CLEARWATER, Fla. – Saginaw Valley State University needed just two base hits to rally for five ninth-inning runs and earn a 9-8 non-conference, metal-bat baseball victory over Felician College during The Winning Inning Invitational on Tuesday morning at Frank Tack Field. Felician (3-6) fell to 1-3 on its trip to Clearwater.

Felician, the designated home team, broke open a 3-3 tie with four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Senior right-fielder Jay Collazo (Wall, N.J.) snapped the deadlock with a one-out RBI single, and sophomore third-baseman Scott De Jong (North Haledon, N.J.) followed with a three-run home run. After each team plated a run in the eighth, the Golden Falcons headed into the ninth with an 8-4 advantage.

But after the first Cardinal hitter lined out, SVSU loaded the bases on a walk, single, and hit batsman. A run came home on a wild pitch before freshman Mike Gonzalez (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) (0-1), the fifth Felician pitcher of the day, entered and issued another base on balls.

Gonzalez uncorked the Golden Falcons' second wild pitch of the inning to make the score 8-6 and leave runners on second and third. SVSU sophomore Tyler Schwanz (Novi, Mich.) followed by beating the throw to the plate on teammate Richard Guglielmi's (Canton, Mich.) fielder's choice grounder, and sophomore designated hitter Luke Valutis (Shelby Township, Mich.) capped the rally with a two-run double.

Cardinal junior right-hander Jeff Schalk (Sterling Heights, Mich.) came on in an attempt to close, but was greeted with a leadoff single by Joe Petosa (Spotswood, N.J.) in the home half of the ninth. Felician bunted into a double play, however, and Schalk then induced a grounder back to the mound to earn his first save of the season.

Felician sophomore righty Dean Loucka (Wood-Ridge, N.J.) started and pitched six innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits with five strikeouts and four walks in a no-decision. Shane Odzark (Algonac, Mich.) pitched the eighth for SVSU and was credited with the victory.

Felician's 12-hit attack consisted of six players with multi-hit games. Ralph Caccavale (Massapequa, N.Y.) scored three runs for the Golden Falcons, and Brennan Price (Middlesex, N.J.) was 2 for 3 with two RBI. Valutis had two doubles and three RBI off the bench for the Cardinals.