April 25, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Amanda Macenko threw a five-hitter to pick up her school record 30th win of the season and Cleveland State won for the second time this weekend while being one-hit as the Vikings completed the sweep of Butler with a 2-1 win on Sunday afternoon at Viking Field.
Cleveland State improved to 36-11 on the year while Butler slipped to 35-14. More importantly, CSU improved to 16-2 in league play, leaving them one win shy of the league record for conference wins in a season. With a .889 winning percentage with six games to go, the Vikings are considerably ahead of second place Valparaiso (9-3, .750) in the battle for first place and the right to host the upcoming Horizon League Championship.
"We really battled today at the plate," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We knew that with (Jenny) Esparza throwing, that our opportunities would be limited so we needed to make the most of every trip to the plate. We did just that, being very disciplined and choosing our pitches wisely.
"We played real well in every other phase of the game. Amanda threw another awesome game, our defense was solid behind her and we ran the bases well. That is exactly what we need to do in a close game," Nicholson added.
With Macenko battling Bulter's Esparza in the circle for the third straight game, neither team had many good scoring opportunities.
Butler had a two-out double by Melissa Shofroth in the second and had runners on first and second with one out in the third but could not take advantage of either opportunity.
The Vikings managed just a pair of walks off of Esparza in the first three innings, but the Butler ace lost her accuracy in the fourth. She walked Katelyn Ciminelli to open the inning and then hit both Gordon and Amy Powell to load the bases. A wild pitch allowed the first run to score and, after Gabby Gillilan walked to load the bases again, Mimi Mahon battled back from being down in the count to draw a walk to score the second Viking run.
That was all for Esparza, who was relieved by Breanna Fisher. Fisher induced Megan Bashak to strike out and Jessica Burt to ground out to first to end the inning.
Butler got on the scoreboard in sixth when Meagan Sullivan, Lauren McNulty and Devin Dearing each singled, the last being a line drive up the middle that allowed Sullivan to score from second to cut the CSU lead to 2-1.
Macenko bore down, striking out Shofroth to end the inning and then set the Bulldogs down in order to secure the win.
As it did in the series opener, Cleveland State finally put a hit on the board in its final at bat when Amy Powell ripped a single throught he hole between third and short to open the sixth inning.
Macenko was the winner to improve to 30-11 on the year and claim her 110th career victory, tying her for 25th place on the NCAA career wins list. She allowed five hits, striking out seven and walking just one.
Esparza slipped to 17-7 on the year, allowing two runs on no hits in three and a third innings of work. She struck out three but walked five and hit two batters.
The Vikings have a pair of mid-week doubleheaders scheduled this week, hosting Kent State on Tuesday (April 27) and Toledo on Wednesday (April 28) at Viking Field before traveling to Chicago for a three-game series at Loyola over the weekend (May 1-2).
