Baseball Splits Pair At Saginaw Valley State

The Northwood University baseball team split a pair of one-run games Tuesday afternoon (April 22) at Saginaw Valley State. SVSU earned a 2-1 win in game one before NU won game two 6-5.

The Timberwolves are now 13-23 overall, 5-17 in the GLIAC. The Cardinals are 12-21 overall, 9-14 in the GLIAC.

Northwood got off to the early lead in game one, as Larsen Cronkright (Midland, Mich./Kellogg CC) had an RBI single that plated Andrew Fleming (Olivet, Mich./Kellogg CC) in the third inning. The score remained 1-0 until the fifth inning when SVSU leveled the score at one on a two-out single. The Cardinals then claimed the win in the bottom of the seventh on a walk-off single. NU had six hits in the game, two of which came from Tyler Beatty (Clare, Mich./Davenport). Jake Winicki (Birmingham, Mich./Brother Rice) took the loss on the mound despite pitching well. He allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings of work while allowing nine hits.

In game two, the Timberwolves came out strong in the opening two innings, plating three runs. Travis Smith (Clare, Mich.) had an RBI single in the first inning, which was followed by a bases-loaded walk by Zyke Bailey (Taylor, Mich./HS Truman) to put NU up 2-0 after one. Then in the second inning, Wayne Moak (Marysville, Mich.) made it 3-0 with an RBI single. SVSU responded, scoring one in the second and three in the third to go up 4-3 heading into the fourth. But Northwood came right back with a rally of their own in the top of the fourth inning. Moak got things going with an RBI groundout to tie the game 4-4, which was followed by a double by Smith to put Northwood up 5-4. An SVSU error then plated Moak and put the Timberwolves up 6-4.  SVSU put together a rally in the seventh, scoring a run to cut the lead down to one, but NU held the Cardinals off the board the rest of the inning to earn the win.

Cody Rogers (Saginaw, Mich./Swan Valley) and Smith each finished the game with two hits, while Moak and Smith each drove in a pair. Matt Theiss (Midland, Mich.) picked up the win in relief to improve to 4-1 on the year. He allowed one run on four hits over the final 4 1/3 innings.

Northwood will host Malone this Saturday (April 26). The doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m.