ST. LOUIS – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team rallied from an early 6-2 deficit to defeat Maryville 12-7 Friday afternoon in the series opener. The Cardinals (7-2) hit three home runs and tallied 14 hits in the comeback victory over the Saints (4-7).
SVSU got on the board first with two runs in the second. Buck Snabes (Rochester, Mich. / Rochester Adams HS) singled and later scored on an RBI double down the left field line from Austin Cicerone (Troy, Mich. / Troy HS). Connor Cornwell (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Henry Ford II HS) followed with an RBI single to right to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
Maryville responded immediately, plating five runs in the bottom half of the second and adding another in the third to go in front 6-2. The Cardinals got a pair back in the fourth as Jack Sequin (Bay City, Mich. / Bay City Western HS) doubled home Cicerone and later scored on a Ryan Jarvis (Macomb, Mich. / Dakota HS) RBI single to make it 6-4. The Saints extended their lead for the final time with another RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, pushing Maryville ahead 7-4.
Jacob Pitt (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Catholic Central HS) and Sequin continued to chip away with power as both hit solo home runs for their first as Cardinals. It was the fifth long ball of Pitt's career after transferring from Grand Rapids Community College and Sequin's first career bomb as they came in the fifth and sixth innings respectively.
The decisive inning came in the seventh. After Aaron Bess (Boyne City, Mich. / Boyne City HS) singled and Snabes doubled to right center, Cicerone ripped a two-run triple to left to put the Cardinals ahead 8-7. Cornwell then lifted a sacrifice fly to right, bringing home Cicerone extending the lead.
The Cardinals added insurance in the ninth. Pinch runner Jordan Lewis (Chesterfield, Mich. / L'Anse Creuse HS North) scored on an RBI single from Snabes, and Cornwell put the game away with a two-run homer to left center, his first of the season and third of his career, to make it 12-7.
Cicerone and Snabes both went 3-for-5 in the win and scored three runs. Cicerone had three RBI as well as Cornwell led the team in RBI with four on his 2-for-4 performance. Cicerone was also a home run shy of the cycle while Sequin delivered a two-extra base hit performance with a double and home run in the nine spot of the lineup.
Jack Decker (Farmington Hills, Mich. / North Farmington HS) got the start and pitched four innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits and a walk, while striking out five. Nathan Masar (W, 3-0) (Midland, Mich. / Bullock Creek HS) piggybacked the game out of the bullpen and pitched the final five innings, allowing one hit and striking out nine, in the scoreless outing.
Up Next: Saginaw Valley baseball is back at it with Maryville on Saturday, February 28. The Cardinals and Saints originally had a single game on Saturday and the series finale on Sunday, but expected weather on Sunday has pushed the game forward a day and created a doubleheader on Saturday to wrap up the series. SVSU heads down to Florida for the remainder of their spring break trip next week to play five games in four days.