March 13, 2006

Iona Stats | Saint Louis Stats

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Cleveland State improved to 4-0 in the Rebel Spring Games with a pair of victories on Monday afternoon. The Vikings upended Iona, 9-2, in the opener before holding on for a 2-1 victory over Saint Louis. At 7-1 on the year, CSU is off to the best eight-game start in school history.

The first game of the day wasn't pretty, but the Vikings took advantage of every opportunity they were given. CSU picked up just six hits, but converted three Iona errors into five unearned runs.

Whitney Willard went 2-for-2 with two runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base in her first action of the season. Christa Coppus drove in a career-high three runs and Michele Penney's two-run triple in the fourth helped break the game open.

Grace Luginbuhl improved to 3-1 on the year despite putting together one of the odder pitching lines of her career. She allowed just three hits and one earned run, while walking seven and striking out 12.

The Gaels sent six batters to the plate in the first inning and seven more in the third, but could manage just one run each time as they stranded five runners. In the other five innings, Luginbuhl faced just three batters over the minimum, fanning 10.

Katie Jo Passero (0-1) went the distance in a losing effort for Iona as the Vikings scored three runs in the third and four more in the fourth to break open a close game.

CSU saw a couple of impressive streaks come to an end in the game, as they allowed their first run in 23.1 innings and committed their first error in 31.2 innings.

Kortney Spidell continued her early season dominance in game two against Saint Louis, surrendering just an unearned run while scattering nine hits to improve to 4-0. SLU's tally in the seventh snapped Spidell's scoreless streak at 22 innings.

The Vikings scored in their first at-bat for the seventh time in eight games. Willard led off the game with a double and came around to score two batters later when Penney tripled into the gap in left field.

CSU tacked on another run in the top of the sixth when Amber Lowe reached on an error to lead off the inning. After stealing both second and third base, she scored on a Coppus sacrifice fly.

The Billikens rallied in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with two outs. An infield single plated one run, but Spidell got the next batter to ground out to end the game.

Lorena Floccari (0-8) was the hard luck loser, giving up just four hits and an earned run.

"We just keep finding ways to win even though we really aren't hitting the ball all that well," CSU head coach Julie Jones said. "Grace and Kortney continue to get the job done in the circle and we keep finding ways to put enough runs on the board for them."

Cleveland State plays two more times on Tuesday (March 14) in continuing action at the Rebel Spring Games. The Vikings will battle Yale at 2:20 p.m. followed by a contest with Colgate at 4:10 p.m.