April 30, 2008
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Viking offense took the day off on Wednesday, totaling just 10 hits in two games as CSU was swept in a doubleheader for the first time this year, losing to Kent State, 1-0 and 3-0 in eight innings at Viking Field.
The losses drop CSU to 28-15 this year while Kent State improves to 36-10
"This was a disappointing performance," CSU acting head coach Josie Henry said. "This very easily could have been a sweep for us but we didn't make the right plays at the right time."
"The pitching was outstanding in both games for both teams and when you get into tight games like this, you have to execute. Unfortunately, we didn't execute very well and they did."
Henry was filling in for head coach Angie Nicholson, who was taking the day off after giving birth to her fourth child, son Darrian Lee Nicholson, on Tuesday. Nicholson will be back in the dugout this weekend.
One pitch proved to be the difference in the opener as Jessica Carmichael's one-out homerun to right in the fifth was the only scoring in a pitcher's dual between KSU's Kylie Reynolds and CSU's Amanda Macenko, who each allowed just four hits in seven innings.
The Vikings did have their chances however.
CSU had runners on first and second with one out in the sixth but a grounder to short forced Danielle Young at third. The Vikings appeared to tie the game when Amanda Houchin hit a ground ball up the middle that Kent State shortstop Jessica Toocheck made a diving stop on and then flipped the ball to second to force Christa Coppus at second.
The Vikings also had a chance in the seventh when Katelyn Ciminelli doubled to right center but Reynolds got Amy Powell to ground to short, Pinch hitter Haley Keller to strike out swinging and Natalie DeMatteis to pop out to third to end the game.
The loss spoiled a brilliant pitching effort from Macenko, who struck out four and walked one in the contest. By throwing the seven innings, she raised her season innings pitched total to 228, breaking her own school of 226.1 innings pitched in a season, which was set last season.
The nightcap was equally as frustrating for CSU.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Vikings got consecutive singles by Jessica Burt, Christa Coppus and Amanda Houchin to load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh but failed to score as Kateyn Ciminelli chopped a grounder two feet in front of the plate allowing Burt to be easily forced out at home. With Amy Powell at the plate, CSU ran a suicide squeeze that Powell failed to get a bat on and Coppus was tagged out in a rundown. Powell then ended the inning by striking out, one of 13 strikeouts in the game by Kent State starter Gabrielle Burns.
Kent State wasted little time, scoring three runs in the top of the eighth to take control of the game. Jessica Carmichael and Jessica Toocheck each had RBI singles in the inning with the third run scoring on a wild pitch.
Freshman Brittany Bate (3-3) was the hard-luck loser for CSU, allowing three runs on six hits in the game.
Burns took advantage of a wide strike zone by plate umpire Wayne Doyle to hold the CSU bats in check all game. She struck out the first nine batters in the game, four on called third strikes, and did not allow a hit until Whitney Willard, who went three-for-four in the game, led off the fourth with a single.
The Vikings conclude their regular season schedule with a three-game series at home against Valparaiso this weekend. With a 13-3 league mark, CSU needs to win just one game against the Crusaders (11-4) to claim its first Horizon League regular season crown and earn the top seed in next week's league championship tourney. CSU squares off with Valpo on Saturday (May 3) for a 1:00 p.m. doubleheader and then closes the series with a single game at 12:00 noon on Sunday (May 4).
