March 11, 2011
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
ROCK HILL, S.C. - Gabby Gillilan and Macall Sheppard had walk-off game-winning hits and Tess Sito recorded a pair of wins in the circle as Cleveland State needed extra innings to win a pair of games on the first day of the Winthrop Addidas Invitational, edging Charlotte, 2-0 in 10 innings, and UNC Wilmington, 6-5 in eight innings.
The wins improved the Vikings to 7-4 on the year and gave CSU a 5-0 record on the first day of tournaments this year.
"We did what we needed to do to win today," head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We aren't hitting like we are capable of doing, but we have been able to come up with the big hit when we needed them.
"Our base running continues to be a factor in games. We stole eight bases in the two games and that put a lot of pressure on our opponents and made them focus on whether we were going to run or not."
The first game of the day was a pitcher's dual between Charlotte's Katy Hackett and CSU's Sito with both teams getting opportunities to end the game in regulation.
The 49ers put at least one runner on base in every inning except the 7th, but could not push a run across, stranding 12 runners on base. Charlotte left a runner at third with two outs in the 1st, had runners at second and third with two outs in the third and left the bases loaded in the fourth.
After committing three of its four errors in the first four innings, the CSU defense tightened and stopped giving the 49ers additional scoring opportunities.
The Vikings had a chance to score in the first when Jessica Burt, who was one-for-three with a walk, led off with an infield single. After two outs, Burt stole second but was stranded when Dara Toman struck out to end the inning.
CSU put runners on first and second with two outs in the second but couldn't score. The Vikings would have just two more base runners through the seventh inning with none advancing past second base.
The 49ers had a chance to win it in the 10th. With Lorena Vela placed at second using the tournament extra-inning rule, Charlotte sacrificed her to third with one out. Kendra McCall grounded out to the pitcher for the second out before Sito walked Tenaye Tucker and Briana Gwaltney to load the bases. The inning ended when Kalie Lang grounded out to second.
The Vikings wasted no time in the bottom of the frame as Katelyn Ciminelli was placed at second to start the frame and was promptly sacrificed to third by Macall Sheppard. Gillilan followed with a two-run homer to left center that gave the Vikings the 2-0 win.
Sito went the distance for CSU, allowing just four hits to record her fourth shutout of the season. She struck out eight and walked three. Hackett was the loser, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits in 9.1 innings to slip to 7-6 on the year.
The long ball played a big part in the night cap as well.
Wilmington took a 2-0 lead in the first when Lauryn Buckworth smashed a two-run homer to left off of Viking starter Kala Allred.
Allred got the runs back in the bottom of second when she belted her first career home run, a two-run shot to left with one out that scored Gillilan, who had singled to open the inning.
The Seahawks added three more runs in the fifth when they used a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Sito relieved Allred in the circle and gave up a two-run single to Camry Wagner and a one-run single to Buckworth to give UNCW a 5-2 lead.
The lead did not hold as the Vikings came right back to even the score on a three-run home run by Toman that scored Andrea Nagy and Burt.
The Seahawks stranded six runners in the final three innings, including the bases loaded in the 6th, but like in the first game, they could not touch up Sito for a run.
After a 1-2-3 eighth inning for UNCW, the Vikings won it in the bottom of the inning. Freshman Ashlee Stolarski pinch ran for Amy Powell and was placed on second to open the inning and was sacrificed to third by Gillilan and came into score when Sheppard stroked a single through the right side of the infield.
Sito was the winner for CSU, improving to 6-2 on the year. She threw four scoreless innings, striking out six and walking two while allowing four hits. Samme Liskowsky was the starter for UNCW, allowing five runs on seven hits in six innings before giving way to Candice Faircloth in the seventh. Faircloth threw 1.1 innings, allowing one unearned run on one hit to slip to 0-2 on the year.
Gillilan and Burt had three hits each to lead the CSU attack while Sito stole four bases and Burt three to lead the base-running attack.
The Vikings will continue tournament play on Saturday when they face host Winthrop at 1:00 p.m. and Gardner-Webb at 5:00 p.m.
