Cardinals Close Trip with Sweep
March 3, 2001

FT. MYERS, FL – The Saginaw Valley State University softball team closed its spring trip with its best peformance by sweeping a double header Saturday. The Cardinals posted a pair of 6-0 shutout wins over Salem International University, WV, and LeMoyne College, NY. "We finally put two good games together," said coach Fred Neering, whose squad had split four previous twin bills on the trip. "We got good pitching – really good pitching." Junior right-hander Carrie Shay (Flint/Burton Bendle) picked up her first win of the season, blanking Salem on three hits and a walk, while striking out five. "Our defense settled down and she pitched an excellent ball game," praised Neering. SVSU scored three runs in the first inning. Freshman Jesse Kaniszewski (Kingston) and junior Brandi Srda (Clio) singled, and senior Libby Poellet (Frankenmuth) walked to load the bases. After a pair of run-scoring sacrifice flies by junior Whitney Babcock (Bay City/All Saints) and sophomore Kelly Martin (Bay City/All Saints), freshman Leya Taylor (Saginaw/Michigan Lutheran Seminary) delivered an RBI double. The Cardinals added three more runs in the seventh when Kaniszewski singled, Srda walked and Poellett rapped an RBI single. Martin and Babcock brought the final two runs home with back-to-back suicide squeeze bunts. In the nightcap, freshman right-hander Courtney Pintek (Flushing) improved to 5-2 with her second shutout. She allowed just four hits and no walks, while striking out a season-high five batters. "She really did a nice job," said Neering. "We made a couple of errors behind her, but today we played over them. We also turned another double play on the infield, which was nice." The game was scoreless through five innings when SVSU exploded for six runs in the sixth inning. Kaniszewski was safe on an error and stole second. Srda followed with an RBI double and came home on a single by Poellet. After a walk and a sacrifice, junior Michelle Huber (Yale) had a pinch-hit, two-run double. Junior Becky Bourcier (Montrose) capped the inning with a hit-and-run RBI double. Bourcier, Srda and Poellet each went 2-for-3 for SVSU, while Kaniszewski stole three bases on the day. The Cardinals bring home a 6-6 overall record and have three weeks to prepare for their first northern contest, a doubleheader at Madonna University on Sunday, March 25 at 1 p.m.

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