Contact: Tim Ertle
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Cleveland State (10-28, 3-6 HL) vs. St. Francis (14-18, 4-6 NEC)
Dates/Times: Thursday, April 12, at 3:00 p.m. -- Thursday, April 12, at 5:00 p.m.
Site: Viking Field - Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland State/St. Francis (Game One) Live Stats
Cleveland State/St. Francis (Game Two) Live Stats
Cleveland State/St. Francis Live Webcasts
Cleveland State vs. Loyola (13-16, 6-3 HL)*
Dates/Times: Saturday, April 14, at 2:00 p.m. -- Saturday, April 7, at 4:00 p.m. -- Sunday, April 15, at 1:00 p.m.
Site: Loyola Softball Park - Chicago, Ill.
Cleveland State/Loyola Live Stats (Saturday - Game One)
Cleveland State/Loyola Live Stats (Saturday - Game Two)
Cleveland State/Loyola Live Stats (Sunday - Game Three)
* Record accurate as of Wednesday, April 11th. *
SETTING THE SCENE: The Cleveland State softball team (10-28, 3-6 Horizon League) will look to build on its two-game winning streak this week with five games on the docket. St. Francis visits on Thursday (April 12) for a doubleheader that begins at 3:00 p.m. before the Vikings take the road for a weekend series in Chicago against Loyola that gets started on Saturday (April 14).
St. Francis comes to Cleveland having dropped six straight games. The Red Flash feature a trio of pitchers in Brooke Koch, Megan Layne and Chelsea Rex who have started at least nine games in the circle and have an ERA below 3.25. With the solid pitching staff, St. Francis is 7-3 in games in which they hold the opposition at two runs or less.
The Ramblers are 13-16 overall and 6-3 in the league as they begin a mid-week series with UIC on Wednesday (April 11).
FOLLOW IT LIVE: All five games this week will be available on GameTracker, a free live stats service with links available at the top of the page. The two games on Thursday (April 12) against St. Francis will be available for free in a Webcast format available through the Horizon League Network. Fans can easily find the action at www.HorizonLeague.org or by clicking on the link at the top of the page.
ALL-TIME WITH THE RED FLASH: Entering Thursday's doubleheader, Cleveland State and St. Francis have met nine times and the Vikings lead the series, 8-1 (.889). The lone Red Flash victory came on a 4-3 decision on April 17, 2008. In the first nine meetings, CSU outscored St. Francis by a combined score of 52-11 and blanked the Red Flash four times.
ALL-TIME WITH THE RAMBLERS: Cleveland State and Loyola have met for 54 contests and the Vikings have come out on top 30 times, good for a .555 winning percentage. Last season, Cleveland State defeated Loyola in a pair of 1-0 games at Viking Field but the Ramblers took both meetings earlier in the season at the Marina Grand Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas.
LAST TIME OUT: After 34 games away from the friendly confines of Viking Field, Cleveland State split its first four home games of the season last week, starting with a non-league loss to Niagara on Wednesday (April 4) and dropping the first game to Wright State on Friday (April 6) before sweeping Saturday's (April 7) doubleheader to take the series. Sophomore standout Sara Shieldswas the winning pitcher in both victories and got help from battery mate Salena Kauffman who provided much of the offense. Shields, who went the distance in the 2-1 victory in game one on Saturday, started three of the four games in the circle and was 2-1 with an ERA of 3.59 and an impressive 8:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
A GRAND OL' GAME: In game two of Saturday's (April 7) doubleheader, the Vikings won 6-2 thanks to the power of freshman catcher Salena Kauffman. In her first career at-bat with the bases loaded, she lined a homer over the wall in left field to give CSU a 4-0 lead. After Wright State cut the lead in half, Kauffman belted a solo homer to right field for her second career blast. That performance capped a week in which Kauffman led the team in hitting with a .400 (4-for-10) clip to raise her average from .211 to .250.
2012 SEASON PREVIEW: The Vikings were picked to finish sixth in the Horizon League in the annual preseason poll, but when you talk to head coach Angie Nicholson, you get the sense this is a team that very well could sneak up on some people.
"We're a young team with four seniors and nine underclassmen, but this is a hard-working group that has a lot of talent and has shown me a lot in the fall," she said. "There is a lot of young talent who we're excited to get into our program, and we have a lot of players who have been a part of our program that we're looking to take on bigger roles and help us out."
Lefty Megan Bashak has waited her turn, and now she gets the opportunity to be one of the leaders of the pitching staff. She made five starts in the circle in 2011 as a junior and compiled a 2-0 record with an ERA of 2.59. This year, she's 2-12 with a save and a 3.57 ERA. Sara Shields, a sophomore transfer from Lake Erie College, has made her impact known immediately. She's become a reliable pitcher and has a 8-10 record with a team-best 82 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.51 in her first 25 appearances (15 starts).
New to the mix on the staff are freshman Alex Radjen (0-3, 5.96 ERA) and transfer Kelsi Reed (0-1, 5.00 ERA). They pair with veterans Brittany Bate (4.48 ERA) and Brandy Holmes, both of whom are 0-1 so far this season.
