May 5, 2007

Game One Stats | Game Two Stats

DETROIT - Michele Penney hit three home runs and drove in seven and Amanda Macenko picked up her 21st and 22nd victories of the season as Cleveland State (28-12, 7-6 HL) won a pair of games at Detroit (11-28, 3-13 HL) to push its winning streak to nine. With the 8-0 and 6-5 victories, the Vikings need only to win Sunday's series finale with the Titans to finish second in the Horizon League for the third time in four years.

"Our pitching was great today, our defense was good when it needed to be and we just keep hitting the ball hard," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "As well as we've been playing, all of this hard work won't mean much if we don't finish it off with a win tomorrow. We've put ourselves right where we want to be and we have to rise up and meet the challenge."

In game one, Penney -- the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week -- wasted no time getting the Viking offense going, blasting a three-run homer in the top of the first inning. CSU then loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a single by Danielle Young and Haley Keller cashed in the opportunity with a two-run single to push the advantage to 5-0.

The Vikings closed out the scoring in the fourth on a RBI single by Penney and a two-run double by Young.

Macenko was dominating in the circle, giving up just four hits while fanning three in the five-inning complete game to push her scoreless streak to 21.1 innings.

Kelli Short (5-11) took the loss for Detroit, surrendering 10 hits and eight runs in 3.2 innings.

Young finished 3-for-3, while Christa Coppus, Jessica Burt, Amanda Houchin and Penney each collected a pair of hits.

In the night cap, the Titans touched CSU starter Christina Swierz for eight hits and four runs (three earned) in 2.2 innings to jump out to a 4-0 advantage.

However, the Vikings refused to give in as Houchin and Penney hit back-to-back home runs leading off the fourth to cut the deficit in half.

A two-out rally in the fifth propelled CSU into the lead for good. After the first two batters popped out, Burt started the rally with a triple and Houchin followed with an RBI double. Penney then capped off the burst with her third home run of the day to give the Vikings a 5-4 lead.

CSU scored an important insurance run in the top of the seventh, making the most of a pair of errors and a wild pitch. The extra marker proved to be crucial as Detroit would end Macenko's scoreless streak at 25.1 innings with a run in their final at-bat. However, she induced a groundout with the tying run on second to end the game.

Macenko improved to 22-8 by giving up just three hits and a run in 4.1 innings of relief.

Titan starter Adrienne Baran fell to 4-12 after allowing nine hits and five runs in 5.1 innings of work.

Penney and Houchin combined to go 4-for-8 in the game with four runs scored and five RBI, while Coppus and Lia Gordon added two hits each.

Penney finished the day 4-for-7 with four runs scored, three home runs and seven RBI, while Houchin and Coppus both went 4-for-8.

"Michele continues to hit the ball hard all over the place and Amanda [Macenko] was almost untouchable today," Nicholson said. "It's a lot of fun to watch us play right now. We just never give up."

Cleveland State will attempt to finish off the sweep with a single game at noon on Sunday. The Vikings will then return home to host the 2007 Horizon League Championship on May 10-12 at Viking Field.

Game Notes: On April 27 the Vikings were in seventh place in the Horizon League at 2-6, with all eight games being played at home...Cleveland State has gone 5-0 on the road since then to jump into second place in barely a week's time...however, at 7-6, CSU is just a game ahead of seventh-place Youngstown State (6-7)...with nine straight victories, the Vikings are in the midst of their longest winning streak since winning 11 in a row on April 9-21, 2004...Michele Penney's seven home runs are one off of the school record set by Amy Jauert in 1997 and she now ranks third on the career list with 16 -- five shy of Jauert's mark...with 22 victories -- including seven straight, Amanda Macenko is now tied with Amy Kyler (1995) for third place on the season charts, trailing only Kyler's 24 wins in 1997 and Grace Luginbuhl's 23 victories last season.