CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State Vikings softball team snapped a 14-game skid dating back to March 27 with a doubleheader split against visiting Green Bay on Saturday afternoon at Viking Field, claiming a 4-3 win in the series opener before a late rally came up short in a 5-4 defeat to close the weekend.
GAME ONE - Vikings 4, Phoenix 3
Freshman Alexa Sieger shined in her first career start in the circle, allowing just one earned run across seven innings of work in a complete-game effort while launching a game-tying two-run homer in the opening frame to carry Cleveland State back into the win column.
Sieger, who made her collegiate pitching debut on Friday with four innings of relief in the series opener, was hurt by a Viking error that allowed the opening batter to reach base, leading to a pair of unearned runs on a double to the gap in right center.
Cleveland State took its first lead of the day at 3-2 when Mackenzie Tucker demolished a ball over the right field fence that hooked inside the foul pole and bounced off the tennis dome in right field for her second solo home run of the year.
A leadoff single by Green Bay's Morgan Bihun in the fourth inning resulted in the tying run. Bihun advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt before taking third on a wild pitch and scoring on Bailey Schultz's RBI single to shallow left.
The Vikings took advantage of a pair of Phoenix errors in the bottom of the fourth, putting runners at the corners with two down when Taylor Duncan reached on a muffed throw by Green Bay's first baseman.
Jenna Deang delivered a clutch RBI single up the middle for a 4-3 Vikings lead, marking the first RBI of the freshman's career. Kiera Frascone kept the inning alive with another ground-ball single up the middle to load the bases, but the Phoenix induced an inning-ending lineout to third base to limit the damage.
Green Bay loaded the bases up with three singles in the seventh frame, but Sieger worked out of the two-out jam with a flyout to deep right field to end the game.
Tucker went 2-3 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI while Frascone batted at a 1-2 clip with a walk out of the leadoff spot.
Sieger scattered 11 hits across seven frames, allowing three runs (one earned) while striking out three and walking a pair to pick up her first win.
GAME TWO - Phoenix 5, Vikings 4
Cleveland State plated a pair of runs during an attempted rally in the bottom of the seventh, but Green Bay's insurance tally in the top of the frame proved to be the difference in a 5-4 Vikings loss.
Cleveland State found the opening run of the series finale thanks to a pair of hits in the first inning. Frascone drew a leadoff walk before advancing to second on Aly Packish's bunt single and moving to third on a fielding error by the Phoenix third baseman.
After Frascone was picked off at third base, Sieger singled to center field, allowing Packish to score from second for a 1-0 Cleveland State edge.
Green Bay answered with runs in the second and third innings to pull ahead 2-1 before Deang notched her second RBI of the day with an infield single that fell just beyond the outstretched glove of the Phoenix's diving shortstop near the third base line.
Vikings starter Jenna Watts got into trouble in the top of the sixth inning when the first three Green Bay batters reached to load the bases with nobody out. Following a go-ahead RBI single up the middle that put the Phoenix up 3-2, Sieger took over in the circle for her fourth appearance of the weekend.
Green Bay tacked on another run on a groundout to short before Cleveland State escaped the inning with no further damage when Fernette, the Vikings' backstop, tracked down a wild pitch and found Sieger covering home plate to tag out a Green Bay runner attempting to score from third. Fernette has caught nine runners stealing this year, more than any other Horizon League catcher.
After the Phoenix made it a 5-2 ballgame on an RBI double in the seventh, Tucker recorded a one-out single in the bottom of the inning before Fernette brought Cleveland State back within a run at 5-4, driving a ball over the left field fence for a two-run bomb.
Becky Hurosky singled to left field to keep the Vikings alive, but Green Bay came away with the win after an infield pop up ended the game.
Tucker posted another multi-hit game to finish the day 4-6 with a homer and an RBI. Fernette's homer was responsible for half of Cleveland State's offensive output.
Watts tossed 5.1 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits with a punchout. Sieger threw the final 1.2 innings and took the loss to fall to 1-1, giving up a run on a pair of hits.
UP NEXT
The Vikings are back on the road next weekend for a four-game series against league-leading Youngstown State on Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1. First pitch on Friday is set for 3:00 p.m..
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