The SVSU baseball team snapped its five-game losing streak on Saturday with a 1-0 victory over the Tiffin Dragons.
With the win, the Cardinals’ record now stands at 4-9 overall and 1-2 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
Saturday’s contest was won behind the right arm of senior pitcher Pete Baumgartner. The righty pitcher tossed eight shutout innings while only surrendering five hits and striking out four Tiffin batters. The victory was Baumgartner’s second of the year, bringing his individual record to 2-0.
Vanguard file photo
Despite strong outings from pitching staff, SVSU lost five consecutive games before defeating Tiffin 1-0
Saturday. Cardinals will go against Wayne State at 1 p.m., Friday, March 28.
The performance was not missed by anyone on the bench, including fellow pitcher Dylan Wisniewski.
“Pete was a bulldog on the mound,” he said.
Freshman David Freed came out to pitch a scoreless ninth inning to earn the first save of his collegiate career.
The lone run of the game came in the fifth inning. With runners on second and third and just one out, sophomore right fielder Tyler Schwanz was able to put the ball in play to drive in the runner from third.
On Friday the Cards dropped a pair of games to Tiffin.
Game one of the doubleheader featured a solid outing from Wisniewski, but the offense could not support the right hander. He finished with five innings pitched, while giving up just a pair of hits and striking out five.
Despite getting six hits, SVSU could not push a run across the plate and left four runners on base en route to a 2-0 loss to the Dragons.
Game two once again saw the offense struggle, managing just two hits in a 5-1 loss.
Junior southpaw Andrew Geese got the nod to start the game. He finished his outing after five innings, striking out 12 Tiffin Dragons and allowing just two hits.
Junior shortstop Chris Perkovich said that the offense has struggled throughout the month, but should get better with time.
“Our offense was like the weather — cold,” he said. “We just couldn’t string hits together to give our pitchers enough run support.
“(We) have to tip our hats to Tiffin though. They played a flawless defensive game and hit at the right times. When you do that you’ll win 100 percent of the time.”
Perkovich added that while the team has gotten off to a slow start, the experience should help the team in the long run.
“We’ve hit a streak where our bats have been quiet and we need to get back to where we were earlier in Florida,” he said. “We are young, but once we click we will be a very dangerous team.”
Ahead for the Cardinals is a road series against Wayne State. The first game of the three-game set will be at 1 p.m. Friday, March 28.