April 10, 2011
Contact: Brian McCann
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Erin Falkenberrry singled home Erin Jackson with one out in the bottom of the 16th inning to give Butler a 2-1 win in a marathon game on Sunday afternoon at the Butler Softball Field.
It was the third-longest game in CSU history and the longest since CSU dropped an 11-10 decision in 18 innings to Wright State on March 29, 2003.
The loss drops CSU to 19-14 overall and 4-5 in Horizon League play, good for sixth place. Butler improves to 20-14 overall and is in second place with a 6-2 mark.
"This is a tough loss," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We had so many opportunities to put runs on the board but our execution just wasn't where it needed to be.
"We had patience at the plate against one of the best pitchers in the league and we were able to get runners on and then move them into scoring position. But that is when we struggled and couldn't come up with the big hit. We seemed to hit pop-up after pop-up and nothing got out of the infield. It was frustrating because we are usually so good at converting those opportunities."
With a strong wind blowing in from the outfield that kept many of the fly balls in the infield, the game proved to be a classic pitcher's duel between the Vikings' Tess Sito and Butler's Jennifer Esparza with each working their way out of countless jams as Butler left 19 runners on base while CSU stranded 18, having at least one runner on in 13 of the 16 frames.
Butler took a 1-0 lead in the third on a two-out single by Falkenberry, who drove in Meaghan Sullivan, who had earlier singled and went to second on a wild pitch.
The Vikings broke through in the fifth to tie the game at 1-1 when with two out, Sito reached on a two-base error by the centerfielder and scored on a double to left by Burt. It was Burt's team-leading 22nd RBI of the season.
The inning could have been an even bigger one if not for a base-running mistake. Amy Powell had opened the frame with a walk and Kala Allred ran for her. Caila Ferro followed with a short pop-up behind second base that Bulldog shortstop Kayla Gray made a nice play on and with Allred thinking the ball would drop, she was easily doubled up at first base.
"We had a couple of plays like that in the game where you'd like to be aggressive on the base paths, but in the end, it went against us and could have hurt us from scoring runs," Nicholson said.
CSU left a runner on in both the sixth and seventh and then two on in both the eighth and ninth but they had its best chance to win the game in the 11th.
Afton Allred and Powell opened the frame with back-to-back singles and pinch-hitter Megan Bashak sacrificed them to second and third with one out. Sito was walked to load the bases and Burt followed with a grounder to short that Gray was able to field cleanly and throw home to force Allred for the second out. Gillilan, who had five hits in the series, struck out to end the inning.
The Vikings had another good chance in the top of the 16th when Sito led off with a single to left field and went to second when a pickoff attempt by the Bulldog catcher sailed down the right field line. Burt followed with a blast to centerfield that on any other day would have been out of the ball park but because of the wind, was caught on the warning track and allowed Sito to tag and go to third with one out.
Butler finally broke the deadlock in the bottom of the frame with Jackson singled to open the inning, went to second on a sacrifice and scored on a one-out single by Falkenberry for her second RBI of the game.
Sito was the loser, dropping to 16-12 on the year after giving up two unearned runs on 14 hits in 15.1 innings, striking out 11 with just four walks. Esparza was the winner, improving to 8-5 on the season. She gave up one unearned run on 10 hits in 16 innings, striking out nine and walking 10.
"This is a tough loss but now we have to come home, regroup and get ready for a busy week of games, including two against a Loyola team that we have already played," Nicholson said.
The Vikings will play road doubleheaders at Buffalo on Wednesday (April 13) and Niagara on Thursday (April 14) before returning home to host Loyola in a three-game series on Saturday-Sunday (April 16-17).
