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Printer-Friendly ModeCardinals scoring runs at 'powerful' pace
April 4, 2005 —
The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team improved its record to 13-3 with a victorious home weekend over Hillsdale College.
The two squads played two doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, and SVSU took the series 3-1 to improve its GLIAC record to 6-2. The Cardinals have won nine of their last 11 games and have outscored their opponents 102-45 over the streak.
"We are a really young team with not much experience," said senior captain Chris Norton. "We also have a powerful lineup and our pitching is building more and more confidence each day."
The only loss of the weekend for the Cardinals came on Sunday. They could not hold off a late charge by the Chargers in the first game and lost 8-3, but rebounded nicely and won Game Two 11-7.
In game one the Chargers used a five-run seventh inning to break open a 3-3 tie. The Chargers exploded for four in the inning and that was enough to put away the Cardinals. Junior Steve Liebrecht went six and 1/3 innings, giving up five runs on five hits while striking out eight.
In Game Two the Cardinals used a five-run third inning on their way to the victorious nightcap against the Chargers. The Cardinals scored in each of the first four innings including the powerful third.
The Cardinals swept the doubleheader the day before, winning 5-4 and 8-1.
The Cardinals fought back to win Game One after being down 3-0 after only a half inning of play.
Game Two proved to be a different story as the Cardinals dominated the Chargers, cruising to the easy victory. This time the Cards who jumped out to the early lead, going up 4-0 after the first inning.
On March 31 the Cardinals traveled down to Ypsilanti to face Eastern Michigan University. The Cardinals were not intimidated and destroyed the Eagles 15-4.
The 2003 Mid-American Conference champions were no match for the Cardinals and their powerful bats. The Cardinals built a 6-0 lead after the first three innings and did not look back the rest of the way.
Norton said that the win gave the Cardinals high expectations for the conference season.
"The win gave us a lot of confidence," he said. "EMU is known as a powerhouse in the MAC; now we know that we can play with anyone in the conference."
The Cards are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Michigan State University.
The Cardinals battle GLIAC title favorites Grand Valley State University in a pair of doubleheaders at home on Saturday and Sunday.