COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 25 Saginaw Valley State University softball team traveled to Ohio Dominican University for a two-day, three-team round-robin series with the host team and West Liberty University starting Friday in Columbus, Ohio.

The Cardinals used a strong game on the mound from Emily Depew to take the opener 2-1 over West Liberty. SVSU let a two-run lead slip away against Ohio Dominican, falling 5-4 in eight innings, the first loss of the season for the Cardinals.

The split moves SVSU to 6-1 overall.

Against West Liberty, Depew tossed all seven innings, allowing one unearned run on four hits and two walks, striking out eight to move to 2-0 on the season.

After falling behind 1-0 in the top of the frame, SVSU scored its only two runs of the contest in the third. Jessica Kreuzer tripled home a run and was later driven home on a sacrifice fly by Sarah Gersch.

In the second game of the day against ODU, the Cardinals took a 2-1 lead with a pair of runs in the third, including an RBI single from Gersch.

After the Panthers tied the game in the fifth, Kreuzer put SVSU back up in the sixth with a sacrifice fly RBI, while Meagan VerVaecke added an RBI single later in the innings. The Panthers rallied with one run each in the sixth, seventh, and eighth to secure the win.

Julia Mundy got the start for SVSU, pitching six innings, allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits, while walking two and striking out two. Alyssa Muench took the loss in relief, allowing one earned run in 1.1 innings.

The Cardinals play West Liberty at 11 am, followed by a rematch with ODU at 1 pm on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.