April 30, 2005
Baseball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LUCKY “7’s” PROPEL SVSU TO SWEEP OF FINDLAY

FINDLAY, Ohio – The Saginaw Valley State baseball team moved into second place in the GLIAC on Saturday as they defeated Findlay 7-6 and 7-3 in a doubleheader at Swale Park. The Cardinals jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first game including a three-run fourth inning. The big play in the inning was a three-run homer by freshman Brandon Fanion (Marysville, Mich.) his third round-tripper of the season. The Oilers came right back with four runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game at 4-4. Second baseman Ken Beamer drove in the tying runs on a two-run single before being thrown out at second to end an even bigger threat. SVSU responded with two runs in the top of the fifth as Dale Marsden (Sarnia, Ont.) smacked his seventh homer of the year scoring Jason Burghardt (Temperance, Mich./Bedford) to give SVSU a 6-4 advantage.
Catcher Ken Hoffman (Midland, Mich.) gave the Cards a boost and had the game-winning RBI with a solo homer in the top of the sixth, his third of the season. That homer proved to be huge as Findlay scored two in the bottom of the seventh and left the bases loaded giving the Cards a 7-6 win. Chris Hanna (Caledonia, Mich.) went 2-for-4 with a run in game one and Hoffman was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Steve Liebrecht (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) picked up the win improving to 4-3 as he threw 6.2 innings and struck out six. Kori Garman (Goodrich, Mich.) got the final out and recorded his first save of the year.
SVSU claimed a 7-3 win in game two behind a complete game from senior Ryan Reid (Sarnia, Ont.) Reid allowed one earned run and struck out three to improve to 3-1. The Cards scored runs in the first three innings off starter Bret Bostelman. The big inning was a three-run third that put SVSU ahead 6-2. The Cards took advantage of back-to-back errors with one out to load the bases before Joe Funsch (Clio, Mich.) drove in a run on a sacrifice fly. Burghardt had a two-run single which scored Justin Hanning (Lake Orion, Mich.) and Justin Doughty (Oscoda, Mich.) who reached on the errors. SVSU scored one more in the sixth as Hanna reached on an error and eventually scored on a passed ball. Burghardt had three RBI in game two and was 2-for-4. Marsden was 2-for-4 and Funsch was 2-for-3 as the Cardinals registered 11 hits in the nightcap.

Contact: Ryan Thompson (989) 964-4053

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