April 15, 2008
Game 1 Stats|
Game 2 Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
BOARDMAN, Ohio - Katelyn Ciminelli drove in four runs and Amanda Macenko picked up a pair of wins in the circle as Cleveland State swept Youngstown State, 5-1 and 6-2, on Tuesday to move into a first place tie in the Horizon League.
The victories extended CSU's current winning streak to six games, improving the Vikings to 20-9 overall and tying Wright State for first place in the league with an 8-2 mark. Youngstown State drops to 6-24 overall and 2-11 in league play.
"This was a pretty good effort today," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "Our defense was solid, the pitching was superb and we created a lot of opportunities offensively. We still need to do a better job of finishing those scoring chances, but it is hard to complain about scoring 11 runs in two games.
"Our offense is getting to the point that I envisioned early in the year. We are capable of being a threat from spots one through nine in the order, which was evident today."
Macenko threw 12 of the 14 innings to improve to 15-8 on the year, she scattered seven hits in the doubleheader, allowing three runs on three solo homeruns, striking out 11 and walking just two.
The wins allowed Macenko to become just the third player in CSU history to win 40 games in the circle during a career. In just her second year, she is 41-18.
The Vikings opened up a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the opener when Ciminelli scored from second on a throwing error by YSU shortstop Katy Potokar.
The Penguins evened the score in the bottom of the fourth when McKenzie Bedra hit a two-out solo homerun to left.
Ciminelli gave the Vikings the lead for good in the sixth when she singled to center to score Amanda Houchin and Christa Coppus. Tara Meyer ran for Ciminelli, scoring when she stole home on the back end of a double steal with Erica Remshard.
CSU added an insurance run in the seventh when Houchin walked with two outs, stole second and scored on a double by Coppus.
Macenko went the distance in the opener, allowing the lone run on three hits.
The nightcap was more of a slugfest as CSU pounded out 12 hits and left 10 runners on base while running away with the game.
The Penguin offense came off the bat of leadoff hitter Rochelle Vanyi, who hit a solo homerun in both the first and third innings to account for both YSU runs. The left fielder went three-for-three with a walk.
CSU scored all the runs it would need in the second. Coppus led off with a double and came around to score on Ciminelli's second homerun of the year. Jessica Burt drove in the third run of the inning when she singled home pinch runner Amanda Kern from second with two outs.
The Vikings added three more in the fourth as Danielle Young and Coppus had RBI singles and Houchin drove in the other run on a fielder's choice ground ball.
Macenko went five innings in the nightcap, allowing the two runs on four hits. She gave way to freshman Brittany Bate who shutdown the Penguins over the final two innings, allowing two hits while striking out three.
Coppus was the hitting star of the day for CSU, registering her 11th and 12th multi-hit games of the year, going five-for-eight to raise her season batting average to .429.
"Christa is amazing," Nicholson said. "She is so poised and confident at the plate that it is very hard to pitch to her. Even her outs were solid today."
Cleveland State returns home for a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader against Saint Francis (PA) on Thursday and then play a three-game league series at UIC over the weekend, playing a doubleheader on Saturday (April 19) and a single game on Sunday (April 20).
