April 9, 2011
Contact: Brian McCann
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Gabby Gillilan had four hits and Tess Sito threw a three-hitter for her eighth shutout of the season as Cleveland State bounced back from a 3-1 defeat in the first game to upend Butler, 6-0, in the nightcap on Saturday at Butler Softball Field.
The twin-bill was delayed by almost 90 minutes because of thunderstorms in the Indianapolis area.
The split moves CSU to 19-13 overall and 4-4 in Horizon League play while Butler slips to 19-14 and 5-2.
"We started out slowly again today offensively and it cost us the first game," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We played pretty well in the first game, but we could manage only one hit in the first six innings and by the time we strung a couple of hits together in the seventh, it was too late.
"Our defense and pitching were solid in the first game, but when we needed to execute on the base paths, we ran into a problem.
"Still, it was good to see us bounce back and put it all together in the second game because Butler is going to be one of the teams in the hunt for the league title and some success against them will help us when the league tournament comes around."
The Viking bats struggled against first game Butler starter Jennifer Esparza, who set the first nine CSU batters down in order, six by strikeout.
Butler slowly built a lead. Lauren McNulty belted a two-out home run to left in the first inning to put the Bulldogs ahead, 1-0, and McNulty drove in a second run on a fielder's choice bunt in the third inning.
Cleveland State scored its lone run in the fourth when Jessica Burt walked to open the inning and Sito followed with a double off the left field wall to put runners at second and third. The ball was hit on a line so hard that it never was hit high enough to clear the wall, hitting just inches from the top of the fence but staying in the park.
"That was unfortunate," Nicholson said. "Tess really got a hold of the pitch and drove it hard. It just didn't go very high."
Katelyn Ciminelli followed the Sito double with a walk to load the bases and Burt scored and Sito advanced to third on a wild pitch. Megan Bashak pinch-ran for Ciminelli and after Dara Toman struck out for the first out, Bashak stole second. With Gillilan batting, Nicholson called for a squeeze bunt but the sophomore couldn't get her bat on the ball and Sito was caught in a run down and was tagged out. Gillilan popped out to second to end the inning with CSU trailing, 2-1.
The Bulldogs added a run in the fifth on a RBI double by Erin Falkenberry to make it 3-1.
CSU had a chance to rally in the seventh when Gillilan and Andrea Nagy each singled with one out, but Esparza enticed the final two hitters to fly out to end the game.
Sito was solid, allowing three runs on six hits, striking out six with just one walk. Esparza (7-5) went the distance, striking out nine, walking three and giving up just three hits in seven innings.
"Esparza is one of the best pitchers in the league," Nicholson said. "We know how to attack her but we needed to be a little more disciplined. We will be ready the next time we face her."
Sito was dominant in the nightcap, giving up single hits in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings and allowing just two runners to reach second base.
In the mean time, the CSU offense warmed up.
After leaving three runners on base in the first two innings, the Vikings strung together five hits in the third to take a 4-0 lead. Jessica Burt opened the scoring when she doubled down the left field line to score Sito, who had earlier singled. Gillilan followed with a single to move Burt to third. After Gililan stole second, Toman stroked a single to left to score Burt with Gillilan taking third and Toman taking second. Gillilan scored on a ground out by Nagy and a Ciminelli single drove Toman in with the fourth run.
CSU added two more runs in the fourth. Sito led off with an infield single and Burt walked to open the inning. Gillilan singled, one of four hits for the sophomore in the contest, to score Sito and send Burt to third. The base-running duo then perfectly executed a double steal with Burt stealing home for the sixth run of the game.
Butler had its best chance to score in the fifth when a fielding error by Sito and a single by Mallory Winters gave the Bulldogs runners at first and second with one out but Sito got the next two hitters to hit ground balls to end the frame.
Sito, who threw 13 innings in the two games to improve to 16-11, struck out five, walked one and gave up just three hits to pick up the win in the nightcap.
Jennifer Chasteen (9-4) was the starter and loser for Butler, giving up four runs in 2.1 innings before giving way to a pair of relievers.
Gillilan hit 714 in the two games (5-7), including four-for-four in the nightcap while Sito went three-for-seven to raise her season batting average to .346.
The two teams meet again beginning at 12 noon on Sunday for the final game of this three-game series. The Vikings then play road doubleheaders at Buffalo on Wednesday (April 13) and Niagara on Thursday (April 14) before returning to Viking Field to host Loyola for a three-game series on Saturday-Sunday, April 16-17.
