April 25, 2006

Game One Stats | Game Two Stats

CANFIELD, Ohio - After waiting out a nearly three hour rain delay, Cleveland State and Youngstown State split a doubleheader in wind chills that had dipped into the upper 20s by the end of the night. When the frost had finally settled at McCune Park, the Penguins claimed game one, 4-2, before the Vikings rebounded to win the second contest, 5-2.

The chilly temperatures played a significant role in the twin bill, as the teams combined to commit six errors that led to eight of the 13 runs being unearned. CSU now stands at 29-10 overall and 10-5 in the Horizon League, while YSU is 15-19, 8-7.

In the opener, the first inning told the story as the Vikings loaded the bases with just one out, but were unable to push across a run. For the game, CSU stranded a total of 10 runners, including at least one in every frame but the fifth.

YSU broke open a scoreless tie in the third when Lacey Hess led off with a home run. The Penguins tacked on two more runs later in the inning following a costly two-out error.

Sarah Milosek and Michele Penney provided RBI doubles in the sixth and seventh, respectively, but it was not enough as YSU held on to snap the Vikings' eight-game winning streak.

Karlie Burnell was the winner, scattering nine hits while fanning seven to improve to 9-6

Grace Luginbuhl (18-6) saw her five-game winning streak come to an end as she surrendered three runs (one earned) in 2.2 innings of work.

In the nightcap, CSU took advantage of a first-inning error and a passed ball in the next frame to go up 2-0 on two-out RBI singles from Penney and Kortney Spidell.

The Penguins knotted the score in the home half of the second, turning a pair of Viking miscues into two unearned runs.

CSU pushed back ahead in the third, when Whitney Willard was hit by a pitch and came around to score three batters later on another clutch two-out hit by Penney.

The Vikings closed out the scoring in the seventh when Luginbuhl reached on a two-out error and Christa Coppus followed with her team-leading fifth home run of the season.

Luginbuhl recovered from her short stint in game one to earn the victory with four hitless innings in relief of Spidell. She fanned six and walked one to improve to 19-6.

Tricia Hilbish (6-9) took the complete game loss for YSU, despite allowing just one earned run on seven hits.

Cleveland State returns home on Wednesday to host Toledo in a doubleheader beginning at 4:00 p.m. at Viking Field.