University Center, Mich. – Saginaw Valley State University baseball had their first Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference games of the 2023 season Friday as they hosted Purdue University Northwest. The Cardinals (10-9, 2-0) swept the doubleheader against The Pride (4-12, 0-2) with a 7-1 and 3-2 victory.
SVSU starting pitching was on display Friday as game one starter Tyler McLaren (W, 4-0) pitched a complete game in the seven-inning series opener. For game two, Hunter Merillat (W, 3-0) pitched the most innings in an appearance by a Cardinal this season when he threw eight scoreless innings.
McLaren got run support early with SVSU scoring three in the bottom of the first. Jaccar Watkins singled and stole second. Tucker Roe laid down a sacrifice bunt and on a throwing error, Watkins scored and Roe moved to third. After Colin Cornwell walked, Martin Money bounced into an RBI fielder's choice. Two more runners got on before Scheurer also had an RBI fielder's choice to make it 3-0.
Roe added another run with an RBI ground out in the second before Colin Cornwell extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a two-run double in the fourth to make it 6-0. Cornwell did not get a hit in game two, ending his streak at 13 games. Roe tallied his second RBI with a single in the sixth adding more insurance for McLaren and the Cardinals.
The Pride scored one in the seventh to make it 7-1, but McLaren kept the damage to just one run. He pitched seven innings allowing one unearned run on five hits and struck out six. Sam Shively (L, 0-3) pitched all six innings for Purdue Northwest, allowing seven runs, four earned, on five hits and two walks.
Game two was a slower start for SVSU. Five scoreless innings between the two teams before Saginaw Valley put up three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Cornwell reached on a hit by pitch before Money walked to put two on for Austin Schweiger. A wild pitch put both of them in scoring position and then Schweiger singled to right to score both runners. Schweiger scooted to second on the throw home, allowing him to score on an error two batters later making it 3-0.
Merillat allowed three hits in his eight innings of work as he struck out six. This is the longest outing by a starter for SVSU this season. SVSU is 5-1 when their starters go at least six innings.
The Pride didn't go down without a fight. Reed Raymond (Sv, 3) was the lone bullpen arm thrown on Friday and had some trouble at first. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases. Raymond got a strike out, and then a single scored two and put the tying runner 90 feet away. The next batter grounded one back to Raymond, who made the turn to second to start the double play to end the game.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals host Grand Valley State University (11-4, 0-0) on Sunday for the second conference doubleheader of the weekend. A 1:00 p.m. first pitch at SVSU Baseball Complex with game two following roughly 30 minutes afterward game one.
