UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team earned two dominant wins over Roosevelt in the home opener on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (16-8, 6-0 GLIAC) remain unbeaten in GLIAC play with the wins.
GAME ONE: SVSU 8 – Roosevelt 0 (6 Innings)
Aalana Kimble (Kentwood, Mich. / East Kentwood HS) (W, 7-3) was dominant inside the circle and at the plate in game one. She finished with five strikeouts while only surrendering two hits in six innings of work pitching and was 3-for-4 with a triple, a run scored, and an RBI at the plate.
Kate Pnacek (Coleman, Mich. / Coleman HS) hit an RBI double to score Kenzie Bromley (Petoskey, Mich. / Petoskey HS) in the home half of the second inning for the 1-0 lead. Natalie Savage (Howell, Mich. / Howell HS) hit a sacrifice fly to center field on the next at-bat to bring Ella Schneider (Southfield, Mich. / Berkley HS) home to double the advantage to two runs after two innings played.
Ella Reifschneider (Hudsonville, Mich. / Hudsonville HS) singled in the fourth to score Bromley a second time in the fourth to extend the lead to three. Mya Purdy (Chelsea, Mich. / Chelsea HS) singled to score Kimble in the fifth to widen the game a little more.
The lead doubled in the sixth inning when SVSU brought four runs in to end the game with the 8-0 win. Reifschneider doubled to bring Emma Bolding (Greenfield, Ind. / Eastern Hancock HS) across the plate. Pnacek singled on the next at-bat to score Reifschneider to put the score at 6-0. Kimble singled to score Pnacek and move Savage to third base before Purdy finished things off with a single to score Savage and end the game.
Purdy (2-for-4), Reifschneider (2-for-3), and Pnacek (2-for-3) finished with two hits and two RBI. Bromley scored twice and finished with a hit. Schneider tallied a hit and a run to contribute to the winning effort.
GAME TWO: SVSU 16 – Roosevelt 2 (5 Innings)
The Lakers got on the board first in game two with two runs in the second inning. The first came on a walk with the bases loaded before a single on the next at-bat gave Roosevelt its first lead of the afternoon.
The Cardinals responded with a huge bottom half of the inning, beginning with a Bromley double to lead off. Reifschneider singled two at-bats later to score Bromley and trim the deficit to one run with just one out. Reifschneider then stole second and third before Pnacek brought her home with a single to knot things up. A walk by Savage and a single by Kimble loaded the bases. Lillia Sherman (Millington, Mich. / Millington HS) walked to bring Pnacek home to give SVSU a 3-2 advantage. Olivia Elliott (Baroda, Mich. / Berrien Springs HS) busted things open two plays later with a grand slam that put SVSU up by six runs. Two Laker errors surrendered two runs in the inning as well, and the Cardinals led 9-2 after two frames.
Savage added the 10th run with a solo home run to lead off the third and finished the game with a grand slam in the fourth to extend the lead to 15-2. The final run of the game was scored off a double by Gabby Crumm (Sebewaing, Mich. / Unionville-Sebewaing Area HS) that brought Evelynn Rybicki (Freeland, Mich. / Freeland HS) home for the final tally of the game.
Savage had the big bat in game two as she was a perfect 2-for-2 with two home runs and five RBI. Pnacek and Elliott also compiled two hits in the game, with Elliott adding four RBI and Pnacek two. Grace Schloop got the start in the circle and recorded two strikeouts in her one inning of work. Delaney Conley (Gladwin, Mich. / Gladwin HS) (W, 1-0) entered in relief and earned her first win of the season with 3.0 innings pitched in the appearance. She surrendered three hits, no runs, and struck out two Lakers. Makenzie Cammenga (Hudsonville, Mich. / Hudsonville Unity Christian HS) closed it out with one inning and one strikeout.
UP NEXT: The Cardinals host Parkside tomorrow (Sunday, March 29) for a GLIAC doubleheader beginning at Noon ET.
