INDIANAPOLIS – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team defeated Ashland 5-2 on Thursday afternoon in the team's first NCAA Division II Midwest Regional matchup. The Cardinals (38-14) rallied back from two down to score three runs in the fourth before adding two insurance runs in the sixth and collecting the victory over the Eagles (32-18).
Ashland broke the scoreless tie in the top of the second with a two-run home run over the left field fence to go up 2-0 early.
SVSU had runners on the corners with two outs in the third inning, but stranded the runners after a fly out to left field for the final out.
The fourth inning proved to be the difference. Kate Pnacek (Coleman, Mich. / Coleman HS) singled through the left side to lead the inning off with a baserunner. She advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored after a throwing error to first base advanced her two bases and gave Mya Purdy (Chelsea, Mich. / Chelsea HS) second. Purdy would swipe third on a wild pitch with no outs.
A second throwing error by Ashland allowed Purdy to score, and the Cardinals took a 3-2 lead with three innings left to play.
Aalana Kimble (Kentwood, Mich. / East Kentwood HS) brought two more runs in with two out in the bottom of the sixth on a single to right field that scored Natalie Savage (Howell, Mich. / Howell HS) and Emily Schmeltz (Union, Ky. / Cooper HS) to widen the gap to three runs.
SVSU pitcher Macy Irelan (Owosso, Mich. / Owosso HS) (W, 17-4) finished her day forcing a pop out to third, a strikeout, and a second pop out to second base to seal her 17th win of the season. Irelan finished with four hits, two earned runs, a walk, and six strikeouts in the victory.
Ella Reifschneider (Hudsonville, Mich. / Hudsonville HS) was the only Cardinal with two hits as she finished 2-for-3 with a run scored. Kimble had the only two RBIs for SVSU. Elliott, Pnacek, Ella Schneider (Southfield, Mich. / Berkley HS), and Faith Maloney (Macomb, Mich. / Dakota HS) recorded base hits for SVSU.
UP NEXT: The Cardinals will face host UIndy tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. (ET), The winner moves on to the final day, needing to be beaten twice. The losing team will play the winner of the 1:30 p.m. matchup between Tiffin and Ashland in an elimination game at 4:00 p.m. (ET).
