May 10, 2002
Baseball
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Cards Sweep Division I Slate

YPSILANTI, Mich.- Saginaw Valley State's baseball team perfected its mark against Division I opponents this season, after rallying to defeat Eastern Michigan 8-7 on Friday. The Cards took out Detroit-Mercy 17-7 earlier in the season and Central Michigan 9-7 on Monday to give them a 3-0 mark against Division I foes.
     The Eagles (25-26) jumped-out to an early 6-1 lead after just three innings. But the Cards battled back, getting a key bases-loaded single from Adam Piggott (Sarnia, Ont.) to clear the bases in the fifth to close the gap to 6-4. After Eastern tacked-on their seventh run, SVSU would scratch out two unearned runs thanks to an error by EMU's Brent Olivier, scoring Mike Condon (Utica) and Jay Scott (Burlington, Ont./Aldershot) in the sixth inning. The next inning, the Cards would tie the score on Condon's RBI single scoring Ryan Wilkinson (Dearborn). With the score tied at 7 in the eighth, the Cards scored the game-winning run despite failing to get a hit. Scott reached on an error by EMU second baseman Tony Palazzolo and moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Sean Odamura (Mississauga, Ont.) with two strikes. Scott would move to third on a wild pitch and would eventually score on another wild pitch by reliever Will Stewardson.
     Freshman Jeff O'Loughlin (Bay City/Western) pitched four solid innings, giving-up just one hit. O'Loughlin earned his first collegiate win silencing the Eagles' bats and allowing the Cards to mount their comeback. Cards starter Rob Conley (Elliott Lake, Ont.) couldn't make it out of the second inning, but SVSU still moved its record to 9-0 when he takes the mound.
     The Cards are now 35-9 and have not lost a non-conference game (7-0) since the spring trip to Florida (Mar. 1). Saginaw Valley has one remaining game on the regular season schedule as Rochester College pays a visit to University Center on Saturday, May 11 for a nine-inning non-conference tilt at 1:30 p.m. The Cards are currently ranked fourth in the North Central region and will learn of their postseason fate on Monday.

Contact: Mitchell Wigness (989) 964-4933

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