INSTITUTE, W.Va. -- Saginaw Valley State began another weekend on the road on Friday (Feb. 21) with a contest at West Virginia State University. Despite one tough inning, the Cardinals came out on top and defeated the Yellow Jackets by a final score of 13-8.
With the win, SVSU moves to 3-0 overall on the season while West Virginia State falls to 1-4 on the 2020 season.
Thomas Loftus was the catalyst in the first inning for the Cardinals, drilling a solo home run to start the scoring and help the visitors to a 3-0 lead. Four more came in the top of the 2nd inning in response to a single run from the Jackets to put SV up 7-1. Those runs came via bases-loaded walks to Collin Winters and Joshua Riggs, as well as a two-RBI single from Mitch Morley.
A sac fly from Hunter Merillat pushed the lead to 8-1 in the 4th, but West Virginia State responded with eight straight runs, including five in the bottom of the 7th, to knot the game at 8-8.
The Cards responded in a big way, however, scoring four runs in the visitor half of the 8th on RBI from Morley, Anthony Kania, Andrew Burke and Brandon Scheurer to make the score 12-8. Another unanswered run from Saginaw Valley came in the 9th when Tucker Roe had a sac fly of his own, putting the game at its final count of 13-8.
Inside the Boxscore
- The 1st inning long ball from Loftus was the first of his Cardinal career. He finished with two hits, two runs and an RBI.
- Morley finished with three hits, three RBI and a run scored.
- Scheurer and Winters each added two hits with an RBI. Winters walked three times as well.
- Riggs had a hit and RBI with a trio of walks as well.
- Burke and Kania each had a base knock and run driven-in as well.
On the Mound
- Brandon Wise got the start on the bump for the Cards, tossing 5.0 innings. He allowed two runs (1 ER) on six hits. He walked just two and struck-out six batters.
- Ryan Steinhauer picked up his first first collegiate victory in relief of Kyle Henigan. He worked 2.1 innings, allowing just a single hit with two strikeouts and zero walks.
Up Next...
The Cards face the University of Illinois-Springfield on Saturday (Feb. 22) in a noon matchup at West Virginia State. Stay tuned to svsucardinals.com later on Saturday for full results from that contest.
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