May 9, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Megan Bashak had three hits and drove in a pair of runs and Amanda Macenko struck out 10 to record her 36th win of the season as Cleveland State celebrated Senior Day by defeating Valparaiso, 5-1, to complete the weekend sweep on Sunday afternoon at Viking Field.
The win allowed CSU to end the regular season with a 42-13 record and in first place in the Horizon League with a 22-2 record. It is the most wins ever by the Vikings, also setting a league record for conference victories in a season (old record was 17 by CSU last year).
Cleveland State will host the Horizon League Championship starting Thursday (May 13) at Viking Field, entering the tourney as the No. 1. Wright State (16-8), which won two of three from UIC this weekend, will be the No. 2 seed with UIC (15-9) being No. 3, Valparaiso (12-9) seeded fourth, Green Bay (11-11) fifth and Butler (11-11) sixth.
"We came out ready to play all weekend and it showed on the field," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "Today's game didn't mean anything in the conference race but our kids have a lot of pride and they wanted to show that they are the best team in the conference.
"We hit the ball really hard today and found the gaps. I don't like that we left nine runners on base, but that shows how many opportunities we had today."
The day belonged to Viking seniors Amanda Macenko, Lia Gordon and Mimi Mahon, who were honored in a pre-game ceremony for their accomplishments during the CSU careers.
"Senior Day is always emotional because it is the realization that pretty soon, this team will no longer be playing together," Nicholson said. "These seniors have been great players, great students and great teammates. They are the reason why we are so successful and we will miss them when they are gone."
With the festivities concluded, the Vikings wasted little time taking the lead. With the bases loaded and one out in the first, Amy Powell singled down the left field line to score Jessica Burt to put CSU ahead, 1-0. The run marked the third straight game in the series that CSU scored in the first inning.
The Vikings had more opportunities to extend the lead, but they left the bases loaded in both the first and third innings.
CSU got its second run in the fourth when Megan Bashak led off with a double, went to third on a fly ball by Jessica Burt and scored on a single by Tess Sito.
The Vikings extended their lead to 4-0 in the fifth when Bashak doubled to the wall in left center field, scoring both Powell and Caila Ferro. Katelyn Ciminelli made it 5-0 in the sixth with a mammoth solo homerun to right.
Macenko was dominant again, striking out six and allowing just one hit through three innings and only giving up one run, on a Sara Strickland solo home run to lead off the sixth. Macenko went the distance, scattering five hits over seven innings, walking one and striking out 10 to improve to 36-13 on the season.
Macenko has now won 116 career games, one shy of the Horizon League record, and continues to lead the nation in victories.
CSU pounded out 11 hits in the game with Bashak recording three and both Ciminelli and Powell having two each.
Sam McGee was the starter and loser, allowing three runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings. Alex Lagesse pitched the final 1.2 innings, giving up a pair of runs on two hits.
The Vikings will now have off until Thursday (May 13) when they open the defense of their Horizon League Championship title when they play the winner of No. 4 Valparaiso vs. No. 5 Green Bay game beginning at 1:30 p.m. at Viking Field.
