Cleveland, OH-It was a strong afternoon at the plate for Cleveland State as the Vikings defeated IU Indianapolis in five innings by an 11-1 final score. Cleveland State has won five of its first six league contests and is tied for second in the league standings at 5-1. IU Indy falls to 3-3 in Horizon League play.
 
Cleveland State did almost all of its damage in the second inning as the Vikings put 10 runs on the board to take a commanding lead. Cleveland State sent 13 batters to the plate and tallied five hits with one IU Indy error in the frame. Cleveland State clubbed three home runs in the inning. Peyton Mueller Stenz started it with a solo shot, her team-leading fourth of the season. Emma Gilkerson followed with a three-run shot later in the inning which made it 8-0 Vikings. The blast was Gilkerson's second of the year. Sophie Spellman closed the scoring barrage with a two-run shot to make it 10-0. Spellman now has three home runs on the season.
 
Cleveland State added one more in the third inning on a Delaney Ellis RBI single which scored Destiny Ruggiero. All but one of Cleveland State's starters recorded at least one hit with Spellman recording a multi-hit game. Gilkerson led the way with three RBI with Spellman adding two.
 
The run support was more than enough for Melissa Holzopfel in the circle as she worked all five innings allowing one earned run on seven hits. Holzopfel recorded six strikeouts against just one walk.
 
Cleveland State is next in action on Friday as the Vikings will travel to Northern Kentucky for a key Horizon League series. The Norse are in first place in the league standings at a perfect 6-0 through two weeks of play. The series is set to begin with a single game on Friday starting at 3:00 p.m.