Detroit, Mich. – Saginaw Valley State University baseball traveled down to Wayne State University Tuesday afternoon for a single Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) match-up. The Warriors (17-3, 5-0) showed why they are the number one team in the conference with a 11-2 win over SVSU (10-12, 2-3).
Saginaw Valley got on the board first with two runs in the first inning. Reed Raymond doubled to lead of the game and was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Tucker Roe. Colin Cornwell singled him home for his team leading 20th RBI of the season to give them a 1-0 lead. After Austin Schweiger reached on a throwing error, Jeffrey Reseigh singled home Cornwell from second to double the lead.
Wayne State didn't let the lead last. Two singles in the bottom of the first scored on an error in the inning and tied the game at 2-2. In the third, the Warriors snagged their first lead. With two outs, a double and a walk put two on, and a home run brought three in to make it 5-2 for WSU.
SVSU starter JJ Arbini (L, 0-1) pitched four innings allowing five runs, three of them earned, on four hits and struck out one. His counterpart, Griffin Kilander (W, 4-1) pitched seven inning for Wayne State, allowing seven hits, two runs, one earned, and had one strikeout as well.
Christopher Schmees took over in the fifth and started his outing with two scoreless innings. In the seventh, the Warriors added on. Another two-out rally as a walk and a single scored on another three-run home run. Then, another walk scored on a double making it 9-2. Schmees completed three innings of work with five runs against and punched out three Warriors.
A hit batter started the bottom of the eighth, and Thomas Shipley came in to pitch. A single and a walk loaded the bases before a fielder's choice tallied one more run. The next batter hit a sacrifice fly to score one more making it 11-2. After another single, Nolan Raymond came in to finish the inning. He struck out the only batter he faced.
The bright spots in the Cardinal lineup were Roe who finished 2-for-2 with a walk, and Jaccar Watkins who went 1-for-3 with a single to extend his hitting streak to eight games.
UP NEXT
SVSU baseball ends the month of March going 8-8 moving them to 10-12 on the year. They head to Davenport this weekend for another pod-style GLIAC conference weekend. The Cardinals have a doubleheader against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside (7-11, 1-3) on Saturday before a doubleheader against Davenport University (7-17, 1-3) on Sunday. First pitch for both days is set for 1:00 p.m. at Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex in Caledonia, Mich.