March 27, 2011
Final Stats
Contact: Brian McCann
FAIRBORN, Ohio - Pinch-hitter Macall Sheppard singled home Tess Sito with one out in the 10th inning and Megan Bashak later added a two RBI single as part of a four-run 10th inning as Cleveland State defeated Wright State, 4-0 in 10 innings to give CSU head coach Angie Nicholson her 200th career victory.
The victory gives the Vikings a 2-1 series win over the Raiders, improving to 13-10 on the year and 2-1 in league play. Wright State slips to 13-13 overall and 1-2 in the Horizon League.
"This was a big win for us today because we weren't as sharp as we normally are and we missed out on some opportunities to win earlier in the game," Nicholson said. "Still, it is good to see the fight and intensity that this team has when the game is on the line. It sure showed today."
The game was a classic pitcher's duel between CSU's Sito and Wright State's Krystian DeWitt with the Viking sophomore coming away the winner. Sito scattered eight hits and struck out seven without a walk to record her fifth shutout of the year, improving to 11-8.
Held to just three hits in the first nine innings, the Vikings erupted in the 10th. Sito led off with an infield single, her third hit of the game, and the Raiders couldn't make a play on Dara Toman's bunt, giving her a single. Amy Powell sacrificed the runners to second and third and Sheppard followed with a single up the middle to score Sito and give CSU a 1-0 lead, sending Toman to third.
"After being a little sluggish early in the game, things kicked in during the 10th inning and all of a sudden we were back playing the way we normally do," Nicholson said. "Tess leads off with a hard hit, Dara gets a nice infield single and when we pinch hit Macall, she came through with the game-winning single.
The Vikings made it 2-0 when Sheppard and Toman perfectly executed a double steal with Toman scoring on the play. Shepard moved to third on a ground ball out and Ashlee Stolarski walked and stole second before Bashak ripped a single up the middle to score both runners and put the Vikings ahead, 4-0.
"I took a big chance with the double steal, but that is who we are so we ran it and Macall did a great job of getting caught in a run down and giving Dara the time to get home and then Megan (Bashak) made up for some bad at-bats early in the game with the big two RBI hit. It was a great inning," Nicholson said.
The Raiders went down quietly in the 10th to give the Vikings the win.
The win allowed Nicholson to reach the 200 win mark for her career, improving to 200-113-1 in seven seasons, including a 147-66 mark in her fifth season at CSU.
"This win is special because of this group of kids," Nicholson said. "They came up to me after the game and gave me the game ball and that means a lot to me."
The game may have gone the other way had it not been for the Viking defense.
With one out and runners at first and second in the bottom of the third inning, WSU's Justine Shilt lined a single through the right side that should have been able to score Louie Haney from second. Viking rightfielder Jessica Burt however charged the ball hard and came up throwing, gunning the ball on one hop to the plate with Amy Powell slapping on the tag for the out.
"That was a great play," Nicholson said. "I don't think that Wright State expected that there would even be a throw home on the play but JB (Burt) came through with a great throw."
The Vikings, who left 13 runners on base, had at least one runner on base in every inning but the ninth. CSU's best chance to score came in the eighth when the Vikings loaded the bases with two outs before Stolarski fouled on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
Sito led the offensive charge by going three-for-four to finish the weekend with a .500 batting average (6-12).
After playing the first 23 games of the year on the road, the Vikings return home for the first time this season, hosting IUPUI on Tuesday (March 29) at 3:00 p.m. to start a stretch that will have CSU play seven of its next nine games at home.
