March 7, 2010
Delaware Stats
Marshall Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - Dara Toman and Mimi Mahon each hit home runs and Tess Sito went five innings to pick up her first career victory as Cleveland State defeated Delaware, 3-1, as part of a split of games on Sunday at the Marshall Holiday Inn-vitational.
CSU also dropped a 4-3 decision in nine innings to host Marshall.
The split sends CSU to 8-6 for the year, including 1-3 this weekend.
"What a disappointing day," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We had every opportunity to win both of these games but just didn't come up with the timely hits.
"It was like that all weekend. We were three plays away from being 4-0, instead, we go 1-3 and that isn't acceptable. I known that it is early in the season, but we are a couple of weeks away from starting league games and we are going to have to be ready to play every inning.
"I think our effort was there because we did real well defensively and on the bases, but we just didn't hit the ball like I know that we can," Nicholson added.
Delaware took a 1-0 lead in the first when Jenny Richards led off the game with a solo home run to left field.
After allowing three hits in the first, Sito settled down, retiring 14 of the next 17 batters she faced through five innings.
But the Viking bats were quiet as CSU left seven runners on through four innings. Sito led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and stole second. Gabby Gillilan followed with a single to left, but Sito was thrown out at the plate, increasing CSU's offensive frustrations.
Alexas Baldasore replaced starter Anne Marie Pagano in the circle and the Viking bats were unleashed. Toman greeted the pitching change by driving a pitch over the left field wall to put CSU ahead, 2-1. Mahon followed with a solo home run to left to give CSU a 3-1 advantage.
Amanda Macenko replaced Sito in the circle and threw the final two innings, striking out three and allowing just one hit to pick up her first save of the year. Sito (1-0) earned the win after allowing four hits in five innings, striking out three and walking two.
"Tess had struggled a bit the inning before so I thought it was important to bring in Amanda and she shut them down," Nicholson said.
The Vikings jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the night cap when Lia Gordon hit a first inning sacrifice fly to score Jessica Burt
CSU pushed the lead to 2-0 in the third when Jessica Burt singled, stole second and came around to score on a Sito single.
Marshall tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the frame when Caitlyn Jackson hit a two run home run to center field.
The Vikings came back to take a 3-2 lead in the fourth when they loaded the bases with one out. Amy Powell drove in the go-ahead run on a ground ball to second that was misplayed for an error. But Marshall would go to the bullpen, bringing in Katie Murphree, who had defeated CSU the day before, and she got Mahon to grounds into a fielder's choice and Burt to strike out to end the inning.
Marshall tied the game in the fifth on a solo home run by Alianne Telles, but like CSU the inning before, the Herd left the bases loaded.
The score remained tied until the bottom of the ninth when Telles was placed at second base as part of the tie-breaker rule. She went to third on a fly ball to right field by Jackson and scored on a two-out single through the right side by Rebecca Gamby.
Macenko allowed four runs (three earned) on 12 hits in 8.2 innings, striking out six without a walk to fall to 6-6 on the season. Murphree (7-5) picked up the win in relief, allowing one run on three hits in 3.1 innings.
Sito continues her torrid pace at the plate, going five-for-seven at the plate in the two contests to extend her hitting streak to 13 games. For the year, she leads the team with a .578 batting average (26-45)
The Vikings take to the road this week to begin their annual spring break trip. CSU will play a total of 13 games in Florida, starting with five games at the USF Under Armour Classic in Tampa, Fla. Play in the tourney runs from Frday, March 12 through Sunday, March 14. After that, CSU will head to Kissimmee, Fla. to play eight games in the annual Rebel Games.
