May 4, 2011
Contact: Brian McCann
DETROIT, Mich. - Tess Sito set a school record with four doubles and was credited with both wins in the circle to lead Cleveland State to a doubleheader sweep at Detroit, winning 7-2 and 6-4, on Wednesday afternoon at Buysse Ballpark.
The victories improve CSU to 27-17 on the year and 12-6 in league play, vaulting CSU from fourth place past Valparaiso (13-7), Loyola (13-7) and Butler (14-8) and into first place in the league standings with just four games remaining. Detroit drops to 7-33 overall and 2-16 in league play.
"We struggled a bit offensively today, but in the end, we did what we needed to do to pick up a couple of wins," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We had over 20 hits in the two games but I didn't think we drove the ball the way that we normally do and that limited our scoring opportunities.
"Detroit came after us in both games and forced us to make plays. Fortunately, our execution on the base paths was solid all day and we had two more good defensive efforts."
The Vikings took a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the first game when Jessica Burt and Gabby Gillilan recorded back-to-back singles to open the game, putting runners at first and third. The duo then perfectly executed a double steal with Burt scoring on the play. Gillilan took third on a wild pitch and came into score on a ground ball by Sito.
CSU made it 3-0 in the fourth on an RBI single by Alicia Nichols that scored Afton Allred, who started at second base.
Detroit closed to within 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Erin Huddleston hit a one out home run to left field.
The Titans threatened in the sixth, loading the bases with two out, but got Alyssa Gietl to ground out to end the inning.
After ending the threat, the Vikings put the game away with four runs in the top of seventh to take a 7-1 lead. The first two runs came on a bases loaded pinch-hit single by Brittany Bate and the last two on a two-run double by Allred.
"It was good to see Brittany and Afton come through when they had the chance," Nicholson said. "Both of them haven't had too many chances at the plate this year so it was a great sign when they had solid at-bats."
Detroit strung together three straight hits to open the bottom of the frame before Sito struck out the final three batters to end the game.
Sito went the distance to pick up the win, giving up two runs on six hits, striking out 12 while walking just two. Anna Bondy was the loser for the Titans, allowing seven earned runs on 13 hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
"I thought we let Detroit hang around a little too long in the first game, but once Tess put out the fire in the sixth, it was good to see us put some insurance runs on the board and sew up the game," Nicholson said.
Detroit started fast in the second game, stringing together four hits in the first inning to take a 3-0 lead.
"That wasn't like us at all," Nicholson said. "To fall behind in the first inning is very uncharacteristic of us but we responded well to the challenge."
The Vikings came back with five hits in the third to even the contest at 3-3. Alicia Nichols and Burt opened the inning with back-to-back singles before the duo executed a double steal to put runners at second and third. Nichols scored on a ground ball by Gabby Gillilan and Sito followed with a double to score Burt. Sito would close the scoring in the inning when she came home on a sacrifice fly by Amy Powell.
CSU took a 4-3 lead in the fifth when Sito doubled and came in to score on a fielding error.
Sito was at it again in the sixth, driving in a pair of runs with a bases loaded double to put CSU ahead, 6-3. It was her school record fourth double of the game, breaking the old record of three doubles in a game, which was set by Christa Coppus (vs Rider in 2008), Shannon Johnson (vs. St. Bonaventure in 1993) and Linda Adamcik (vs. Ashland in 1992).
"Tess has been attacking the ball at the plate and the results today really showed," Nicholson said. "She was driving the ball all around the field."
Detroit threatened again in the seventh, scoring a run on single by Huddleston with one out and then loading the bases before Sito struck out both Katelyn Steffel and Renee Zaccagni to end the game.
Sito gave up four runs on 10 hits in the second game, striking out 11 with three walks. She improved to 23-14 on the season. Julia Makesym (3-11) was the loser for Detroit, giving up six runs (five earned) on 11 hits.
"Tess wasn't as sharp in the circle as she has been, but she really battled," Nicholson said.
Sito paced the Viking offense by going five-for-eight in the two games, scoring three runs and driving in four to raise her season batting average to a team-leading .378.
Afton Allred added four hits in eight at bats while Nichols and Megan Bashak had three hits each.
The Vikings close this three-game series with a single game at 12 noon on Thursday (May 5).
