UNIVERSITY CENTER – After a slow start, the Saginaw Valley State University baseball team recovered to defeat a scrappy St. Mary's College team by the score of 8-3 in the Cardinals belated home opener.
     The Cards found themselves down 3-1 entering the bottom of the third inning before their bats awakened.
     Freshman Sean Odamura (Mississauga, Ont., Can.) led off the frame with a single to right field. Two outs later, senior Joel Dohm (Owosso) added to his SVSU career-leading double total with a shot down the right field line that went all the way to the wall, allowing Odamura to score. Sophomore Mike Condon (Utica) followed with a double off the left-centerfield wall, scoring Dohm.
     The Cardinals took the lead for good in the fifth when Odamura led off with a double down the left field line. He moved to third on a ground out, and scored on a long fly ball off the bat of senior Kraig Enders (Sanford/Sanford-Meridian) that was dropped by the Eagle left fielder.
     SVSU tacked on a run in the seventh and three runs in the eighth inning as six Cardinal pitchers shut out SMC for the final six innings.
     Odamura went 3-for-5 in the contest with an RBI while Dohm had a perfect 3-for-3 day that included a double, a walk and three RBI. Junior Jason Valenzuela (Ontario, CA) chipped in with a two-run single.
     Junior Tim Goheen (Proton Station, Ont., Can.) picked up the win for SVSU by pitching a scoreless fifth innning, allowing one hit and one walk, while striking out one. Goheen also tallied his seventh pick off of the season and improved his record to 5-0. A total of eight Cardinal pitchers took the mound in the game and surrendered five hits, six walks and one earned run, while striking out a total of eight Eagles.
     Derek DiDario took the loss for SMC and dropped his season record to 3-5.
     SVSU is now 16-5-1 on the season while St. Mary's drops to 4-19.
     The Cardinals will resume GLIAC play this weekend with a pair of double headers at Grand Valley State University Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon.