April 28, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio - After sweeping a weekend series from Butler and coming within two games of claiming its second Horizon League regular season crown, the Viking offense came to a halt on Wednesday, stranding 21 runners on base as Toledo swept a doubleheader, 4-0 and 4-3 on Wednesday afternoon at Viking Field.
The losses, the first time CSU was swept in a doubleheader since the end of the 2008 season, dropped the Vikings to 36-13 on the season. Toledo improved to 11-32.
"We just weren't clicking at all today," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "In the first game, every time we hit the ball hard, it was right at somebody. In the few instances where we found a gap on the field, they made some great defensive plays.
"The second game was all about clutch hitting. We definitely had the opportunities, though most of them started with two outs and we just couldn't come up with the timely hit. It was very frustrating.
"We are going to need to improve on our clutch hitting because we will have very few games the rest of the year that won't affect our ability to get to post-season play and if we don't score runs, we will not win."
The Rockets built a 3-0 lead after the first three innings of the opener, using a solo home run by Mica Sanchez in the second inning and an RBI single by Erinn Wright and a wild pitch in the third inning.
Toledo added an insurance run in the fifth on a McKenna Smith solo home run.
Rocket pitcher Hannah Rockhold (7-16) was the winner after allowing CSU just four hits in seven innings, striking out six without a walk.
The Viking offense was working better in the nightcap, pounding out 15 hits but CSU left a season-high 15 runners on base in falling, 4-3.
CSU jumped on Rocket starter Whitney Young for two runs in the first. With Tess Sito on second, Lia Gordon lined a single into the hole at shortstop with Sito coming into score when the shortstop booted the ball down the left field line. Amy Powell followed with an RBI single down the left field line.
Toledo made it 2-1 in the second on a Lindsey Tobias RBI single and then took a 3-2 lead in the fourth when Sanchez tripled to score Jillian Spink from first. Sanchez then scored on an infield single by Smith.
The Vikings rallied to tie the game in the fifth. Gordon led off the inning with a single. Pinch runner Megan Bashak stole second and came into score on a single by Gabby Gillilan.
Toledo scored the game-winner in the sixth when Spink and Sanchez led off the inning with back-to-back doubles.
Cleveland State has runners on base in every inning, stranding two in the third, three in the fourth and two in the fifth and seventh. The game ended when Alicia Nichols bounced to the pitcher with runners on first and second.
Amanda Macenko, who leads the nation with 30 wins, was the starter and loser in each game, dropping to 30-13 on the year. She gave up eight runs (seven earned) on 17 hits, striking out six without a walk. She gave way to reliever Brandy Holmes in the sixth inning of the nightcap Holmes threw two scoreless innings, allowing no hits and a walk with two strikeouts.
Jessica Burt and Amy Powell led the offense with three hits in the twinbill while Sito went two-for-three in the nightcap to raise her season hit total to 67, tying the CSU single season record, originally set by Tiffany Stocker in 2001.
The Vikings will have two days to get ready for their final Horizon League road trip of the year, playing a three-game series at Loyola over the weekend (May 1-2). With a 16-2 record (.889 winning percentage), CSU has a commanding lead in the league with Wright State (14-7, .667) and Valparaiso (9-6, .600).
The Vikings need one win in their final six games to assure themselves of finishing ahead of Wright State and two wins to guarantee finishing ahead of Valparaiso, who the Vikings play in a three-game series at home on May 7-8.
