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Vikings Host Loyola As Part Of A 7-Game Week

Vikings Host Loyola As Part Of A 7-Game Week
Posted: Apr 12, 2011

April 12, 2011

Contact: Brian McCann

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Games 34-35
Cleveland State (19-14) at Buffalo (9-23)
Date: Wed., April 13 at 3:00 p.m.
Site: Nan Harvey Field; Buffalo, N.Y.

Games 36-37
Cleveland State at Niagara (12-11)
Date: Thurs., April 14 at 3:00 p.m.
Site: Niagara Field; Niagara, N.Y.

Games 38-40
Loyola (15-15, 6-3) at Cleveland State (19-14, 4-5)
Date: Sat., April 16 at 1:00 p.m. (2) & Sun., April 17 at 12:00 noon
Site: Viking Field Field; Cleveland, OH

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State faces its busiest week of the spring when the Vikings play seven games in a five day span. CSU opens the week with a short trip east, playing a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader at Buffalo on Wednesday (April 13) followed by two games at Niagara on Thursday (April 14) at 3:00 p.m. The Vikings then return home to host Loyola over the weekend, playing a 1:00 p.m. twinbill on Saturday (April 16) and a single game at 12:00 noon on Sunday (April 17). Cleveland State is 19-14 on the year and in sixth place in the Horizon League standings (4-5) after dropping two of the three games at Butler last weekend, including a 2-1 decision in 16 innings in the last game of the series. The Vikings have won 10 of the last 11 league meetings against Loyola, who enters the week in third place with a 6-3 record, but the streak does not count a pair of losses to the Ramblers at the Texas A&M Corpus Christi tourney earlier this year.

2011 SEASON PREVIEW: The Vikings return all but two regulars from last years team that went 44-15 and won the Horizon League regular season crown. Tabbed as the favorites to win the league title this year, CSU has had to replace three-time Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Amanda Macenko and CSU career home run leader Lia Gordon. Reigning Horizon League Player of the Year Tess Sito moves to the circle to take over for Macenko, who won 118 games during her Vikings career including 38 last year. Sito has pitched well, going 16-12 with a 1.55 ERA in 185.2 innings, striking out 187 batters while walking just 49. Junior Megan Bashak (1-0, 2.14 ERA), senior Kala Allred (1-0, 4.77), junior Brittany Bate (1-1, 4.74) and sophomore Brandy Holmes (0-1, 7.00) have also seen time in the circle. The outfield is deep, featuring five returners, with Jessica Burt (.292, 7 HR, 22 RBI, 20 runs, 8-10 SB) starting every game including 29 at the two corner spots, Alicia Nichols (.191) starting 31 times in center and Megan Bashak (.133), Caila Ferro (.158) and Macall Sheppard (.207) each starting around half of the games. The starting infield will depend on who is starting in the circle as Sito (.342, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 21 runs, 15-19 SB) can start anywhere but third. The left side of the infield has been consistent as Andrea Nagy (.238, 2 HR, 14 RBI) has started every game at shortstop after missing the 2010 season because of injury, and Gabby Gillilan (.265, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 11 runs) has started all but two games at third. Dara Toman (.305, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 17 runs) has split her time between first and second and Katelyn Ciminelli (.150) has been the primary starter at first base. Amy Powell (.238, 1 HR, 6 RBI), a second team all-league pick last year, has started every game behind the plate.

A BAD TIME TO SLUMP: After scoring 17 runs to win two of the three games at Wright State to open the Horizon League schedule on March 26-27, the Vikings have just 18 runs in the next six league games to go 2-4 and drop to sixth place in the standings with a 4-5 record. The Vikings have scored one run or less in a game four times during this stretch, dropping all four contests. It has helped CSU opponents to claim consecutive series victories over the Vikings, snapping a streak of 25 straight series wins by CSU dating back to the end of the 2007 season.

GILLILAN TIES MARK: When Gabby Gillilan banged out four singles in the 6-0 win over Butler on Saturday (April 9), the sophomore tied a school record for hits in a seven innig game. Christa Coppus owns the record with five hits in the 11 inning win over Wright State on April 29, 2006 and 10 other Vikings have recorded four hits in a game, the most recent being Tess Sito against Valparaiso last season. The four hits helped Gillilan raise her batting average to .278.

