May 5, 2005
AKRON, Ohio - Kent State converted four Cleveland State errors into five unearned runs en route to an 8-3 victory on Thursday night at Firestone Stadium. The squads combined for 24 hits and seven miscues in the final non-conference game for both teams. The loss drops the Vikings to 18-24 overall while the Golden Flashes improve to 24-23.
Cleveland State took a brief 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Grace Luginbuhl singled with two outs, stole second and came around to scored on a Michele Penney RBI single.
Kent would respond with seven runs in their next three at-bats -- five of which were unearned -- to take a commanding 7-2 advantage.
Michele Penney and Whitney Willard paced the Vikings with two hits each.
KSU's Erin Christopher earned the win to improve to 5-6 while CSU's J.J. Thornberry falls to 6-7.
Cleveland State closes out the regular season by hosting Loyola in a crucial three-game Horizon League series over the weekend at Viking Field. The teams will play a Senior Day twin bill on Saturday (May 7) at 1:00 p.m. followed by an Alumni Day affair on Sunday (May 8) also at 1:00 p.m. The Vikings enter the weekend in third place at 7-5 in the League, just percentage points ahead of the fourth-place Ramblers (8-6).
