NORTH CANTON, Ohio - The Saginaw Valley State University softball team added two more wins against Great Lakes Intercollegaite Athletic Conference (GLIAC) competition, defeating opponent Lake Erie College twice on Saturday (Mar. 22).
The Cardinals beat the Storm 18-4 in game one before defeating them again in game two of the doubleheader, 20-6.
Game One
The Storm began the game with a home run that plated two, giving them an early 2-0 lead. SVSU wasted no time responding. Marcy Medina earned a two-out walk that brought Lindsay Hayward to the plate. The senior infielder stepped in the box and ripped a home run of her own to center field. Chelsea Adcock knocked in Amanda Best who reached on a walk just a few batters later, giving the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.
The bottom of the second inning was an offensive explosion for Saginaw Valley. 14 runs were scored off of 11 hits that were highlighted by nine singles, a Shelby Weeks double and a two-run home run off the bat of Kari Knight. SVSU owned a 17-2 lead after two innings.
Both teams would exchange runs in the third inning, making the score 18-3. The Storm capped-off the scoring by plating another run in the top of the fourth.
SV closed out the game in five innings by a score of 18-4.
After relieving Alexa Gehrls, Sarah Vrabel surrendered four hits, one earned run and one walk in her four innings of work. The sophomore improves to 4-2 on the year.
Knight led the Cardinals with four hits and four RBIs in the contest.
Game Two
SV continued the strong offense in game two. Weeks led the game off with a single to left field which brought Mackenzie Rousse up to bat. The center fielder ripped a double over the left fielder, scoring Weeks. Two batters later, Best would score Medina on a double down the left field line. Adcock scored Best and Romain, who reached on an error by the first baseman giving the Cards a 4-0 lead.
Lake Erie responded with three runs of their own, making the score 4-3.
Two singles and two walks for SV equivilated into three more runs in the top of the second inning. The Storm added a run in the bottom of the inning, taking the score to 6-4.
The six-run third innings shining moment was Best's second home run of the season that gave the Cardinals a 13-5 advantage after Lake Erie added a run in the bottom of the third.
With the bases loaded Kari Knight ignited the crowd with a grand slam, followed by a first-pitch home run from Best. The Storm plated a single run the rest of the game. SVSU took the second game by a final score of 20-6.
Sam Willman, Alexa Gehrls and Sarah Appold contributed to the win for SV. Appold is now 4-0 on the season.
Amanda Best and Kari Knight led the team with four RBIs while both hit balls out of the park.
The Cardinals improve to 12-3 on the seaon and 4-0 in the GLIAC. The team will be back in action Saturday (Mar. 29) as they take on Wayne State at home. The doubleheader will begin at noon.