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Printer-Friendly ModeLady Cards split two doubleheaders
April 4, 2005 —
The Saginaw Valley State University softball team split its first two conference doubleheaders this past weekend, staying above .500 for the seasons.
The games were the first for the Lady Cardinals in two weeks, as poor weather conditions cancelled their GLIAC Showdown Tournament scheduled for Friday and Saturday, March 25-26.
The Cardinals opened up conference play on Friday, splitting a doubleheader at rival Grand Valley State.
The Lakers won the first game 1-0, while SVSU bounced back and won the second game by the same score.
The first game of the series showed the rust that SVSU experienced. GVSU scored in the bottom of the seventh inning off a Megan Smith single to left, which led Denise Ireton to come in for the score and the victory.
Junior Karen Ray was on the mound for the Cardinals and pitched six and 1/3 innings with seven hits and four strike outs, bringing her season total to 49. The loss put Ray at 4-4 on the season.
In relief for the Lakers was Alllison Crews, who picked up the win by pitching in the top of the seventh and shutting down any hope for an SVSU comeback. Kristin Jenner pitched most of the game for GVSU and allowed four hits, with six strikeouts.
The Cards only scoring threat came in the top of the third inning, with sophomore Sara Seronko leading off and hitting a triple to right field. Junior Monica Sims followed the triple with a walk and stolen base. With runners on both second and third base, SVSU went out with consecutive strikeouts by senior Katie Albert and sophomore Lorelea Rice and a fly out by junior Tabitha Greenwood.
In Game Two, the Cardinals started to find the groove that had previously propelled them to win five out of their last eight games.
The win was possible via some late-inning heroics by senior Emily Byram, whose single to center field sparked a scoring drive that ended with Sims hitting to left center that brought Byram in for the score and ended the game.
GVSU was unable to get anything going in the second game, as they were held down offensively the entire game. Stellar pitching for the Cardinals was the key to the successful win.
Lorelea Rice pitched a complete game and only gave up five hits for SVSU. She stuck out three and improved her record to 4-2 on the season. Sims went 2-for-4 with two singles, while Byram was 2-for-3 with two singles and the winning run.
SVSU also played good defensively the second game, committing no errors and did not allow any extra base hits.
The Cardinals also split a doubleheader at Ferris State Sunday, shutting out the Bulldogs 2-0 before losing the next game 8-6.
Ray again went the distance for the Cardinals, pitching seven shutout innings with 11 strikeouts while Rice provided the offense, scoring Sims twice on sacrifice flies.
A seventh-inning comeback fell short for the Lady Cards in Game Two, as the Bulldogs beat up Cardinals freshman starter Lindsay Noren for seven hits and three runs in the first inning and a third.
Rice finished out the game for the Cardinals, getting the loss while giving up five runs in five and 2/3 innings.
The weekend split puts the Lady Cardinals at 10-9 on the season and 2-2 in the GLIAC. SVSU visits Madonna University tomorrow for a doubleheader at 4 pm before heading to Ohio Friday and Saturday, April 9-10 to continue GLIAC play against Ashland and Findlay.