May 4, 2008
Game 1 Stats
Game 2 Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, OHIO -- Amanda Houchin singled in a run in the fourth inning to end a 29-inning Viking scoreless drought and CSU added three runs in the fifth to upend Valparaiso, 4-1, in the nightcap of a doubleheader and claim the 2008 Horizon League regular season title.
CSU (29-16, 14-4), which entered the game with a 13-3 league mark, needed to win one game of the doubleheader against second place Valparaiso (30-17, 12-5) to claim its first-ever regular season softball title. The Vikings dropped the opener, 1-0 in eight innings before coming back to claim the second game.
"That was a big win for us," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We struggled at the plate all week long but were able to string enough good at bats together to get the lead. Once that happened, everybody started hitting and we put a big number on the board.
"Winning the regular season title was one of our goals for the season and it is a testament to how hard this team worked all season long. Every game was a battle and it was great to see that we came through in the end."
Mired in one of their worst offensive slumps of the season, the Vikings had failed to score a run in 29 consecutive innings before Houchin blooped a single between the shortstop and leftfielder to score Christa Coppus, who had singled and went to second on a sacrifice.
With one out in the fifth, Amy Powell hit her fifth homerun of the year, a prodigious blast to left field. One out later, Whitney Willard was safe when Valpo shortstop Mallory Gill dropped a short pop-up. Willard then stole second and came around to score to make it 3-0 on a triple by Danielle Young. Young hit a frozen rope to straightaway center that Crusader outfielder Karen Korb initially broke in on and didn't have time to recover before the ball sailed over her head. Jessica Burt followed with a single to left to score Young.
That was all that Amanda Macenko needed as the record-setting sophomore improved to 24-12 on the year, recording her 50th career win as a Viking, a mark achieved by just two other pitchers in school history.
Macenko went the distance, allowing just four hits and one unearned run, striking out three without a walk. She ran into trouble in the seventh when Valpo put runners at second and third with nobody out, but a strikeout and two ground ball outs ended the game with just one run scoring.
Andrea Zappia (19-8) was the starter and loser in the nightcap, allowing four runs (2 earned) on seven hits in 4.2 innings. She gave way to Stephanie Kelly in the fifth with Jill Jacobson throwing scoreless sixth and seventh innings.
"Amanda was outstanding today," Nicholson said. "She was in true post-season form. She knew that any little mistake could cost us a title so she was fighting on every pitch."
The Crusaders claimed the opener in a classic pitcher's dual between Macenko and Valpo's Zappia, the top two pitchers in the Horizon League this season. Zappia went the distance, allowing just two hits and walking four with three strikeouts while Macenko scattered four hits, striking out six and walking one while allowing just one earned run.
The Vikings had several good scoring opportunities in the opener.
Coppus singled to lead off the fifth and was sacrificed to second by Katelyn Ciminelli, one of three sacrifices in the doubleheader by the freshman first baseman. After an Amanda Houchin fly ball out, Amy Powell walked and Haley Keller lined a single to center. Coppus tried to score on the play but was gunned down at the plate by a perfect throw from Korb to catcher Shannon Robinson to end the inning.
In the bottom of the seventh, Coppus walked with one out and was sacrificed to second by Ciminelli. The inning ended when Houchin hit a foul ball that Gill caught deep down the third base line.
Valpo put the only run on the board in the top of the eighth when pinch hitter Sadie Conner hit a seeing eye single to left that dropped between shortstop Christa Coppus and left fielder Whitney Willard to score Gill, who had led off the inning with a double.
With the regular season title, the Vikings will enter this week's Horizon League Championship as the top seed. CSU will get a first round bye, opening tourney play against the winner of the tournament's first game on Thursday between sixth-seeded Green Bay and seventh-seeded Butler on Thursday afternoon. The tourney will be played at the Loyola Softball Park in Chicago, Ill.
