April 17, 2011
Video has no source Url in width="640" height="390">
Contact: Brian McCann
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Timely hitting by Amy Powell and Gabby Gillilan provided all the offense that CSU needed as Tess Sito threw a pair of two-hit shutouts to lead Cleveland State to a pair of 1-0 wins, the second coming in 10 innings, over Loyola on Sunday at Viking Field.
The wins moved CSU to 21-16 on the year and into a fifth place tie in the league standings with Loyola with a 6-5 record. The Ramblers slipped to 19-18.
"We were fortunate to get the sweep today," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We had some outstanding pitching, great defense and big hits when we needed them in each game.
"I thought our performance was much better than earlier this week or even last weekend at Butler so hopefully our struggles are behind us. Even though we didn't hit the ball like we are capable, our improvement in other phases of the game are a great sign as we head into the second half of the league schedule."
The day proved to be a pitching duel between CSU' Sito and Loyola's Brittany Gardner, both of whom started both contests.
In the opener, Sito registered strike out on 11 of the 13 batters she faced in the first four innings with the lone base runner coming when she hit Brooke Andreson with a pitch with one out in the first.
Gardner was as equally impressive, striking out eight batters in the first four innings and 11 for the game. The only base runner she allowed came in the second when an errant throw from short allowed Andrea Nagy to reach safely.
Sito got in trouble in the ffifth when Lauren Moore led off with a double off the leftfield wall and Jenna Grim's bunt attempt to move the runner over found a gap in the CSU infield and went for a single, putting runners at the corners. Sito settled down, striking out Olivia Bell for the first out and getting Lauren Zaworski to foul out before Bridget Lally hit a weak line drive back to her to end the inning.
The Vikings came right back to score the only run of the game in the bottom of the inning when, with two out, Amy Powell crushed a solo home run to left field. It was the second HR of the year for the Viking senior.
"You can't take Amy for granted up at the plate," Nicholson said. "We had hit a couple of weak foul balls for outs ahead of her and you would think that we would go quietly, but Amy battled one every pitch before getting something that she could turn and drive to left. There was no doubt that it was long enough, and I think the wind that was blowing across from left field helped it to stay fair. We'll take it."
That was all Sito needed as she retired the final six batters in a row to finish off the win, striking out a career high 15 batters in the game.
"Tess was dominant in the first game," Nicholson said. "Besides the one batter who got around on the ball, she gave them nothing. She just continues to get stronger as the year progresses."
Sito got the start in the nightcap and held the Ramblers without a hit through nine innings. Unfortunately for the Vikings, CSU could not plate a run either as the game went to the 10th scoreless.
Just like the first game, Loyola rallied to put runners on first and third with nobody out when Lauren Arceneaux lined a double to left center and Jacqueline Grim followed with a bunt attempt that found the seam between first and pitcher for a base hit.
That is when the Viking defense took over. Sito made a nice stab on a ground ball back up the middle, throwing Moore out for the first out with Grim taking second and Arceneaux holding at third. Zaworski followed with a bunt down the first base line that Dara Toman fielded cleanly, stepped out of the way of the oncoming runner and fired to the plate where Powell caught cleanly and applied a swipe tag on Arceneaux just before she touched the plate. The inning ended when Jenna Grim grounded out to short.
"Earlier in the year this inning might have doomed us, but we have really started to execute defensively when we are in a bind," Nicholson said. "The play by Dara to field the bunt and the tag by Amy couldn't have been better. She had the plate blocked and the throw got there just in time to stop the run from scoring."
The Vikings ended the game in the bottom of the 10th when, with one out, Caila Ferro lined a single up the middle and Alicia Nichols walked to put runners at first and second. Sito hit a sharp grounder to the right side to advance the runners and Burt bounced back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk to load the bases. That set the table for Gillilan, who lined a 3-2 pitch to short left center, just out of the reach of Arceneaux to bring Ferro home with the winning run.
"Awesome finish," Nicholson said. "We had struggled to get anything going offensively all day yet when we finally got something going, we were able to build on the rally and put four or five great at bats together in a row to get the winning run. That's a great sign."
Sito went the distance in the nightcap, allowing just two hits and two walks in the 10 innings. She struck out eight to record her 18th win of the season.
The shutouts were the ninth and 10th of the season for Sito.
But unlike the first game when the Viking defense had to field just three ground balls to get the win, CSU recorded outs on 14 ground balls in the night cap with Nagy fielding seven grounders cleanly with Gillilan and Sito getting three each.
"Our defense, not just the execution, was outstanding all day," Nicholson said. "Andrea (Nagy) made a couple of tough plays on grounders and Gabby (Gillilan) didn't let anything get by here. Then we had Alicia Nichols make a running catch on a ball that looked like it was going to be in the gap for a double and both corner outfielders made good plays on balls going back towards the fence. It was a great team defensive effort."
One offensive note for the Vikings was the hitting of Sito at the top of the lineup. The sophomore went three-for-seven in the twinbill to extend her hitting streak to nine games, tops on the team this season.
The Vikings will play five games this week, including a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader at Kent State on Wednesday (April 20) and a three-game series at UIC on Friday-Saturday (April 22-23), playing two games starting at 3:00 p.m. on Friday and a single game at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.
