KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Saginaw Valley State University baseball team dropped a 3-2 decision to Truman on Sunday afternoon, splitting the weekend series. The Cardinals (23-22) took an early lead but the Bulldogs (12-32) put up three in the sixth to take control.

Saginaw Valley struck first in the second inning. Jacob Pitt (Grand Rapids, Mich. / Catholic Central HS) doubled down the left-field line and moved to third on a wild pitch before Mitchell Walters (Shepherd, Mich. / Shepherd HS) delivered an RBI single to left to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

Aaron Bess (L, 0-1) (Boyne City, Mich. / Boyne City HS) turned in a strong outing on the mound, holding Truman scoreless through the first five innings. Bess went six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts. The Bulldogs broke through in the sixth with a two-run home run and an RBI single to add some insurance.

The Cardinals had chances to answer getting runners in scoring position in the fifth, sixth, seventh, and ninth innings. Chase Miller (Walkerton, Ind. / John Glenn HS) singled and stole third in the fifth but was left stranded. In the ninth, Ethan Scheib (Mattawan, Mich. / Mattawan HS) worked a leadoff walk and moved into scoring position after two more walks loaded the bases. Miller lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Scheib and trim the deficit to 3-2, but the rally ended there.

Will Juday (Kalamazoo, Mich. / Portage Central HS) followed Bess with two scoreless innings of relief, striking out two and keeping SVSU within one.

Ryan Jarvis (Macomb, Mich. / Dakota HS) and Pitt each recorded hits, while Walters drove in the Cardinals' first run. Saginaw Valley finished with seven hits to Truman's eight in the contest.

Up Next: Saginaw Valley concludes GLIAC and regular season play next week at Roosevelt. The Cardinals and Lakers begin a four-game series Friday with a doubleheader starting at 5:30 PM ET. The two teams follow with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1:00 PM ET.