Final Stats

CHICAGO- Survive and advance, that's a phrase you often hear around tournament time in college sports, and that's exactly what the Cleveland State Vikings were able to do Friday morning vs. the Loyola Ramblers in the Horizon League tournament.

Despite a rain delay splitting the games action into two days, Cleveland State was able to win a 5-4 thriller to move on. With the win the fourth seeded Vikings knocked out the second seeded Ramblers, meaning the tournament's top two seeds, UIC and Loyola, have been eliminated.

The Vikings got on the board early vs. Loyola in the win, as the top of the lineup delivered in the top of the first inning. Freshman Katelind Phillips started things off for CSU with a single to right field to get the leadoff runner on base. Dara Toman followed Phillips with a walk to put runners on first and second when the Horizon League `Newcomer of the Year' Erica McNew went to work, drilling a single to center field. Fortunately for the Vikings in an effort to get the ball to the plate on the play back-to-back errors by the Loyola shortstop and catcher allowed McNew to advance to second and both Phillips and Toman to score to take a 2-0 lead. CSU wasn't done in the top of the first as McNew later advanced to third and scored on a wild pitch by the Loyola pitcher to put CSU in front 3-0.

Loyola was able to bounce back with one run in the second inning to make it a 3-1 ballgame. After Tarran Shaffer led-off the inning reaching on an error by CSU shortstop Janessa Rivera-Keahi, Brie Pasquale reached on a fielder's choice that took Shaffer out at second. With two outs Pasquale was able to advance to second on a wild pitch, before she then moved over to third on a single to left field by Hannah Berris. Up next for the Ramblers was Olivia Bell, who reached on a second error by Rivera-Keahi that allowed Pasquale to score Loyola's first run. 

The two teams stayed scoreless through the top of the fifth inning, when a rain delay put a pause on the action with two CSU runners on base and CSU senior Caila Ferro at the plate. Unfortunately for the two teams the rain would not slow down Thursday night, as the game was postponed until a Friday morning 10:00 a.m. CT start.

Following the rain delay the two teams didn't wait long to put runs on the board, as both teams scored in their first turns to the plate.

Caila Ferro got things going as she resumed the game with a single to center field to advance Cynthia Woodard and Alisha Silva who were on base to end the game Thursday. After a play that saw Woodard advance to third and Silva out at home on a fielder's choice hit by Alyson Broschk, Woodard would eventually score as Nena Doran was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to give CSU the lead.

Loyola would not waste time making things interesting as a three run home run by the Ramblers tied things right back up at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth. A one out single by Lauren Moore got things going for the Ramblers, with the next batter Lauren Zaworski reaching on an error by CSU second baseman Cynthia Woodard to put two base-runners on. Tarran Shaffer then made her mark on the scoreboard as she hit a three-run shot to right center to tie things at four.

The Vikings would respond though in the sixth, as the Horizon League `Player of the Year' Dara Toman and `Newcomer of the Year' Erica McNew lived up to those awards to give Cleveland State the win. With two outs in the top of the sixth Toman first drilled a double down the left field line, which was followed by an RBI single to right center by McNew to give CSU the lead and win.

With the win the Vikings stay alive in the tournament as they advance to play the third seeded Valparaiso Crusaders in a second game Friday afternoon. The two teams will meet at 12:00 p.m. CT at Flames Field in Chicago.