May 10, 2009
Contact: Brian McCann
PENDLETON, Ind. - Natalie DeMatteis had three hits and Amanda Macenko threw a seven-hitter as Cleveland State bounced back from a Saturday night loss to defeat UIC, 4-2, and win the 2009 Horizon League Softball Championship.
With the title, CSU earns the Horizon's League automatic bid into the NCAA Championships. The NCAA bracket will be announced on Sunday evening at 10:00 p.m. on ESPNU.
"I am so proud of the way we played today," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "From the very first pitch of the game, every player in the lineup and on the bench was on the same page and they battled the entire game.
"Last night was such a low point in the tournament, but our kids didn't get down. We talked a lot about how we needed to win as a team today. We lost yesterday because we didn't pitch, hit, run, field or throw as well as we were capable of. Today, the exact opposite was true because they gave everything they had on every play."
"From the top of the lineup to the bottom, you can find a difference making effort from everybody today. That's what it takes to be a champion."
Although the opening innings were scoreless, the Vikings did have several chances in the early innings.
In the second, CSU loaded the bases with two outs. Natalie DeMatteis singled and Shalyn Adams hit a ground ball to short that Brooke Frydendall couldn't handle for an error and Amy Powell walked. The rally ended when Andrea Nagy struck out to end the inning.
In the third, Danielle Young singled with one out and Amanda Houchin was safe on an error by Frydendall, putting runners at first and second. The rally fell short when Lia Gordon bounced into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
In the fourth inning, the Vikings had hits by DeMatteis and Adams, but another double play grounder killed the rally.
"We hit the ball well in the first few innings but we just couldn't get the big hit," Nicholson said. "Every time we got a couple of runners on base, UIC would get a double play to end the inning."
After retiring the first 11 batters that she face, Macenko let up two-out hits to Stehanie Chvez and Brook Frydendall in the fourth, but was able to get out of the jam when she struck out Melissa Marinacci to end the frame.
CSU finally broke onto the scoreboard in the fifth when Andrea Nagy, Young and Houchin each singled to load the bases. After a line drive out by Gordon, DeMatteis stroked a double off the wall in straight-away center to score Nagy and Young and give CSU a 2-0 lead.
A defensive lapse by the Flames led to a pair of unearned runs in the sixth. With one out, Powell walked and Nagy singled with Alicia Nichols coming in to run for Powell. With two outs, Danielle Young popped up to short centerfield by the UIC centerfielder misplayed the ball, allowing it to drop with both Nichols and Nagy coming around to score.
UIC broke onto the scoreboard in the sixth, scoring twice to close to within 4-2. Haley DeMarco led off with an infield single. After a Sara Clynes pop-out, Melinda Macias hit a long fly bal into the gap in left-center that Young was able to get a glove on but couldn't catch with the ball bouncing off the top of the fence and over for a homerun.
The Flames threatened in the seventh, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Alicia Abbot flew out to right for the first out, with a runner tagging and taking third on the play. Macenko struck out DeMarco for the second out.
In a classic two-out showdown between Macenko, the league's pitcher of the year, and Clynes, the league's player of the year, Clynes hit a line drive that was headed towards the gap in left center before Nagy made a diving catch to preserve the win.
"That was the play of the game," Nicholson said. "If that ball gets down, it would probably go all the way to the wall and tie the game, but Andrea got a great jump on it and was able to sprawl out and make the catch."
Macenko was dominant, allowing just the two-run homer as part of a seven-hit effort, striking out two without a walk to improve to 28-12 on the year. It was her school record 80th career victory and season record 28th of the year.
The Vikings were well rewarded for the win when the tournament awards were handed out as Macenko, DeMatteis, Young and Houchin were each named to the all-tournament team with Macenko earning the Pitcher of the Tournament Award, Houchin claiming the Batting Champion award and DeMatteis being tabbed as the MVP.
This was the fifth time in the last seven years that the Vikings advanced to the title game, but CSU had failed to win a title. The only tournament title in CSU history came in 1997 when the Vikings claimed the Midwestern Collegiate Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Championships.
