March 22, 2009

Final Stats

DAYTON, Ohio - - The Cleveland State Vikings' offense opened up in the second game of a double-header at Wright State on Saturday, earning a double-header split in the opening weekend of Horizon League action. CSU dropped game one 6-2 before bouncing back for an 8-3 win in the nightcap.

The Vikings improved to 10-10 with the win and evened their league record at 1-1. Wright State ended the day with a record of 10-11, 1-1.

"It is good to get a split today," head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We fell behind early in the first game but were able to regain our composure and really play well in the second game."

"Wright State is the kind of team who will take advantage of you if your pitching isn't sharp. That's what they did early in the first game and by the time we put things together, it was too late," Nicholson said. "Amanda (Macenko) threw real well and seemed to get stronger as the day went on."

In a 6-2 first game loss, the Vikings opened up the scoring in the top of the second when Lia Gordon homered to leftfield. Wright State answered with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning and opened the game up with a five-run third that included two homeruns.

The Vikings got a rally going in the top of the sixth when Christa Coppus reached on an error. Amanda Houchin followed with a single and Gordon walked the bases loaded. The Vikings plated Coppus on a sacrifice fly by Katelyn Ciminelli.

Houchin and Gordon led the Vikings at the plate with two hits apiece. On the mound, Brittany Bate (1-3) got the start, allowing three hits and four earned runs in two innings of work for the loss. Amanda Macenko threw four innings in relief, allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts.

In the nightcap, the Vikings fell behind early after Wright State scored three times in the bottom of the second.

Cleveland State opened the game up in the fourth inning, taking a 4-3 lead. Gordon singled and Natalie DeMatteis walked to put runners at first and second. Stoffer doubled, scoring Nichols, who went in to run for Gordon and DeMatteis moved over to third. After a groundout to the pitcher, Danielle Young dropped a single into centerfield and advanced to third on an error while plating DeMatteis and Stoffer for the game-tying run. Adams then singled in the go-ahead run, scoring Young for a 4-3 Vikings lead.

"In the second game, we played the way that we are capable of. We hit the ball all over the stadium, played solid defense and ran the bases well," Nicholson said. "When we play like that, we are tough to beat."

CSU wasn't done though, adding a run in the fifth after Coppus walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Ciminelli singled to left for the RBI, scoring Coppus.

Macenko and the Vikings defense held off a Wright State comeback with 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth before fighting off a rally in the bottom of the seventh. Malerie Klinger opened the bottom of the seventh with a single and Wright State quickly had runners on the corners after Lindsay Barrett reached on an error. In the next at-bat, Macenko got China Frost to ground into a fielder's choice, keeping Klinger at third and leaving runners at the corners before Macenko got Jamie Perkins to ground into a double-play to end the game.

On the day, Shalyn Adams and Ciminelli recorded two hits apiece with Adams, Coppus and Young tallying to RBI each. On the mound, Macenko picked up the complete game win, allowing five hits and three runs while striking out two.