April 21, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Senior Amanda Macenko fired a complete game three-hitter and freshman Tess Sito hit her league-leading 16th home run and drove in six runs to lead Cleveland State to a 9-0 victory over Youngstown State in six innings on Wednesday night.
The win allowed the Vikings to take two out of three games from the Penguins after the teams split a doubleheader on Tuesday.
The win improves CSU to 33-11 overall and kept the Vikings in first place in the Horizon League at 13-2. YSU fell to 13-27 overall and 6-9 in league action.
"After we lost the second game yesterday, I challenged the team and they responded today," head coach Angie Nicholson said. "Amanda was great on the mound and really hitting her spots with her pitches. And we were patient at the plate, drawing some walks and getting key hits.
"We are going to have to play with the same level of intensity this weekend in a key three-game series with Butler as those games will go a long way in determining the final league standings."
The Vikings wasted little time giving Macenko some run support, scoring a first inning as Jessica Burt led off the game with a double and scored on Kaitlyn Ciminelli's RBI double two batters later.
CSU put two more tallies on the board in the second as Amy Powell started the inning with a walk, but was erased on a Gabby Gillilan fielder's choice. Gillilan would come all the way around from first to score on a Mimi Mahon double.
Sito added an RBI single in the inning that scored Megan Bashak who walked earlier, to make it 3-0.
That would be more than enough support for Macenko, who allowed a second inning single for the Penguins lone hit of the game. Macenko retired the side in order in each of the other five innings.
She improved to 27-11 this season, while fanning six.
CSU added three runs in the fourth on a two-run single from Sito and a Ciminelli sacrifice fly.
But Sito wasn't done as she drilled a three-run homer to rightcenter field in the sixth to make it 9-0. Her 16th home run added to her ongoing single season school record, while her six RBI effort raised her season total to 42, just six shy of breaking the school record.
Ciminelli finished with two RBI, while Bashak and Burt scored three runs each. Gillilan scored two runs.
The Vikings will be back in action on Saturday (April 24) when CSU begins a three-game series with Butler, playing a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m. at Viking Field.
