UNIVERSITY CENTER -- The Saginaw Valley State softball team opened their best-of-three Super Regional series versus Grand Valley State with a 5-2 win on Friday afternoon on the campus of SVSU.

Senior pitcher Jade Fulton allowed two runs and struck out six batters in seven innings, to improve to 28-9 on the season.

The Cardinals can advance to the NCAA Division II World Series in Salem, Virginia, by winning one of two games on Saturday.

Game two of the series is scheduled to start at noon.

The visiting Lakers took a 2-1 lead in the 5th inning, thanks to a home run from freshman Miranda Cleary.

But the Cardinals responded with four runs in the bottom half of the frame, to put the game away.

SVSU (39-16) has now beaten GVSU five times since April 29th.