April 10, 2007

Game One Stats | Game Two Stats

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Following a week-long break courtesy of Mother Nature, Cleveland State returned to action on Tuesday, sweeping IPFW in a doubleheader to improve to 19-6 on the season. After scoring just twice in the first six innings, the Vikings erupted for 10 runs over the final eight frames to earn 5-2 and 7-0 victories.

In the opener, the Mastodons (5-15) jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. The advantage was short-lived however, as sophomore Christa Coppus knotted the game in the second with her third home run of the year.

Coppus then put the Vikings on top with an RBI groundout in the fourth, only to have IPFW tie the game at 2-2 with a run in the fifth.

The score would remain the same until the seventh, when junior Whitney Willard put CSU on top with a two-out RBI single. Freshman Jessica Burt then followed with a triple that scored two to provide the final margin.

Freshman Amanda Macenko improved to 15-4 with her 13th complete game effort. She fanned a career-high 11 batters and walked none while scattering seven hits.

Kayla Powell (2-5) went the distance for IPFW, surrendering 10 hits and four earned runs.

Coppus and sophomore Danielle Young both collected a pair of hits to lead the Vikings.

The nightcap was all Christina Swierz, as the junior hurler gave up just three hits while striking out a season-high six to move to 2-1 with her first career shutout.

Senior Michele Penney got CSU on the board with a RBI double in the top of the second and then came around to score on a single by Young. The Vikings doubled their lead in their next at-bat on a two-run double by sophomore Haley Keller.

CSU would tack on single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh, including Penney's second home run of the season.

Katie Aspegren gave up eight hits and seven runs to fall to 1-9.

Burt and Penney each picked up two hits to pace the offense.

"Today was all about the pitching," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "Christina followed up 11 strikeouts from Amanda with her best performance of the season. The team was just excited to finally get back on the field and play after such a long layoff."

Unfortunately, the remains from this past weekend's snowstorm has forced the cancellation of Thursday's doubleheader with Niagara, scheduled for 4:00 p.m. at Viking Field. In addition, CSU's weekend Horizon League series with Wright State is still up in the air. With rain in the forecast, there is a possibility the three games could be moved to Fairborn.