UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team fell 11-7 to No. 6 Grand Valley State on Saturday afternoon at the SVSU Baseball Complex. Ryan Jarvis (Macomb, Mich. / Dakota HS) hit two home runs marking the first multi-home run game by a Cardinal this season.

The Cardinals (20-18, 9-10 GLIAC) struck first in the opening inning. Aaron Bess (Boyne City, Mich. / Boyne City HS) singled and Lucas Mead (Gladwin, Mich. / Gladwin HS) followed with a double down the left-field line to put two runners in scoring position. Jarvis then launched a three-run home run to right to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. Later in the inning, Buck Snabes (Rochester, Mich. / Rochester Adams HS) singled and came around to score on a Grand Valley fielding error, pushing the advantage to 4-0.

Grand Valley responded with an eight-run second inning to swing the momentum and take an 8-4 lead. The Lakers took advantage of two walks and a hit batter along with seven hits to put up the biggest inning of the series.

Jarvis continued his big afternoon in the third, blasting his second home run of the game and his fourth of the year with a solo shot to right-center. The home run trimmed the deficit to 10-5 after the Lakers added two unearned runs in the top half of the inning.

Grand Valley added one more run in the fifth to extend the lead to 11-5. The Cardinals mounted a late rally in the eighth when Chase Miller (Walkerton, Ind. / John Glenn HS) doubled to left field to score Brady Carpenter (Oxford, Mich. / Oxford HS). Bess followed with an RBI single to right to bring SVSU within 11-7 and later stole second to move into scoring position, but the comeback attempt fell short.

Jarvis finished 2-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI to pace the offense. Bess went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a stolen base, while Miller added three hits and an RBI as the Cardinals totaled 13 hits on the afternoon.

Sam Briggs (L, 0-1) (Linwood, Mich. / Standish HS) took the loss after allowing eight runs in 1.2 innings. Dan Wilcome (Cheboygan, Mich. / Cheboygan Area HS) provided 2.1 innings of relief and allowed two runs, neither earned. Steve Getts (Walled Lake, Mich. / Walled Lake Central HS) and Andrew Pohlmann (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Grandville HS) combined to toss the final five innings, limiting the Lakers to one run and keeping the Cardinals within striking distance.

Up Next: Saginaw Valley closes its weekend series with No. 6 Grand Valley State tomorrow, Sunday, April 19. The Cardinals host the Lakers at 12:00 PM for Senior Day. The ceremony will take place before the game at 11:30 AM.