April 24, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Amanda Macenko allowed just one unearned run in 14 innings of work to set a school record for wins in a season for the fourth straight year as Cleveland State strengthened its grip on first place in the Horizon League by sweeping Butler, 1-0 and 4-1, on Saturday at Viking Field.
The wins improved CSU to 35-11 on the season and 15-2 in league play while Butler slipped to 35-13 and 11-7 in conference action. With Valparaiso's sweep over Wright State, CSU is in first place in the league standings with a .882 winning percentage while Valpo is second at .750 (9-3).
"This was a true battle for us today," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We knew going in that we were going to have to take advantage of our offensive opportunities and we did just that. That is a great sign because we won't have an easy game the rest of the season.
"Amanda threw a pair of brilliant games in the circle and she just got stronger and stronger as the day progressed. Even though Butler had a bunch of hits in the first game, only one of them was hit sharply and they never had a serious scoring threat going."
The first game was a classic pitching duel between Macenko and Butler freshman Jenny Esparza, the top two pitchers in the Horizon League this season, and although Esparza dominated early, Macenko was steady throughout to win the battle.
The Bulldogs scattered seven hits throughout the first six innings but never advanced a runner past second base.
Meaghan Sullivan opened the game with a double to the wall in center, but she was promptly picked off second by Viking catcher Amy Powell.
Lauren McNulty and Erin Falkenberry opened the fourth with back-to-back singles for Butler, but two ground ball outs and a strikeout ended the threat.
Butler also put runners on first and second with one out in the sixth, but Macenko induced Devin Dearing to fly out to center and Mallory Winters to ground out to third to end the threat.
In the mean time, Esparza was cruising, limiting CSU to a pair of baserunners in the first six innings, both coming on walks to Tess Sito, who stole second each time with one out. She was stranded on second when Esparza struck out Katelyn Ciminelli and Lia Gordon to end the first and Sito was thrown out trying to steal third base with two outs in the fourth.
The Vikings punched across their only run in the seventh when Sito walked for the third straight time, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch with one out. After starting out 0-2 and then fouling off at least a half-dozen pitches to fight back and get the count to full, Gordon lined a shot a shot off Bulldog third baseman Annie Dolan to drive in Sito with the winning run.
"That run is typical of how we are able to do things," Nicholson said. "Tess did a great job of getting on and then using her speed to move around the bases. Lia was in a huge hole and battled pitch-after-pitch until she found a pitch that she could drive to win the game. It was a great at-bat and she just refused to give in."
Gordon's single was the only hit allowed by Esparza, who struck out 12 in six and a third innings of work.
Butler jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the nightcap when Sullivan opened the game by being safe on an error and went to second when Dolan was hit by a pitch. After Bridget Paine flew out to center, McNulty lined a single up the middle to score Sullivan.
That was all the Bulldogs would get as Macenko would bear down, retiring 14 straight batters until Sullivan opened the sixth inning by being safe on an error. The only other runner allowed came when Winters singled with two out in the seventh.
With Esparza throwing the second game of the doubleheader as well, a first for the Bulldog freshman, the CSU bats started to come alive.
The Vikings had runners on base in each of the three innings but couldn't scratch across a run until the fourth.
Powell led off the fourth inning with a single and Alicia Nichols pinch ran for her. Nichols went to second on a sacrifice by Gabby Gillilan and with two outs, came into score on a line drive single to right field by Mimi Mahon.
CSU opened the game up in the sixth. Gordon led off with a walk, and after Esparza threw a wild pitch to Powell, Butler head coach Jeanne Raymon brought in Jennifer Chasteen to pitch. Powell greeted Chasteen by lining a pitch up the middle off of her, allowing pinch runner Kala Allred to advance to third when Sullivan fielded the ball and threw Powell out at first.
Gillilan put the Vikings ahead, 2-1, on a single to right and Dara Toman followed with a two-run homerun to left center that gave CSU a 4-1 lead. It was the 11th homerun of the year for Toman, the third-highest single season total in school history.
Macenko struck out three of the four batters she faced in the seventh to complete the win. She allowed just two hits and one unearned run, striking out 12 without a walk to improve to 29-11 on the year to break her own school record for wins in a season. Macenko, who now has 109 career victories, won 26 games as both a freshman and sophomore and 28 games last season.
Esparza was the losing pitcher in the second game as well, dropping to 17-6 on the season. She allowed two runs in five innings of work, striking out four and walking one. Chasteen was charged with two runs on two hits in one inning of relief.
The two teams will meet for the final game of the three-game series on Sunday (April 25) at 12:00 noon at Viking Field.
