April 30, 2006

Final Stats

FAIRBORN, Ohio - Grace Luginbuhl hurled her third one-hitter in the last 15 days as Cleveland State blanked Wright State, 10-0, in five innings on Sunday afternoon. The Vikings, who lead UIC by a game-and-a-half at the top of the Horizon League standings, won for the 14th time in their last 15 outings to improve to 34-10 on the year and 13-5 in the league.

Luginbuhl allowed only a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning while walking two and striking out five to improve to 21-6 on the year. She moved to within three of Amy Kyler's school record for victories in a season with her seventh shutout.

Held in check for the first three innings, CSU's offense finally got to WSU starter Amanda Cody (1-11) in the fourth inning. Christa Coppus broke open the scoreless tie with a two-run home run and then Kaitlin Guyette chased Cody with an RBI double.

Reliever Jessie Granger retired the first batter she faced, but Kortney Spidell followed with a clutch two-out, two-run single. The Vikings tacked on a sixth run on a Raider (6-34, 6-10 HL) throwing error.

CSU added four more runs in its next at-bat to put the game out of reach. Luginbuhl led things off with a homer, Sarah Milosek drove in two with a double and Spidell pushed the final run across with a sacrifice fly.

Whitney Willard and Coppus both picked up a pair of hits for the Vikings.

"We were very patient at the plate today and it finally paid off in the fourth inning," CSU head coach Julie Jones said. "Grace was exceptional again and our offense gave her plenty of support.

"I can't say enough about this team. One of our goals at the beginning of the year was to win the regular season championship and we've put ourselves in a position to do that next weekend at home. I couldn't ask for anything more."

The Vikings head into the final week of the season on the brink of winning the first regular season title in 12 seasons in the Horizon League. CSU steps out of conference to face Kent State at Firestone Stadium in Akron on Tuesday (May 2), before welcoming Oakland to Viking Field for a single game on Thursday (May 4). Third-place Detroit then comes to Cleveland for a three-game series on May 6-7 to close out the regular season.