Feb. 13, 2009
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
ATHENS, Ga. - Andrea Nagy drove in three runs and Amanda Macenko threw a two-hitter as Cleveland State routed Elon, 7-0, in a first round game of the second annual Red & Black Showcase at the University of Georgia.
The victory is CSU's (2-4) second straight after the Vikings opened the season with four straight losses while Elon drops to 0-1.
After hitting .343 as a team in five games last week, the Vikings kept their bats hot in the tourney opener, pounding out 14 hits, including three doubles, and scored runs in four innings.
"Wow! This is what we are capable of doing," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "It is great to put it all together. We hit the ball played defense and threw the ball well. It was our best effort of the season.
"Our lineup can hit from top to bottom. We did that last week and it continued today. That should be one of our strengths this year."
The assault was team-wide as eight of the nine CSU batters had hits. Freshman Megan Bashak led the way, going three-for-four with a run scored and two RBI. Andrea Nagy was two-for-five with 3 RBI and Natalie DeMatteis was one-for-one with three walks and three runs scored. Christa Coppus, Lia Gordon and Katelyn Ciminelli each added two hits.
After struggling to find her control last week, junior Amanda Macenko dominated on the mound, striking out a season-high 11 while throwing a two-hit shutout for her 54th career victory as a Viking.
"Amanda's was popping today," Nicholson said. "She had great control with great movement on her pitches. She threw today like she did last year."
After leaving the bases loaded in the first, the Vikings added runs in three of the next four innings to take control.
With one out in the second, the Vikings got things started when Natalie DeMatteis walked and Megan Bashak doubled to left center to put runners at second and third. Nagy followed with a single up the middle to score both runs.
The Vikings made it 3-0 in the third when Katelyn Ciminelli singled to score Amanda Houchin, who had doubled..
CSU plated two more runs in the fifth on a Bashak RBI single followed by a Nagy RBI double to right center.
The Vikings added their final two runs in the seventh. Bashak completed her three-high performance by driving home Ciminelli with a one-out single. Christa Coppus followed with a single to score Bashak to complete the scoring.
CSU continues tournament play tomorrow with a pair of games, taking on Longwood at 12 noon and host Georgia at 4:00 p.m.
