Box Score

Contact: Tim Ertle

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CHICAGO, Ill. - The Viking offense struggled all afternoon and dropped the series finale to Loyola on Sunday (April 15), falling on a 3-0 count. Loyola's Brittany Gardner didn't allow a hit and the only four baserunners to reach safely for Cleveland State did so by earning a base on balls.

The Vikings leave Chicago with an overall record of 13-30 and a 5-7 mark in the Horizon League. Loyola improves to 16-19 and 9-6 in the league.

With one out in the first, three straight Loyola singles off CSU starter Sara Shields brought the first Rambler run in to stake Gardner to a 1-0 lead.

Annie Korth, who singled in the first inning, started things in the third when she singled to right. She moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt and the next batter walked. A wild pitch put both runners in scoring position and both scored on separate wild pitches.

With a 3-0 lead after three innings, Gardner cruised the rest of the way. She walked Dara Toman in the sixth inning but retired the other nine batters she faced in that stretch to face one above the minimum in the final four innings.

Toman, who leads the league in homers, was walked twice by Gardner. Megan Bashak walked in the top of the first inning andHannah Yoe worked her way on after seeing four pitches that missed the mark in the second. 

Yoe was the final out of the game to keep Gardner's no-hitter intact. She ripped a grounder up the middle but the second baseman went to her right and quickly got the ball over to first base for the 21st out.

Toman's walks helped her extend her streak of reaching safely in 23 consecutive games.

Shields pitched the first three innings and allowed three runs on seven hits while falling to 10-11. She walked three Loyola hitters while striking out four. Bashak covered the last three innings in the circle and allowed just one hit while facing two above the minimum.

Despite Sunday's loss, the Vikings leave Chicago having taken two of three. Cleveland State had 10 hits in the three-game span but received timely shots, including three-run homers from Nena Doran and Bashak yesterday.

Four different Vikings recorded at least two hits in the series while Toman was walked six times in three games.

Shields and Bashak each picked up a win while combining to allow just nine runs in the three contests.

The Vikings are back in action on Thursday (April 19) with a 5:00 p.m. game in South Bend, Ind. against Notre Dame which happens to be CSU's last non-league game of the season. The Vikings will be in Green Bay for a three-game series next weekend (April 21-22) before ending the regular season with nine home games against Horizon League foes.