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Vikings Sweep Twinbill From Niagara

Vikings Sweep Twinbill From Niagara

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Erica McNew hit a walk-off single in game one and Susan Knight pitched a complete game, five-hitter in game two as Cleveland State swept a doubleheader from Niagara on Wednesday afternoon in the CSU Dome.

The Vikings won the opener in 10 innings, 5-4, and took the nightcap, 7-1.

The two wins moved CSU to 15-11 overall, while the Purple Eagles fell to 8-13.

The middle third of CSU's order - McNew, Alyson Broschk and Katelind Phillips, combined to go 11-for-19 with five RBI in the twinbill.

In the opener, both teams scored a run in the third inning, but McNew belted a home run to leftfield to lead off the bottom of the fourth to give the Vikings a 2-1 lead. It stayed that way until the sixth when Niagara tied the contest at 2-2 on a solo homer.

The contest went to extra innings and featured international tiebreaker rules with a runner being placed on second base to start the inning.

Both teams took advantage with a run in the eighth and after a scoreless ninth inning, Niagara was able to plate a run in the 10th to take a 4-3 lead. However, CSU responded to tie the game at 4-4 on an RBI fielder's choice by Janessa Rivera-Keahi and McNew came through with a two-out single to rightfield to score Hannah Yoe with the game-winning run.

McNew finished the opener 2-of-4 with two RBI and a run scored, while Phillips went 3-for-3.

Sara Shields worked seven innings, giving up just two runs on five hits, while striking out 11. Alex Radjen earned the win (4-1) by pitching the final three innings.

CSU took an early 2-0 lead in the nightcap by capitalizing on two Niagara errors with a pair of unearned runs. McNew once again came through with an RBI single in the third to extend the lead to 3-0 and after Niagara answered with a single run in the fourth, the Vikings responded in the fifth when Rivera-Keahi hit a solo homer to leftfield.

It was her third homer in the last four games after she came into the season with just one career home run.

The Vikings put the game out of reach with three runs in the sixth on a two-run triple from Phillips and an RBI single by Nena Doran.

McNew was 2-for-2 with two runs and an RBI in game two, while Rivera-Keahi went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Phillips also had two hits and drove in a pair of runs.

Knight moved to 6-9 with the win as she pitched a complete game, allowing an unearned run and fanning three.

CSU returns to action on Thursday when the Vikings host St. Francis (Pa.) at 1:00 p.m. in the CSU Dome for a doubleheader.