Cleveland, OH-The Cleveland State softball team used a pair of four-run innings to earn an 8-0 win in five innings over Detroit Mercy at Viking Field on Thursday. The Vikings scored four times in the third inning and added four more runs in the fifth to close out an eighth Horizon League victory and take a half-game lead in the Horizon League standings. Cleveland State improves to 8-2 in league play and Detroit Mercy falls to 2-5.
 
Sophie Spellman led the way for the Cleveland State offense as she finished with a perfect afternoon at the plate going 3-for-3 with three RBI and a run scored. Spellman had three of the six Cleveland State hits in the game. Three of those hits went for extra bases.
 
Cleveland State got the scoring started as Delaney Ellis roped a double to left-center field that scored Sydney Shammo and Brooke Albaugh. Ellis took third on the throw to the plate and scored on an RBI groundout by Emma Gilkerson. Spellman then closed the inning with an RBI bloop single into left field that scored Peyton Mueller Stenz and made it 4-0 Cleveland State. The Vikings totaled three hits and Detroit Mercy committed one error in the inning.
 
Cleveland State added on in the bottom of the fifth. Spellman plated two runs with an RBI triple into right-center field to make it 6-0 and Kylie Gorsuch ended the game with a two-run double to dead center as the Vikings won the game on the run rule.
 
Melissa Holzopfel was stellar in the circle as she claimed her third consecutive victory. She pitched five shutout innings and yielded just two hits. She struck out 10 of the 16 total batters she faced in the game and did not walk a batter. Detroit Mercy put six total balls in play, with two hits, three groundouts and only one fly ball out.
 
The two teams will meet again tomorrow for a doubleheader with the first game scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.