VALPARAISO, Ind. - Katelind Phillips hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning of game one to give Cleveland State a 3-2 victory at Valparaiso, but the Crusaders came back to win the nightcap, 6-4.
The split moves CSU to 18-12 overall and 2-2 in the Horizon League, while Valparaiso moved to 14-24 overall and 6-3 in the league.
CSU jumped on the board in the opener on Erica McNew's solo homer to leadoff the second inning, but the Crusaders came right back in the bottom half of the inning to knot the contest at 1-1.
The Crusaders took a 2-1 lead in the fourth and it stayed that way until the seventh inning. McNew led the final inning off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Alyson Broschk. That set the stage for Phillips, who belted her second home run of the season to centerfield for the game-winning runs.
Susan Knight worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh to retire the next three batters and finish off her complete game effort. Knight, who improved to 8-9 this year, gave up six hits and two runs (earned run). She fanned two.
McNew had two of CSU's six hits in game one.
The Vikings wasted little time getting on the board in game two as Janessa Rivera-Keahi led off the game with her fourth home run of the season. It stayed that way until the fourth inning when Nena Doran delivered a two-run double to right center that extended CSU's lead to 3-0.
However, Valparaiso answered with two runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth to take a 6-3 lead. The Vikings managed an unearned run in the sixth, but would get no closer as the Crusaders salvaged a doubleheader split.
Cynthia Woodard had two hits in the nightcap.
Alex Radjen took the loss and fell to 5-2 this year. She worked 4 1/3 innings, giving up six runs (three earned) on five hits, while striking out 10 batters.
The final game of the three-game series is slated for Sunday at 12:00 p.m. EST.