4-14-02
Baseball
For Immediate Release
Power Surge Helps Cards Beat Oilers
University Center, Mich.- SVSU
(19-6, 9-4 GLIAC), one day following its 12-hit, zero-homerun
performance against the Oilers in the first two games, woke-up
its power bats on Sunday to take two from Findlay, 12-6 and 4-3,
respectively. The Cards banged-out five dingers and 22 hits
in the final two contests of the four-game series to leapfrog
Findlay (13-12-1, 7-5 GLIAC) in the conference standings.
SVSU jumped out to a 9-4 lead after
two innings in game one thanks to two three-run blasts in the
second frame by Eric Caldwell (Cary Grove, Ill.)
and Kurt Neveau (Bay City/Central). The
Cards would add another run in the fifth and two more in the sixth,
with sophomore Adam Piggott (Sarnia, Ont.) hitting
his seventh round-tripper of the season. Piggott has now eclipsed
his total from last year and already has 13 in his short career,
three shy of the top ten in career homers at SVSU. Senior
Toby Larkin (Bridgeport) pitched 5.1 innings in
relief to up his record to 4-0 on the season.
After giving way to Caldwell to
start in left in game one, Adam Ruffner (Gibraltar/Carlson
HS) was back in his familiar position in game two and did
everything in his power to make sure the Cards took home the nightcap.
Ruffner went 3-for-3 at the plate, connecting on all three
hits to deep centerfield. After just missing a homer
in the first at bat and settling for a double, Ruffner just missed
again in his second at bat, netting a triple. With the game
tied at three in the top of the seventh, Ruffner came in to pitch,
retiring the Oilers one-two-three. Leading off the
bottom half of the seventh was Ruffner, who took the second pitch
he saw over the centerfield fence to give the Cards a 4-3 win.
The Cardinals will welcome rival-GLIAC
opponent Northwood to University Center on Wednesday. The
doubleheader is set to begin at 1:00 pm.
Contact: Mitchell Wigness (989)497-4933
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