ROCHESTER, Mich. - Fifth-seeded Green Bay scored two runs in the seventh inning to rally for a 6-5 win over No. 6 Cleveland State in the opening game of the Horizon League Championship on Wednesday afternoon at Oakland.
CSU fell to 23-28 overall, while the Phoenix improved to 18-26.
The Vikings will now face an elimination game at 5:00 pm on Wednesday evening and will play the loser of today's other first round game between No. 3 Wright State and No. 5 Valparaiso.
Horizon League Player of the Year Cynthia Woodard gave the Vikings an early 1-0 lead with her 25th home run of the season in the first inning. The Phoenix came right back with two runs of their own in the first to take a 2-1 lead, but CSU took advantage of a Green Bay miscue in the second to plate three runs and regain a 4-2 lead.
Katelind Phillips and Sydney Morgan had back-to-back one out singles and after a fielder's choice to record the second out of the inning, Hannah Yoe came through with an RBI double down the right field line to score Phillips.
Nena Doran followed with a flyball to right center field, but the Phoenix centerfield dropped the ball, allowing Morgan and Alisha Silva to score and give the Vikings a 4-2 lead.
The Phoenix came back with a run in the third on an RBI single by Allie Taylor to pull back within one (4-3), but Erica McNew laced an RBI single to center field in the fifth to push CSU's lead back to two runs (5-3).
However, Green Bay came back with three unanswered runs, including two in the seventh to claim the win and advance to play top-seeded Oakland at 12:00 p.m. on Thursday.
Phillips led the Vikings, going 3-for-3 with a run, while Knight, Woodard, McNew, Morgan and Yoe all had one hit each.
