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By Chris Marchand
of the Daily News
What happens when the GLIAC's top team squares
off against the conference's hottest team? Fans will find out Wednesday
night.
GLIAC leader Saginaw Valley travels to Gerace
Stadium to face red-hot Northwood in a twi-night doubleheader beginning
at 4 p.m.
Northwood enters the contests with a 20-20 overall
record and a 13-9 mark in GLIAC play. Coach Joe DiBenedetto's squad
has won eight straight contests to move into a tie for fifth in
the conference.
Saginaw Valley is the league leader at 13-3-1.
The Cardinals, winners of 14 of their last 16 games, are 28-7-1
overall and are in line for a spot in the NCAA II Tournament.
They'll be plenty of high-caliber local talent
in both dugouts for this one. The Cardinals feature Meridian's Kraig
Enders. A GLIAC First Team pick last season, Enders is having another
stellar season. In 36 games, Enders is hitting .387 with seven homers
and 33 RBI. He also has an impressive .677 slugging percentage.
Enders, an All-American last season, is also
20-for-20 in the stolen base department.
Jason Valenzuela leads the Cardinals with a .405
average. His 51 hits are also a team high. Both Valenzuela and Enders
are among the GLIAC leaders in batting.
Northwood counters with Adam Long. The Coleman
native is hitting .327 with 24 RBI and 26 runs scored this season.
Dow's Chris Streeter is hitting .286 with 26 RBI.
NU's leading hitter is Ted Drew-Smith. The sophomore
is hitting .351 with 39 hits and eight doubles. Drew-Smith also
leads the team with 25 stolen bases in 26 attempts.
Trevor DeLong is batting .339, while John Beebe
carries a .333 average.
The Cardinals' pitching staff has given teams
fits all season. As a staff, SVSU carries an earned run average
of 3.99, second to only Grand Valley in the GLIAC.
Tim Goheen is a GLIAC-best 8-0 with a 2.03 ERA,
while Adam Ruffner is 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA. Goheen also has six complete
games to his credit this season.
Ruben Alvarado is the closer for the Cardinals.
He is 2-0 with four saves and a 2.25 ERA.
Northwood is allowing 7.57 earned runs per game
but that total was much higher earlier in the year. NU's ace is
Ryan Gunches. He is 4-5 with a 6.45 ERA. Corey Brant and Adam Pashak
both are 4-1 for DiBenedetto's club.
The man in the bullpen for NU is Jason Moczul.
He has eight saves and carries an earned-run average under five.
Moczul holds the single-season saves mark at NU with nine set last
year.
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