March 6, 2010

Kent State Stats

Marshall Stats

Contact: Brian McCann

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Cleveland State received good pitching from starter Amanda Macenko but couldn't get the timely hits as CSU dropped both games on Saturday as part of the Marshall Holiday Inn-vitational, falling 2-1 to Kent State and 4-2 to host Marshall.

The losses drop the Vikings to 7-5 on the year.

"We just didn't hit the ball today," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We struck out way too much and didn't attack the ball like we are used to. That is unfortunate because we could have easily taken both of these games."

The Vikings dominated play in the first game for six innings in the opening game of the day against Kent State.

CSU scored its lone run in the second when Lia Gordon led off the frame with her first homerun of the season, a blast down the left field line.

CSU had a chance to extend its lead in the fourth when Tess Sito led off with a single to center and promptly stole second. Gabby Gillilan struck out and Gordon line out to second before Dara Toman was hit by a pitch, putting runners on first and second. Sito and Toman executed a double steal to put runners on second and third, but Katelyn Ciminelli struck out to end the inning.

Amanda Macenko set down six of the first seven batters she faced before Blanton was safe on an error to lead off the third and Leah Archual followed with a one out double to right. Macenko found the zone, getting Lauren Grimes to strikeout and Beth Cinadr to ground out to end the inning.

Macenko struck out all three batters in the fourth and set Kent State down in order in the fifth. She ran her consecutive outs string to nine when Archual grounded out to start the sixth.

That is when the game went south. Grimes singled through the right side and Cinadr followed with a two-run home run to left center to give the Golden Flashes a 2-1 lead.

The Viking got a one-out single by Gillilan in the sixth but could do no more against Kent State starter Kylie Reynolds, who retired the next five batters to secure the win. She went seven innings, allowing one run on four hits, striking out 13 with just one walk.

Macenko struck out nine in six innings, allowing two runs on three hits.

The Vikings jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first of the nightcap against Marshall when Jessica Burt scored on a Gordon ground ball to the infield. Burt had singled, moved to second on a Sito single and to third on a Gillilan sacrifice.

But CSU had a chance to score more but left runners at the corners when Toman struck out and Ciminelli popped out.

Marshall took the lead back in the bottom of the inning when Alianna Telles led off with a home run to center to tie the game at 1-1. The Thundering Herd added a second run later in the frame when Melanie Stoehr hit a sacrifice fly to left.

Marshall made it 3-1 in the second when Telles stroked a two-out double to right to score Jazmine Valle, who had walked.

The Vikings pulled to within 4-2 in the fourth when Macall Sheppard led off with a walk and came around to score on a pinch hit double by Caila Ferro.

CSU would proceed to load the bases with one out in the fourth, knocking Thundering Herd starter Katie Murphree out of the game. Reliever Caitlyn Jackson induced Gillilan to ground into a double play to end the inning.

The Vikings would get a runner on in both the sixth and seventh innings but could do nothing with them, leaving eight runners on base during the game.

Macenko went the distance for CSU to drop to 6-5, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits. He struck out five and walked one. Murphree allowed two runs on three hits in 3.1 innings to get a no decision with Jackson throwing 3.2 innings of one-hit relief to get the win.

"We just have to go regroup tonight and come back out tomorrow and do better at the plate," Nicholson said. "The difference between winning two and losing two today was very little so we just have to continue to play strong defense, get good pitching and hit better."

Sito had half of the CSU hits in the twinbill, going four-for-six with a walk to extend her hitting streak to 11 games.

The Vikings close out tournament play tomorrow with two more games, facing Delaware at 10:00 a.m. and Marshall again at 2:00 p.m.