May 17
Baseball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cardinals Bow Out of Regional Playoffs

ASHLAND, Ohio - The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team saw its season come to a close on Friday (May 17) after falling to Ashland (10-7) and Northern Kentucky (8-2) in the NCAA Division II North Central Regional Playoff. The Cardinals finish the season with a 36-12 record.
   In the first game of the day, SVSU pushed ahead 1-0 when Chris Ebright (Ithaca) drew an RBI walk, scoring Jay Scott (Berlington, Ontario, CA/Aldershot). Ashland
(46-11) blew the game open in the third inning, scoring eight runs and chasing starting pitcher Scott Corby (London, Ontario, CA/AB Lucas) from the game in the process. The Eagles added two more runs in the fifth inning to push their lead to 10-1.
   The Cardinals scored once in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 10-2. SVSU scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth to trim the lead to 10-7. Justin Garcia
(Bay City/Western HS) came on to pinch-hit for Chris Norton (Grand Rapids/Catholic Central HS) with no outs and grounded into a double-play. Scott then grounded out to second base, sending the Eagles to the Championship game on Saturday (May 18).
    Ashland's Mark Smithberger pitched eight innings and earned the win for the Eagles to move his record to 9-3. Corby suffered the loss after allowing six runs in two innings of work to drop his record to 7-6 for the season.
    Northern Kentucky was able to avenge Thursday's (May 16) 9-6 loss to the Cardinals in the afternoon, after eliminating Grand Valley State 7-2 earlier in the day. The Norse took a 2-1 lead after three innings, and held a 3-2 advantage after four. NKU (36-22) was able to tack on three runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth frame to cap the scoring.
   Chris Unkraut earned the win for NKU, allowing just five hits and two earned runs. Mark Debo (Bay City/John Glenn HS) pitched five innings and allowed just two earned runs, but suffered the loss for the Cardinals. Ryan Wilkinson (Dearborn) led the Cardinals offensively, going 2-for-3 at the plate with a double.
   Northern Kentucky and Ashland advance to the regional final at noon on Saturday
(May 18).

Contact: Jason Yaman (989) 964-4053

 

                                  #            #           #            #