (Boyne City, Mich. / Boyne City HS) both recorded two hits. SVSU swiped 13 bases in the game. Scheib led the team with an aggressive seven steals.
Game 2: Cardinals 3, Yellow Jackets 4
Saginaw Valley State fell to Cedarville in their second game of the day, 4-3. Chase Raymond (L, 0-1) (Standish, Mich. / Standish Sterling Central HS) made the start for SVSU. He threw for six innings, allowing four runs on six hits while striking out five. The two teams were deadlocked until the third inning when the Yellow Jackets went up 3-0. Jarvis scored on a sacrifice fly from Snabes in the fourth to open up the scoring for the Cardinals. Another run from Cedarville put them back up by three, 4-1, at the end of the fourth.
Saginaw Valley scored the final two runs of the game in the seventh inning on an RBI single from Sequin and a sac fly from Mitchell Walters (Shepherd, Mich. / Shepherd HS). The Yellow Jackets were able to hold on to their one-run lead for the final two innings to earn the victory.
Coen Ball (W, 2-0) earned the win for Cedarville after seven innings-pitched while Max Doepker (Sv, 1) blanked the Cardinals for the final two innings to earn the save. Ethan Marshall (Marlette, Mich. / Marlette HS) and Sam Briggs (Linwood, Mich. / Standish HS) pitched an inning each for SVSU, allowing zero hits and just one baserunner between the two of them. Jarvis and Bess led the Cardinals at the plate, both recording a hit and a run.
UP NEXT: Saginaw Valley State will head to Chillicothe, Ohio, for a four game series on February 20 and 21 against Lake Erie. They will play two doubleheaders with one on Friday and one on Saturday.