With the loss of Amy Powell to graduation, the Vikings will rely on freshman Salena Kauffman (29 starts - .250, two HRs, nine RBI ) to handle the bulk of the load behind the dish. Her classmate Erica McNew (.136) started seven games before suffering a knee injury that ended her season.
Dara Toman (.402, 15 home runs, 34 RBI), a preseason first team All-Horizon League selection, is one of two returners in the infield, but she spent a lot of time at second base in 2011 and figures to see the majority of time at first base this year.
Immediately to her right will usually be Andrea Nagy (.244, 13 runs, 14 RBI), a fifth-year senior, who has played a lot of shortstop for the Vikings but looks to be the second baseman in 2012.
An injury to true freshman Cynthia Woodard (.273, 10 RBI, 11 runs) moved classmate Nena Doran (.234, two home runs, 11 runs, 12 RBI) from third base to shortstop.
Bashak (.260, 10 runs, eight RBI) will see plenty of time at third when she isn't in the circle. Brittani Newsome (.214) could also see time at third base or in the outfield.
The Vikings have two of the three outfield spots locked up: Caila Ferro (.265, 13 runs, 10 RBI) and Alicia Nichols (.284, 14 runs, eight stolen bases) will move back and forth in center and right. Who takes over in left field on a full-time basis remains to be seen.
Luckily, Nicholson feels good about the cast of candidates she has at her disposal and hopes one of the underclassmen can develop into a piece she can count on. Redshirt freshman Hannah Yoe (.208, four runs) has received the starting nod in left field as of late while Afton Allred (.169, 10 RBI) has seen time in left field this season and has done a solid job. Jasmin Filiaggi (0/8, two runs) - another member of the talented freshmen class - will provide outfield depth. Nicholson calls her one of the fastest players on the team and says she has learned a lot in the preseason since stepping foot on campus.
WE MISS YOU: Two true freshmen who the Vikings were counting on for big things in 2012 had their seasons cut short due to injury. Erica McNew started the first seven games of the season before her year ended. Cynthia Woodard started the first 25 games at shortstop before her season came to a screeching halt.
...WHICH HAS MOVED PEOPLE AROUND: Injuries have forced a few Vikings to play multiple positions. Nena Doran started at third base and caught before seeing time almost exclusively at shortstop with the Woodard injury. Hannah Yoe has seen time at second base, third base and lately almost exclusively in the outfield.
UP TO THE HYPE: After being tabbed as a first team preseason All-Horizon League performer, Dara Toman has proved to be more than worthy of the honor. She leads the team in batting average (.402), slugging percentage (.916), RBI (34), home runs (15), total bases (98), hits (43) and runs scored (31). She is tied for sixth in the country in home runs and ranks ninth in slugging percentage (through April 8).
...AND TOMAN's POWER IS RECORD SETTING: With a home run to center field to start the second inning against Tennessee State on February 11th, Dara Toman passed Lia Gordon to become the all-time home run leader in program history. Gordon belted 26 homers during her playing career that lasted from 2007-10. After hitting 16 homers as a freshman in 2010, Toman responded with 10 blasts last season. Her 15 home runs this season give her 41 for her career.
IN THE ZONE: Dara Toman enters Thursday's doubleheader with St. Francis having reached base in 18 consecutive games. She did have a nine-game hitting streak that was snapped in Saturday's finale against Wright State, but she walked to start the Viking first inning. Alicia Nichols reached safely in 10 consecutive games earlier this season while Salena Kauffman and Sara Shieldsboth enter Thursday having reached base safely in three consecutive games.
SENIORS IN THE CLUTCH: On a team with just four seniors, veterans are needed to step up in big situations. Seniors Andrea Nagy and Alicia Nichols have done that all season for the club - especially with runners in scoring position. Nagy leads the team with a .357 (15-42) average in those types of situations, and Nichols is 5-16 (.313) with runners in scoring position.
HIT PARADE: In CSU's 10-6 win over Manhattan on March 14th, each of the first six batters had at least two hits: Alicia Nichols,Megan Bashak, Andrea Nagy, Dara Toman, Cynthia Woodard and Caila Ferro. So far this season, 11 different Vikings have a multi-hit game to their name for a grand total of 53 two-hit games. Six different student-athletes (Nena Doran, Salena Kauffman Nagy, Nichols, Toman (three times) and Woodard have recorded three hits in a single game.
PLAY GOOD 'D': The Vikings are 8-7 when committing one error or less. In the 23 games that CSU has committed two or more errors, the Vikings are 2-21.
NEXT UP: The Vikings have a non-league game against Notre Dame at 5:00 p.m. next Thursday (April 19). The Irish enter this week ranked 31st nationally in RPI.
Cleveland State will then head to Green Bay for a league series with the Phoenix beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday (April 21) and concluding with a 12 p.m. game on Sunday (April 22). The Vikings finish the 2012 season with nine league games against three Horizon League foes with each game at Viking Field.