Cleveland State at Oakland
Friday, April 9 | 2:00 p.m. | 4:00 p.m.
Oakland Softball Field | Rochester, Mich.
2:00 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
4:00 p.m. | Watch | Live Stats
Cleveland State at Oakland
Saturday, April 10 | 12:00 p.m. | 2:00 p.m.
Oakland Softball Field | Rochester, Mich.
12:00 p.m. | Live Stats
2:00 p.m. | Live Stats
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State Vikings softball team continues a stretch of 10 straight games against the current top three teams in the #HLSB standings with this weekend's four-game road matchup in Oakland. The Vikings (9-19, 4,12) couldn't contain Youngstown State's deep lineup in a doubleheader on Tuesday, falling by scores of 8-1 and 9-1. Aly Packish picked up the Vikings' lone RBI in the opening contest after being struck by a pitch with the bases loaded. In the nightcap, Kiera Frascone scored the only Cleveland State run, speeding home after the Penguins catcher's attempted throw out of a stealing Sydney Bajusz sailed into the outfield. Game one starter Hanna Griffin tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in relief, retiring all eight batters she faced.
SCOUTING OAKLAND
The third-place Golden Grizzlies (11-5, 12-8) dropped three of four against Robert Morris to close the month of March before bouncing back with a convincing four-game sweep of Green Bay at home. Lauren Griffith leads a group of four Oakland hitters who have appeared in all 20 games to date while batting above .300, hitting a team-best .397 with three homers, six doubles and 15 RBI. In the circle, Sydney Campbel has posted an 8-2 record to go along with a miniscule 1.83 ERA, punching out 31 acorss 68.2 innings while going the distance in seven of her 10 starts.
AGAINST THIS OPPONENT
Since the head-to-head matchup began in 2002, Cleveland State has posted an 8-13 mark against Oakland. In the most recent three-game series between the two programs in 2019, Mackenzie Tucker and Aly Packish opened the series with a combined 4-7 clip at the plate in a 6-5 Vikings win before Oakland claimed each of the next two contests in extra innings.
BOMBS AWAY
The Vikings are tied for second in the conference with 19 homers on the season. Sydney Bajusz and Torrie Jenkins have combined for over half of Cleveland State's blasts with five each while Aly Packish has four. Gabby Shackelford has also homered twice while freshman Alexa Sieger and junior Mackenzie Tucker have hit their first career bombs this season.
SPEED ON THE BASEPATHS
The Vikings are fifth in the conference in stolen bases but are only one steal out of third in the rankings. As a team, Cleveland State has gone 27-28 on steal attempts, the best percentage in the Horizon League. Kiera Frascone leads the way with 11 swiped bags, third-most in the league, while Sydney Bajusz has nine. Conversely, senior backstop Courtney Fernette ranks tied for fourth in #HLSB having gunned down four attempted base-stealers. The Vikings recorded a season-high three steals in a 10-2 win over IUPUI on March 21.
1-2 PUNCH
Juniors Hanna Griffin and Taylor Betz have anchored Cleveland State's rotation, tying for the team lead with nine starts each. Griffin has thrown 61.0 innings while compiling a team-best 3.44 ERA and striking our a career-high 2.3 per seven innings. Betz recently tossed her first-ever shutout and has shown a strong ability to work out of jams, notching a 4.15 ERA while allowing only two homers over 55.1 innings of work. Betz is responsible for exactly half of the Vikings' 84 total punchouts.
HIT THE ROAD
The Vikings are in the midst of a stretch in which 12 of 16 games are on the road which will culminate in a four-game series at Youngstown State to close the month of April. Cleveland State's regular season will wrap up on May 7-8 with a pair of doubleheaders against Robert Morris at Viking Field.
RISING IN THE HORIZON OVERALL – IN THE CIRCLE
Hanna Griffin ranks within the top 10 in the league in wins (four) and just outside the top 10 in ERA (3.25) while Taylor Betz is ninth with 42 strikeouts. Jenna Watts and Torrie Jenkins are two of eight #HLSB pitchers to record at least one save.
RISING IN THE HORIZON OVERALL - AT THE PLATE
Collectively, the Vikes are tied for second in homers (19), fifth in stolen bases (25), fifth in RBI (94), tied for sixth in walks (67) and sixth in runs scored (103). Sydney Bajusz is third in hits (29), tied for second in runs scored (22) and third in doubles (nine) and home runs (five) while sitting just behind teammate Taylor Duncan with 11 walks, good for third-most in the Horizon.
HORIZON LEAGUE WEEKLY AWARDS
Hanna Griffin and Taylor Duncan were named Horizon League Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively, on Feb. 23 , giving the Vikings four individual #HLSB honors through two weeks of action. In doubleheaders against Charleston Southern and College of Charleston, Griffin tossed back-to-back complete games, including a shutout, while Duncan hit at a 6-12 (.500) clip at the plate with a pair of doubles and three RBI. Griffin and Duncan joined Bajusz and Betz as Vikings with 2021 Horizon League weekly awards.
