Michigan State University
Saginaw Valley St.
Spartan Baseball Splits Doubleheader With Saginaw Valley State
4/3/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 3, 2001
East Lansing, Mich. - The Michigan State baseball team split a doubleheader Tuesday (April 3) with Saginaw Valley State. The Cardinals won the first game with the help of five Spartans errors, 9-2, while MSU responded with a 4-1 win in the second game. State improved to 13-12 with the split, while Saginaw Valley stands at 12-7.
Game one saw the Cardinals take an early 2-0 lead in the second inning, aided by two Spartan errors. They scored two more runs in the third inning, helped again by an MSU error. The Cardinals made it a 5-0 lead in the fourth off a RBI single by Jason Valenzuela.
MSU got on the board in the fifth inning with two runs. James Moreno (Fr., Holt) led off with a single followed by a Charlie Braun (So., Grosse Ponte) walk. Brett Wattles (So., Rochester) then scored Moreno on a single while Braun scored one batter later on a sacrifice-fly by Jared Koutnik (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis.).
Saginaw Valley State put the game out of the reach in the sixth inning, putting the first three batters on base. The Cardinals scored the four runs off four hits and one error, making the final score 9-2.
Jon Huizinga (Jr., Wayland) took the loss for MSU, pitching four innings, giving up five runs, although just two were earned. Justin Young pitched a complete game for the Cardinals and gave up two runs off eight hits. Huizinga's record stands at 2-2 on the season.
Game two was scoreless through four innings before Saginaw Valley took a 1-0 lead off an RBI single by Valenzuela in the fifth. State struck back in the bottom of the inning, taking a 4-1 lead.
Moreno started the scoring with a lead-off home run to left field. MSU then took the lead when Wattles hit an RBI single to right field, scoring Troy Bergman (Jr., Grosse Pointe). Bob Malek (So., Canton) continued his strong day at the plate, singling in Don Watchowski (Jr., Shelby Twp.). State added another run on a sacrifice fly by Brady Burrill (So., Newhall, Calif.) to make the final score 4-1.
Malek went 2-for-3 with a RBI in game two and was 4-for-7 on the day. Starting pitcher Bryan Gale (Fr., Decatur) picked up his third win of the season against zero losses, pitching five innings and giving up six hits and striking out three. Domanick Squires (Jr., Rochester Hills) got his third save of the season by pitching a scoreless seventh.
The Spartans will resume conference play this weekend (April 6-8) as they travel to Minnesota for a four-game series.
Game 1Saginaw Valley State 9, Michigan State 2WP- YoungLP- Huizinga (2-2)Score By Innings R H ESaginaw Valley State 022 104 0 9 12 0Michigan State 000 020 0 2 8 5
Game 2Michigan State 4, Saginaw Valley State 1WP- Gale (3-0)LP-CravenScore By Innings R H ESaginaw Valley State 000 010 0 1 7 0Michigan State 000 040 x 4 7 0
