May 13, 2005
GREEN BAY, Wis. - Cleveland State senior catcher Jackie Cornelius hit a two-out walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to send the Vikings into the title game of the 2005 Horizon League Softball Championship. CSU's 1-0 victory over Detroit leaves the third-seeded Vikings as the only undefeated team remaining in the double-elimination tournament. CSU will face the winner of Saturday's elimination game between No. 5 Detroit and No. 2 UW-Green Bay at 11:30 a.m. CDT. If necessary, a second game would follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first.
"I was seeing the ball real well all night and knew the hit would come eventually," Cornelius said. "I wasn't trying to hit a homer, but I knew it was gone when I hit it. Everything is falling into place for us at the right time."
"Jackie had a good BP and we were just waiting for her to get a hit -- it obviously couldn't have come at a better time," CSU head coach Julie Jones said. "For this team to be on the verge of winning a championship after all we've been through this year, really shows what a special group they are."
The scoring chances were few and far between as CSU's Grace Luginbuhl and Detroit's Anna Ollgaard were dominant in the circle.
The Titans' best chance came in the top of the first inning when Ollgaard came up with two outs and runners on first and second. She responded with a single up the middle, but Michele Penney gunned down Detroit's Lindsay Roy in a bang-bang play at the plate.
Detroit also threatened with lead-off doubles in the sixth and eighth innings, but couldn't plate either runner.
CSU was unable to mount much of an offensive threat until loading the bases with only one out in the sixth. However, Ollgaard struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam.
Luginbuhl improved to 3-0 in the tournament and 16-12 overall, allowing seven hits and one walk while striking out eight. She has allowed two earned runs in 22.0 innings of work in the championship.
Ollgaard drops to 8-7 despite allowing just six hits in 7.2 innings.
Luginbuhl and Kaitlin Guyette each collected two hits for the Vikings while Katrina Klemp paced the Titans with a pair of hits.
Cleveland State has won 18 of its last 23 games to even its record at 24-24, while Detroit falls to 18-27. The Vikings also advanced to the league championship games in 1997 and 2003, winning their lone title in 1997.
