UNIVERSITY CENTER – Saginaw Valley State University needed a comebak Thursday to beat Adrian College, 5-4 in a nine-inning non-league game.
     The Cardinals took a 2-0 first inning lead then watched the Bulldogs score four times in the second for a 4-2 advantage. SVSU tied the game in the fourth, the scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth to improve to 10-5 overall.
     Junior Jay Scott (Berlington, Ontario/Aldershot) led off the SVSU first with a double and moved to third on a single by senior Jason Valenzuela (Ontario, CA/Damien). The pair executed a double steal for the first Cardinal run. Valenzuela stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman Jason Newcomb (Caro).
     The Bulldogs managed just three hits off Cardinal starter Mike Crawford (Lake Orion), but all came in their four-run second inning. Two of the runs scored courtesy of an error and a wild pitch.
     SVSU tied the game in the fourth without getting a hit. Junior Ryan Wilkinson (Dearborn) walked and stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Sophomore Sean Odamura (Mississauga, Ontario/Lorne Park) was hit by a pitch and stole second. Both scored on a two-out wild pitch.
     Wilkinson led off the eighth with a single, stole second and went to third on Newcomb's sacrifice bunt. Odamura walked and Wilkinson scored when the throw to second on Odamura's steal attempt was booted.
     Four Cardinal pitchers combined to hold Adrian to one hit for the final seven innings. Junior righty Toby Larkin (Bridgeport) set down the final nine Bulldogs in order to post his first SVSU win (1-0), striking out three. Freshman right-hander Heath Craven (Hartland) worked two innings, freshman Robert Conley (Elliot Lake, Ontario) and junior lefty Andy Scott (Bay City/Western) each three one inning.
     Valenzuela and Wilkinson each had two of the six SVSU hits. Senior Ryan Hegyi took the loss in relief for Adrian (2-11-1), yielding a hit and two walks in his one-inning stint.
     The Cardinals take to the road this weekend for an important four-game series at Ashland University, which advanced to the NCAA Regionals along with SVSU last spring. Saturday's double header begins at 1 p.m. while Sunday's twin bill starts at noon.

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