CHILLICOTHE, Ohio – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team completed a four-game weekend sweep of Lake Erie College on Saturday, earning a 9-0 shutout in game one before securing an 8-3 victory in the finale. The Cardinals (6-2) outscored the Storm (0-7) 48-10 across the series.
Game One: Saginaw Valley 9, Lake Erie 0
Freshman Jack Sequin (W, 2-0) (Bay City, Mich. / Bay City Western) delivered a performance to remember in just his second collegiate appearance, tossing a seven-inning no-hitter to lead the Cardinals to a 9-0 victory. He allowed two walks and hit a batter but erased two off the base paths with a double play and a caught stealing to face one batter above the minimum.. The Bay City native needed just 71 pitches to complete the gem and improve to 2-0 on the season.
Offensively, Aaron Bess (Boyne City, Mic. / Boyne City HS) set the tone with a solo home run to center field in the top of the first, his second home run of the year. The Cardinals added two more in the fourth when Jacob Pitt (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Catholic Central HS) singled home Ryan Jarvis (Macomb, Mich. / Dakota HS) and Connor Cornwell (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Henry Ford II HS) followed with a sacrifice fly to score Lucas Mead (Gladwin, Mich. / Gladwin HS).
Saginaw Valley broke the game open in the fifth. Mitchell Walters (Shepherd, Mich. / Shepherd HS) walked and later scored on a Buck Snabes (Rochester, Mich. / Rochester Adams HS) RBI single. Pitt then doubled to center to drive in Mead and Jarvis before Cornwell added an RBI single to make it 7-0.
The Cardinals tacked on two more in the seventh. Pitt doubled again to plate Jordan Lewis (Chesterfield, Mich. / L'Anse Creuse HS North), who was pinch running for Mead, and Cornwell lifted his second sacrifice fly of the afternoon to bring home Pitt.
Pitt led the way at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and four RBI. Cornwell drove in three, while Jarvis added two hits and scored twice as SVSU collected 11 hits in the shutout win.
Game Two: Saginaw Valley 8, Lake Erie 3
Saginaw Valley opened the scoring in the first when Bess drove in Ethan Scheib (Mattawan, Mich. / Mattawan HS) with a sacrifice fly. After Lake Erie tied the game on a solo home run in the bottom half, the Cardinals responded with three runs in the third. Cornwell drew a bases-loaded walk to score Snabes, Walters followed with another RBI walk, and J.T. Thomas (Howell, Mich. / Howell HS) added a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 4-1.
In the fourth, Scheib stole all three bases including home and Jarvis later scored on a wild pitch to extend the advantage to 6-1. Scheib now has 16 stolen bases to start the season. Snabes added an RBI bunt single in the sixth, and Walters drew another bases-loaded walk in the eighth to cap the scoring for SVSU.
Snabes paced the offense, finishing 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Scheib crossed the plate three times, while Jarvis walked twice and scored once. The Cardinals drew 13 walks in the game and swiped five bases.
On the mound, Chase Raymond (W, 1-1) (Standish, Mich. / Standish Sterling Central HS) earned the win, striking out 10 over five innings while allowing just one run on two hits. Steve Getts (Walled Lake, Mich. / Walled Lake Central HS) and Ryan Walters (South Lyon, Mich. / South Lyon HS) followed with scoreless frames before Drew Ferguson (Rockford, Mich. / Rockford HS) and Brady Baalaer (Macomb, Mich. / L'Anse Creuse HS North) handled the final two innings to secure the victory. The pitching staff struck out 16 batters in the second game for 22 on the day.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley starts their spring break trip next week as they head to Maryville for a three-game weekend series. The Cardinals play the Saints one game on each day starting Friday, February 27. Afterwards, they head to Florida for the RussMatt Invitational to play five games in four days.