UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball program split their doubleheader against Grand Valley State University Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals (32-13, 19-7 GLIAC) dropped the first game 10-5 and then won game two 12-11 against the Lakers (22-22, 14-11 GLIAC).
With Davenport beating Wayne State on Saturday as well, SVSU clinched first place in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. It is the first time since 2002 that the Cardinals are GLIAC regular season champions.
There were 13 home runs hit between both teams over the 16 innings of play with SVSU hitting five of them. Hayden Jatczak hit two in game two for 14 on the year, tying him for the single season home run record for SVSU. Colin Cornwell, Austin Schweiger, and Lucas Mead all hit one home run.
Grand Valley led for most of game one. The Lakers scored four runs in the second inning and extended their lead in the fifth with another run to make it 5-0. SVSU cut into the lead in the bottom of the fifth as Schweiger hit a two-run home run, plating Jatczak with his second long ball of the season, to make it 5-2.
Chase Raymond (L, 7-2) pitched five innings in his start for Saginaw Valley. He allowed five runs, four earned, on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Mike Morawski (W, 5-2) pitched six innings as the starter for Grand Valley. He allowed two runs on seven hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
Matt Montroy took over in the sixth for the Cardinals, he retired one batter and hit one before Nick Bastian took the mound. An RBI double plated the lone runner attached to Montroy before a throwing error and a sacrifice fly plated an unearned run against Bastian.
Ben Kochany pitched the seventh for SVSU and allowed three runs on five hits as Grand Valley extended the lead to 10-2. The Cardinals scored three in their half of the inning as well. A Col. Cornwell RBI single followed by a Schweiger RBI double, and a Reed Raymond RBI groundout made it 10-5 Lakers.
The second game was back and forth with major momentum swings. The Lakers jumped ahead 3-0 in the first before Col. Cornwell hit a three-run home run to tie the game in the bottom half of the inning. Later in the inning, Austin Cicerone singled to score Schweiger to give SVSU a 4-3 lead.
GVSU tied the game in the next half inning with a solo home run. Jatczak gave the Cardinals the lead again with his first of two home runs in the game, this one a two-run home run to make it 6-4. Two scoreless innings followed until Grand Valley smashed another home run, a two-run shot, to tie the game 6-6 in the fifth inning. Both starting pitchers went four innings allowing six runs. Steven Hecht allowed eight hits and two walks while striking out three for SVSU while Michael Riley allowed five hits and three walks over his four innings for the Lakers.
In the bottom of the sixth, freshman outfielder Lucas Mead hit his first career home run to put the Cardinals up 7-6. Jatczak followed with his second home run of the game, his 14th of the season, extending the lead to three runs.
Jackson Decker (W, 5-0) pitched three innings allowing one run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The lone run, a solo shot in the seventh, cut the lead to 9-7 for SVSU. Saginaw Valley added insurance runs in the seventh as they loaded the bases. A wild pitch scored one before Jeff Reseigh delivered a two-RBI double to make it 12-7.
Brandon Scheurer took over the pitching duties in the eighth allowing one run on one hit in his inning of work. R. Raymond pitched the ninth and allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits and two strikeouts to finish the game with the 12-11 final score.
Cardinal baseball completes their regular season as they host Parkside next week to a four-game series. Game one of the series starts at 3:00 PM on Friday, May 3.