A CHANGE AT THE TOP: The Viking lineup featured a significant change over the weekend as Tess Sito and Jessica Burt exchanged spots at the top of the batting order for the final two games of the Butler series. The move snapped Burt's streak of 88 straight games batting in the leadoff position, and the results are inconclusive as both Burt and Sito had four hits in the two games.

A TOUGH BREAK FOR STOLARSKI: After waiting 20 games for her chance to break into the lineup, freshman Ashlee Stolarski excelled in 10 games as a starter at third base only to be sidelined last weekend by illness. Stolarski, who is expected to miss as much as two more weeks, moved into the starting lineup at Wright State and hit .364 (8-22) with nines runs scored in the next 10 games. She had played in just five of the first 20 games, but did not register an at bat.

THE HOME RUN RACE: An intriguing battle that should take place this season will be for the CSU career home run record as sophomores Tess Sito and Dara Toman are each closing in on Lia Gordon's (2007-10) record of 26. Sito hit a school single season record 18 last year and has added five more this year to rank second all-time with 23 long balls while Toman had 16 a year ago and six more this spring to give her 22, which is good for third on the career list.

. . . BUT BURT LEADS THE WAY IN 2011: After hitting just seven home runs in her first 174 career games, senior Jessica Burt has found her power stroke of late, hitting six home runs in the last 12 contests to take over the team lead with seven long balls this year. Burt, who ranks fifth all-time at CSU with 181 hits including 35 doubles (4th) and 13 triples (2nd), hit four home runs and drove in nine runs in the doubleheader sweep of Toledo on March 30. She became the 12th player in school history to hit two home runs in a game when she belted a pair of solo shots in the 8-0 win in the first game. She came back in the nightcap to hit two more home runs and drive in a school-record seven runs in the 11-2 win. Her performance set the school record for home runs in a doubleheader (4).

A TOUGH TEAM TO COME BACK ON: One trend that has continued regarding the Viking pitching this season has their ability to hold a lead. CSU is 69-0 over the last three seasons when it takes a lead into the seventh inning, including a 15-0 record this year. Going back even further, CSU is 90-1 over the last four seasons, with the lone loss coming to Wright State in the semi-finals of the 2008 Horizon League Championship when CSU couldn't hold a 4-3 lead in the final frame, falling, 6-4.

SITO ON THE PITCHING CHARTS: With almost half of the season remaining to be played, sophomore Tess Sito is already having an impact on the CSU single season pitching charts. She enters the week ranking fourth all-time in shutouts (8), seventh in strikeout ratio (7.1), eighth in strikeouts (187) and wins (16), 10th in ERA (1.55) and appearances (31) and 11th in innings pitched (185.2) and games started (24). She leads the Horizon League in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts.

A STEADY STREAM: For the first time in program history, Viking softball games are being streamed live on the internet via the Horizon League Network. Four of the five home games have been streamed so far with plans being in place to broadcast the remaining 10 regular season home games. The streaming, which is available for free, is part of an initiative by the CSU athletic department to broadcast approximately 100 live sporting events this season.

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES: With 33 games already played this spring, the Vikings are now in the second half of the season as CSU is scheduled to play 25 more games in the next four weeks leading up to the Horizon League Championship, which will be played from May 12-14 at the regular season champion. . . the quintet of Amy Powell, Jessica Burt, Andrea Nagy, Dara Toman and Tess Sito have started every game for the Vikings this season. . . with 33 starts, Burt has now started all 186 games she played in during her career, missing just four games during her career, all coming as a freshman in 2007. . . there is an interesting race in the stolen base department as Burt ranks fifth all-time with 58 steals while Sito has 54 steals in her season and a half of play, good for seventh place. . . Sito also has 112 hits in 290 career at-bats for a .386 career batting average, 31 points higher than the current record of .355 by Tenille Whiteside (1994-97). . . senior Amy Powell earned four walks over the weekend, including three in the final game, to move into second place in the Horizon League statistics with 19 walks this season. . . Powell has also built on a strong junior campaign, during which she picked eight runners off base and gunned down 13 runners attempting to steal by picking off six runners this year and throwing out five runners stealing.

NEXT UP: The Vikings head back out on the road, playing a Thursday doubleheader at Kent State on Wednesday (April 20) before heading to Chicago for a three-game series with UIC, playing two games on Friday (April 22) and a single game on Saturday (April 23).