Midland, MI — The home of the Great Lakes Loons in Midland, Michigan housed the Saginaw Valley Cardinals and the Northwood Timberwolves Tuesday night for the third annual Dow Diamond Classic. The game between these two at Dow Diamond has not always gone off without a hitch. The games were cancelled in 2011 and 2022 due to weather, and 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the April air was chilly, there wasn't any precipitation and nine innings were played without an issue. Saginaw Valley took the close game with a final score of 5-4 and are now 40-35 against Northwood along with a 3-0 record against the Timberwolves at Dow Diamond. Before the past weekend, SVSU (22-18) was 0-10 when out hit by their opponent. After beating Wayne State on Saturday while being out hit, they claimed their second victory in the same fashion against Northwood (29-15) as the Timberwolves out hit them 6-5. Saginaw Valley got on the board first with a run in the second. Martin Money walked and Reed Ramond singled to put two on with no outs. Jeffrey Reseigh laid down the sacrifice bunt, and a throwing error allowed Money to score and Raymond to move to third. The errors would add up for Northwood. Christopher Schmees (W, 3-2) pitched a solid five innings for SVSU allowing three runs on four hits and three strikeouts. He allowed one run in the third to tie the game 1-1, but had a little bit of trouble in the sixth with two walks to start before he was replaced. Saginaw Valley took the lead back with a four spot in the fourth though to put Schmees in line for the win. Reseigh doubled to lead off, and then Brandon Scheurer put a bunt down the third base line, reaching on a single, and a wild throw by the third baseman allowed Reseigh to score and move Scheurer to second. Connor McClennen also bunted to the third baseman and a fielding error allowed him to reach and Scheurer to scoot to third. The Timberwolves would commit four errors on the game as the Cardinals didn't commit a single error for only the fourth time this season. With runners at the corners and a fresh 2-1 lead, Tucker Roe drove in Scheurer with an RBI sacrifice fly doubling the advantage. McClennen stole second, then Jaccar Watkins was hit by a pitch, and Colin Cornwell walked to load the bases. Austin Schweiger bounced into a fielder's choice that scored McClennen making it 4-1. All four runs went against Northwood starter Matt DeFay (L, 6-3). He pitched 3 1/3 innings allowing four unearned runs on four walks and three hits. Watkins scored on a wild pitch later in the fourth to make it 5-1 and the run was credited to reliever Carson Longstreth. It was also unearned. Northwood showed their power in the sixth. Schmees walked two to start the inning before being replaced by Nolan Knauf. That's when Blake Salamon hit a three-run home run to bring the game back to a one-run lead for SVSU. Knauf settled in and finished a three-inning outing allowing one run and striking out two. The game would go scoreless through the next two frames before heading to the ninth. Reed Raymond (Sv, 4) moved from left field to the mound to close the door. He got a ground out followed by two strikeouts to end the game and give SVSU their third straight win. Reseigh finished 2-for-3 with a run scored, Money and Schuerer both were 1-for-2 with two walks and a run as well.