March 14, 2008
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
ORLANDO, Florida - The Cleveland State softball team finally got the bats going on the third day at the Rebel Games in Orlando, defeating Wagner, 9-0 in six innings and Rider, 13-5. CSU is now 3-3 at the Rebel Games and 8-5 for the season.
In the first game against Wagner, Cleveland State scored nine runs on 13 hits.
Haley Keller hit a three-run homer to left in her first at-bat at the Rebel Games, also scoring Whitney Willard and Jessica Burt. Willard tripled to open the inning and Burt reached on a single.
CSU scored again in the fourth, when Danielle Young hit a triple to score Tara Meyer and Amanda Houchin. Meyer pinch ran for Natalie DeMatteis who singled to start the inning. Houchin reached on a single to the pitcher. Young scored on a Christa Coppus single to left field.
Amanda Macenko did not give Wagner a chance, holding the team to two hits and striking out nine.
Cleveland State kept the offensive momentum going against Rider, scoring 13 runs on 20 hits. CSU opened the game with three runs in the first inning. Willard scored off the first of Coppus' three doubles. Katelyn Ciminelli knocked in Coppus and Haley Keller on a one out double. Keller walked earlier in the inning.
Rider answered in the first, scoring four runs off five hits. Kozlowski scored on a single by Derrin Minunni. Amanda Centeno singled, scoring Minunni and Brittany Eckett to tie the game. Rider took the lead when Centeno scored on an error.
CSU struck again in the second, scoring four runs off five hits. Amanda Kern and Danielle Young scored on another Coppus double. Kern walked to open the inning and Young singled. Coppus and Jessica Burt scored on a single by Ciminelli. Burt singled earlier in the inning.
The Vikings pounded in three additional runs in the fourth. Houchin scored on a single by Danielle Young. Kern and Young scored the other two runs in the inning off a double by Coppus. Houchin walked to open the inning.
Rider's last run came in the fourth, when Tiffany Day-Neutill scored on an Eckett double. Day-Neutill singled earlier in the inning. Burt scored CSU's last run with a homer in the seventh.
Coppus was 3-4, knocking in five RBI's off of three doubles.
Brittany Bate got the starting nod, giving up four hits and three earned runs. Amanda Macenko pitched 6.1 innings in relief, giving up one earned run and striking out six. The two wins put Macenko at 6-4 on the season.
"It's finally nice to see our bats come out today, we came out aggressive and swung the bats hard," head coach Angie Nicholson said. "This is the offense I know. We needed this today, to see what we are capable of the first time we really let loose and show what I see in practice every day."
The Vikings finish the Rebel Games against Army at 9:00 a.m. and Fairleigh Dickinson at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 15.
