April 27, 2005
Baseball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CARDS SPLIT WITH NORTHWOOD AS FANION HITS WALK-OFF HOMER IN GAME ONE

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – Saginaw Valley State had one comeback in extra innings in game one and had one rally fall short in game two as they split with Northwood on Wednesday. SVSU got a walk-off homer from freshman Brandon Fanion (Marysville, Mich.) with two outs and a full count in the bottom of the 10th inning in a 7-6 game one win and then scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh and had bases loaded with one out before hitting into a game-ending double play to lose 6-4.
    The Cards played catch-up in the first game as Northwood scored three runs in the top of the first inning highlighted by a D.J. Hughes two-run home run to center field to give NU a 2-0 lead. Jake Mienk doubled in Matt Shields with the other run for the T-Wolves. SVSU trailed 5-2 going into the bottom of the sixth inning before senior Dan Jones (Gladstone, Mich.) began supplying the heroics. Jones smacked a two-run homer over the right field wall to cut the lead to 5-4 after six innings. Hughes blasted another homer in the top of the seventh to give NU a two-run lead setting up the bottom of the seventh. Jones stepped to the plate with two outs and a runner on first and hit a 1-2 pitch over the left center field wall to tie it at 6-6 going into extra innings. Both teams stranded runners in the eighth and ninth innings and then with two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the 10th, Fanion delivered the game-winning homer his second homer of the year. Jim Kelly (Lake Orion, Mich.) earned the win in relief going four innings and allowing two hits while striking out two T-Wolves. Scott Schlaff (Warren, Mich./Mott) started and allowed four earned runs in six innings.
     Northwood held a comforable 6-2 lead going into the bottom of the seventh in game two before the Cardinals made them sweat by pushing across two runs. Justin Hanning (Lake Orion, Mich.) led off the inning with a single to left and moved to second as Joe Funsch (Clio, Mich.) was hit by a pitch. Trent Mulder relieved starter Joe Ashdown for Northwood and struck out Justin Doughty (Oscoda, Mich.) for the first out. Jones walked on a full count pitch and loaded the bases with one out. Fanion singled to right center driving in one run to cut it to 6-3. Dale Marsden (Sarnia, Ont.) worked a full count and fouled off a couple of pitches before drawing an RBI walk to make it 6-4. Chris Norton (Grand Rapids, Mich./Catholic Central) also went to a 3-2 count before grounding into a double play to end the game. Scott Roy (Mt. Morris, Mich.) took his first loss of the season (5-1) allowing five earned runs in 4.2 innings. Funsch was 2-for-3 in game two and Hanning was 2-for-2 after entering the game in the bottom of the fourth. Jones was 3-for-5 with his first multi-HR game and four RBI in game one. Fanion was 2-for-5 in game one.

Game 1, Game 2

Contact: Ryan Thompson (989) 964-4053

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