April 1, 2007

Final Stats

CLEVELAND - Trailing 3-1 in the fourth inning, Cleveland State rallied for a 6-3 win over UW-Green Bay on Sunday morning at Viking Field. The victory allowed the Vikings to claim their Horizon League-opening series by a 2-1 margin.

Sophomore Christa Coppus got CSU (17-5, 2-1 HL) on the board with a two-out, solo home run in the bottom of the third inning.

The lead was short-lived however, as the Phoenix (9-10, 1-2 HL) struck for three runs in their next at-bat. Katie Cooney knotted the score with an RBI single and Melani Niederer put UWGB up 3-1 with a double two batters later.

In the bottom of the fourth, sophomore Tara Meyer was hit by a pitch with one out. Sophomore Haley Keller then followed with her first career home run, ripping the ball over the fence in left-center.

The score would remain tied until the sixth, when the Vikings struck for three runs. Senior Michelle Penney got things started with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice and came around to score on a Keller single. Sophomore Danielle Young then followed with a RBI triple and came around to score on a double by freshman Jessica Burt.

Freshman Amanda Macenko retired the side in order in the seventh to improve to 14-3. She gave up seven hits and three runs while striking out four in her 11th complete game performance of the year.

Cooney (4-2) took the loss for the Phoenix, surrendering four hits and three runs in 2.2 innings of relief of starter Amy Losselyong.

Keller finished 2-for-3 with three RBI and a pair of runs scored, while Young added a pair of hits as well.

Niederer paced UWGB with two hits.

"We hit a lot of rockets early, but they were right at people," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We knew the hits would come eventually. Haley's home run really got us going and then Amanda slammed the door in the seventh."

Cleveland State is in action again on Tuesday (April 3) when the Vikings travel to Youngstown State for a 3:00 p.m. game.