March 12, 2011

Final Stats

Contact: Brian McCann

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Kala Allred drove in three runs and Tess Sito allowed just one run in 10 innings in the circle to record a win and a save as Cleveland State won a pair of games on the second day of the Winthrop Adidas Invitational, routing Winthrop 6-1 in the first game and coming back to claim a 3-1 win over Gardner-Webb in the nightcap.

The victories improve the Vikings to 9-4 and extends CSU's win streak to five games.

"We are executing right now like it is mid-season," head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We still have a ways to go to be hitting like we should, but when we get into a situation in which we need to make a play, then we are going to make the play.

"It has been fun to watch. Today we scored a run on a squeeze bunt and we continue to steal bases almost at will and two of our best hitters at the plate were Kala (Allred) and Brittany (Bate), neither of whom were used much offensively in the last two years."

"We need to go out tomorrow and hit the ball like we can, execute and bring home this tournament title," Nicholson added.

The Vikings used the big inning in the opening game of the day, scoring three runs in both the fourth and seventh innings to race past Winthrop.

Unlike on Friday when CSU used three home runs to score all but one of its eight runs, the Vikings managed just one extra base hit against the Eagles.

With one out in the fourth, Amy Powell and Macall Sheppard earned back-to-back walks with Ashlee Stolarski running for Powell, and Katelyn Ciminelli stroked a single to left to load the bases. Kala Allred stroked a single to right to score Stolarski and Sheppard and the runners advanced to second and third.

One out later, Andrea Nagy singled to right to score Ciminelli to put CSU ahead, 3-0.

The Eagles scored their only run in the fifth when Kathryn Eberlin led off with a double, went to third on a ground ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jenna Harbin.

The Vikings listened to the chant late in a close game and went AFLEC, adding three insurance runs in the seventh. Dara Toman walked to open the inning and Gabby Gillilan was safe on an error by the shortstop. Amy Powell sacrificed the runners to second and third and Sheppard doubled down the left field line to bring both home. One out later, Allred stroked a single to right center to score Sheppard and put CSU ahead, 6-1.

That was all that Tess Sito needed as the sophomore set the Eagles down in order in the seventh to earn her third win of the weekend. She went seven innings, allowing one earned run on three hits, striking out 10 and walking three.

The nightcap against Gardner-Webb had the Vikings banging out nine hits and pushing single runs across the plate in the third, fifth and sixth innings.

CSU took a 1-0 lead in the third when Sito blasted a solo home run to centerfield, her second of the year.

Gardner-Webb tied it at 1-1 in the bottom of the frame when Samantha Meenaghan singled home Melinda Dulkowski, who had earlier singled.

The Vikings took a 2-1 lead in the fifth when Brittany Bate led off with an infield single, was sacrificed to second by Allred and came around to score on a single by Andrea Nagy.

CSU got its final run in the sixth when with one out Toman was hit by a pitch and Gabby Gillilan singled. Toman then stole third to put runners on the corner and came into score when Amy Powell laid down a perfect bunt that the GWU defense could not make a play on anywhere for a single.

Bate was the winner for CSU, improving to 1-1 on the year. She threw the first four innings, giving up one run on four hits. Sito took over in the bottom of the fifth, striking out four and allowing just one hit in the final three innings to record her first career save.

"Our pitching was solid today," Nicholson said. "I envision this scenario happening a lot this year where Tess throws in the first game and then comes back to finish up the second game. The key will be how well the other pitchers throw and both Brittany and Kala had good outings this weekend."

Nagy went four-for-eight at the plate with a pair of RBIs to lead the CSU offense while Jessica Burt went three-for-nine in the two games to extend her hitting streak to six games. Allred, who had just one RBI in her career before this weekend, drove in three more runs today to raise her weekend total to five and sophomore Sheppard, who drove in three runs during all of last season, had two more today to give her four this weekend.

"When you don't hit as a team like you are supposed to, it creates opportunities for other players to step in and both Kala and Macall have stepped up and performed this weekend," Nicholson said.

The Vikings will close out tournament play on Sunday when they face Towson at 9:00 a.m.