VIDEO: Highlights
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Susan Knight threw a complete game, six-hitter and Alyson Broschk drove in two runs as Cleveland State defeated Valparaiso, 9-2, in the series opener on Friday afternoon at Viking Field.
CSU improved to 20-16 overall and 5-5 in the league with the win, while the Crusaders fell to 9-30 overall and 3-9 in the league.
Knight, who improved to 10-6 this season, surrendered just two runs on six hits, while striking out three.
Cynthia Woodard went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI to lead the Viking offense which pounded out 12 hits. Erica McNew and Hannah Yoe both had two hits.
CSU took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Mackenzie Joecken in the first that scored Nena Doran. The Crusaders came back to take a 2-1 lead with a pair of runs in the third inning, but the Vikings responded with two runs in the bottom half of the third to regain a 3-2 lead on back-to-back RBI singles from Yoe and Alisha Silva.
A three-run fourth inning was highlighted by a two-run double from Broschk and CSU added two more runs in the fifth on a pair of Crusader wild pitches.
Woodard led off the sixth with a single, her third hit of the game, and came around to score CSU's final run of the afternoon.
The teams will conclude the three game series with a doubleheader on Saturday (April 18) beginning at 1:00 p.m.