CSU/Lafayette Box Score

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KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Cleveland State split its final two games of the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla. on Friday (March 16). The Vikings fell to Lafayette, 5-4, in eight innings but finished with an 8-2 win over Rider.

The Vikings finished the tournament with a 5-3 mark and are now 7-19 overall.

Sara Shields picked up her fourth win of the tournament with a complete game against Rider. She allowed a pair of runs on five hits and three walks in her seven innings of work. She had one strikeout while getting 10 fly outs and eight on the ground.

Dara Toman and Salena Kauffman led the charge with 3-for-4 performances against the Broncs and Toman whacked her ninth homer of the year in support of Shields.

CSU scored first - and in the first - on a Toman double that brought in Megan Bashak and the Vikings added another run in the second when Shields scored.

Lehigh evened the game at 2-2 with a pair of runs in the fourth when the first two batters of the inning walked and eventually scored.

The Vikings took the lead back in the fifth when Alicia Nichols singled and stole second and third. She came around to score on a ball Bashak put in play to give CSU back the lead. 

Two runs in the sixth made it a 5-2 game when Shields again ignited the offense. She walked and moved up a base on an Afton Allred sacrifice. Kauffman singled home Shields and then came around to score herself on a Nichols single.

CSU put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh when they tacked on three more runs against Lehigh starting pitcher Kelsey Krisch.

Toman hit a one-out homer and then Andrea Nagy walked. Shields made Krisch pay for the free pass when she belted her first homer in a Viking uniform to make it an 8-2 game.

The Broncs got the leadoff hitter aboard in the bottom of the seventh but Shields retired the next three batters to squash any hopes of a comeback.

Despite having a six-run lead, finishing was important for CSU after they failed to do so in the first game of the day.

The Vikings led 4-2 heading into the seventh but Lafayette scored a pair of runs in the seventh to push the game to an extra frame. The Leopards scored a run in the top of the eighth and the Vikings couldn't match it.

CSU staked Shields to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Cynthia Woodard doubled to start the inning and scored on a Nena Doran single.

Lafayette took the lead on two runs off Shields in the top of the third thanks to one of three CSU errors on the day but the Vikings took back the lead in the bottom of the inning.

Toman had an RBI double that brought in Bashak and then scored herself on an Allred base knock.

CSU tacked on one more run in the fifth when Toman doubled, moved up a base on an Allred sacrifice and scored on an error by the Lafayette shortstop.

The Leopards started the seventh inning with a double and a single and were aided by another CSU error in the two-run inning.

After Lafayette scored in the top of the inning, the Vikings tried to manufacture a run. Caila Ferro was placed on second and Doran bunted her over to third. Brittany Bate hit one back to the pitcher who went home and wiped out Ferro. A fly out to left field ended the game and handed CSU its third loss of the tournament.

During the eight-game event, the Vikings pitching staff allowed just 21 earned runs compared to 33 by the opposition. As a team, the Vikings clobbered six home runs, three of which came off the bat of Toman. Woodard led the club in hitting (.429, 9-for-21) and Nichols was six of seven in stolen base attempts. Shields led the squad with four wins in the circle.

After 26 non-league games, Cleveland State begins league play next Saturday (March 24) with a road series against UIC.