CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State softball team earned the No. 6 seed in the Horizon League Championship and opens play with a first round game against No. 4 seeded Green Bay on Wednesday (May 6) at 12:00 p.m. at Oakland.
Oakland is the top-seed and host of the league championship, while UIC is the No. 2 seed. Wright State is the third seed, while Green Bay (No. 4), Valparaiso (No. 5) and CSU (No. 6) round out the seedings.
The winner of the CSU-Green Bay game will advance to play Oakland on Thursday (May 7) at 12:00 p.m., while the loser will play in an elimination game on Wednesday (May 6) at 5:00 p.m. against the loser of the other first round game between Wright State and Valparaiso.
The Vikings enter the tournament with a 23-27 overall record and went 8-12 in the Horizon League. CSU went 1-2 over the weekend at UIC in the final regular season series, winning the finale, 3-2, as Cynthia Woodard hit a home run to lead off the eighth inning.
Woodard finished the season hitting .434 with 24 home runs and 50 RBI, all CSU single season highs. She ranked second in the league in batting average and tops in homers, RBI, runs (47), hits (69), total bases (154) and slugging percentage (.969) and is third with 13 doubles.
Erica McNew had another strong season at the plate, hitting .430 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI, while Katelind Phillips hit .333 with six doubles, two triples and 10 RBI. Leadoff hitter Nena Doran, a three-time Horizon League Player of the Week this year, batted .322 with 11 home runs and 22 RBI.
As a team, the Vikings are hitting .287 and hit a single season school record 69 home runs.
Susan Knight and Alex Radjen were CSU's top two pitchers, combining to win 19 games with 19 complete games. Knight was 11-12 with a 3.15 ERA, 10 complete games and two shutouts with 72 strikeouts.
Radjen went 8-8 with a 4.73 ERA and nine complete games. She ranks second in the league with 106 strikeouts.
The league tournament will run from Wednesday through Saturday (May 6-9) with all games being played at Oakland.
2015 HORIZON LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE (all games at Oakland)
Wednesday, May 6
Game 1: No. 4 Green Bay vs. No. 6 Cleveland State, 12:00 p.m.
Game 2: No. 3 Wright State vs. No. 5 Valparaiso, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 7
Game 4: No. 1 Oakland vs. Game 1 Winner, 12:00 p.m.
Game 5: No. 2 UIC vs. Game 2 Winner, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4/5 lowest seed, 5:00 p.m.
Friday, May 8
Game 7: Loser Game 4/5 highest seed vs. Winner Game 6, 12:00 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 2:30 p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 9
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, 12:00 p.m.
Game 11: Loser Game 10 vs. Winner Game 10, 2:30 p.m. (If Needed)
