UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – A pair of dominant performances by Purdue Northwest hurlers resulted in a doubleheader sweep of Saginaw Valley State on Sunday.
Chad Patrick,
Justin Walter and
Anthony Noble combined to allow just one SVSU run in 18 innings. The Pride won the first game 2-1 in 11 innings and then cruised to a 5-0 victory in the second game at the SVSU Complex Baseball Field.
PNW improved to 11-21 on the season while snapping its recent six-game slide and capturing its first doubleheader sweep in league play. Saginaw Valley dropped to 15-12 overall.
GAME 1: PNW 2, SVSU 1
The Pride manufactured the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th and
Justin Walter tossed four innings of no-hit relief to earn his first win on the bump. The Pride loaded the bases with one out in the final frame and
Ethan Imlach eventually scored on a head-first slide.
Hunter Thorn put the ball in play with a grounder to first base and the throw home beat Imlach, but it pulled the catcher's foot away from the plate allowing the run to score.
Chad Patrick produced another stellar mound performance with 11 strikeouts and no walks in seven innings. The right-hander scattered five singles and the lone Cardinal run came across after an infield hit in the fourth. Patrick ran his league-leading strikeout total to 97 with only eight walks in 64.0 innings.
PNW took a 1-0 lead in the third when
Jake Soules led off the inning with a double to right field. Imlach moved him over on a sac bunt and
Luke Montgomery delivered an RBI double in the next at-bat. Soules now has seven doubles on the year which is tied for second-most on the team. Montgomery recorded his second double and ninth RBI.
The Pride missed on scoring opportunities in the contest after a pair of bad breaks, including a runner leaving early on a sac fly in the second and a potential go-ahead home run by
Brett Veltema in the ninth went foul.
Tyler Schultz registered half of the team's six hits in the first game. The freshman went 3-for-4 and logged his third consecutive multi-hit effort at the dish, where he's hit .667 (8-for-12) in the three-game span.
Alex Gasbarro had the other base knock along with the doubles recorded by Soules and Montgomery.
SVSU's Kendall Anthes went eight innings in the no-decision while Cardinal reliever Hunter Merillat was charged with the loss on the mound.
GAME 2: PNW 5, SVSU 0
Anthony Noble recorded a four-hit shutout to lead the Pride to victory in Game 2. The sophomore struck out three and walked three in seven innings. It didn't come easy as the right-hander worked out of jams to strand a pair of runners in the first, fifth and sixth frames, but he executed pitches when it mattered most. It's Noble's first win of the season despite several quality outings.
PNW scored all five runs across the first three innings.
Anthony Agne (1-for-4) sparked the offense with a triple in the first and then
Ray Hansen (1-for-4) delivered a two-out, two-run single. Soules (2-for-3) led off the second with another triple for the Pride and he would cross the plate on an error to make it 3-0.
In the third, Hansen knocked in another run on a fielder's choice and he finished with three RBIs in the contest. Two batters later, Soules roped another extra-base hit to bring Hansen across on an RBI double to left field.
Hunter Thorn chipped in offensively with a 2-for-3 effort which included his seventh double.
SVSU starter Nolan Knauf (2-2) took the loss with four earned runs allowed in three innings.
NEXT UP
PNW will go for its first GLIAC series win of the season when these two teams meet on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 EDT.
