UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team split the non-conference doubleheader against rival Northwood at home on Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinals (22-10) committed five errors in a sloppy first game, falling 11-3 in five innings to the Timberwolves (11-17). SVSU returned the favor in the nightcap with an 8-0 win after five to complete the split.
GAME 1: Northwood 11 – SVSU 3 (5 Innings)
The Timberwolves took the early lead with an RBI single up the middle in the top of the second for the 1-0 edge.
Lillia Sherman (Millington, Mich. / Millington HS) hit a double to center field to reach scoring position and was replaced by pinch runner Emily Schmeltz (Union, Ky. / Cooper HS). Ella Reifschneider (Hudsonville, Mich. / Hudsonville HS) reached on an error that moved Schmeltz to third base. Reifschneider then went for a steal at second, and Schmeltz scored on the throw to tie things up at one run apiece.
Aalana Kimble (Kentwood, Mich. / East Kentwood HS) broke the tie with a single through the right side that scored Reifschneider, and the Cardinals held a 2-1 lead after two innings of play.
Two Cardinal errors and five hits from Northwood put six runs on the board for the Timberwolves in the third, and the visitors took a 7-2 advantage into the bottom half of the third inning.
Reifschneider singled up the middle in the home half to score Olivia Elliott (Baroda, Mich. / Berrien Springs HS) to cut the lead to four runs.
An RBI single to right field in the fourth added another run for Northwood before three more scored in the fifth off two hits and two more SVSU errors to put the score where it would be when the game went final (11-3).
Emma Helvie (Markle, Ind. / Huntington North HS), Sherman, and Reifschneider finished with two hits. Reifschneider and Kimble split the team's two RBI in the contest. Makenzie Cammenga (Hudsonville, Mich. / Hudsonville Unity Christian HS) (L, 0-1) got the start in the circle for the Cardinals. She went 2.0 innings and surrendered five hits and three earned runs. Elliott pitched 1.2 innings in relief and struck out one batter while giving up three earned runs and five hits. Kimble entered the circle for one-third of an inning before Delaney Conley (Gladwin, Mich. / Gladwin HS) entered for the final inning to close things out with a strikeout and one hit allowed.
GAME 2: SVSU 8 – Northwood 0 (5 Innings)
The Timberwolves doubled in the second inning and would get no closer to scoring for the remainder of game two. Macy Irelan (Owosso, Mich. / Owosso HS) (W, 10-4) earned her 10th win of the season in dominant fashion as she sat down five of the first 10 Timberwolves on strikes through the first three innings of play.
Kate Pnacek (Coleman, Mich. / Coleman HS) got the scoring going in the bottom of the third with a home run that hit the scoreboard over the center field fence and gave SVSU the 1-0 lead.
Elliott blasted a three-run home run to right-center in the fourth to extend the advantage to 4-0. Pnacek struck again with an RBI double with two outs to score Reifschneider. Jenna Morse (Bay City, Mich. / Bay City Central HS) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded for another run, and a passed ball on the next play scored another to finish a six-run inning for the Cardinals.
The Timberwolves had a lineout, flyout, and strikeout in the top of the fifth to put SVSU back on offense with just one run needed to end the game early.
Elliott doubled to right field to lead things off. She would move over to second on a groundout before Sherman hit a walk-off single to bring her home and end game two.
Pnacek finished perfect at the plate, going 2-for-2, with a home run and a double for two RBI. Elliott (2-for-3) had two hits with a home run and three RBI. Helvie, Sherman, Reifschneider, and Natalie Savage (Howell, Mich. / Howell HS) tallied a hit in the final game of the afternoon.
Irelan finished with eight strikeouts and only gave up two hits to improve to 10-4 on the season. She finished her 10th complete game and fifth shutout of the year.
UP NEXT: The Cardinals hit the road for a pair of GLIAC doubleheaders this weekend. They begin in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Saturday, April 11, to face Parkside at 1:00 p.m., before heading to Illinois to play Roosevelt on Sunday, April 12, at 1:00 p.m. (ET).
