Cleveland State Softball Travels to Youngstown State For Final Road Series Athletics

Posted: Apr 29, 2021

SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State Vikings softball team plays their final road series of the season this weekend with a four-game set against in-state rival Youngstown State on Friday and Saturday. The Vikings (5-23, 10-30) snapped a 14-game losing streak last week against Green Bay, suffering a sweep a the series-opening doubleheader on April 23 before notching a split in Saturday's games with a 4-3 victory to begin the day. In the win, Alexa Sieger threw a complete game in her first collegiate start while blasting a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Mackenzie Tucker cranked her second home run of the season in the third frame before Jenna Deang knocked in the go-ahead run with a single up the middle in the fourth for her first career RBI.

SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE
The Penguins (22-6, 29-11) sit atop the Horizon League and are looking to lock up the first regular season championship in program history. Youngstown State entered last week's four-game series against Robert Morris having won 14 of its last 15 games, including seven straight, but the Colonials recorded a pair of upset wins in a split in Pennsylvania. Nikki Saibene leads an impressive Penguins lineup, batting .357 with 12 doubles, six homers and 34 RBI in 40 games. In the circle, Maddi Lusk headlines Youngstown State's league-best pitching staff, compiling a 2.10 ERA to go with an 11-4 record and 92 strikeouts across 106.2 innings. Elle Buffenbarger (171) and Lusk rank first and third, respectively, in the Horizon League in punchouts.

AGAINST THIS OPPONENT
Since 1980, the Vikings and Penguins have battled 112 times with Youngstown State holding a 61-51 edge thanks to nine straight wins in the head-to-head matchup. Most recently, the Penguins swept a doubleheader at Viking Field on April 6, winning by scores of 8-1 and 9-1.

KEYS TO SUCCESS
The Vikings are a much different team when they plate the game's opening run, going 6-8 when scoring first while dropping 22 of 26 games when the opponent strikes first. Cleveland State has also posted an 8-3 mark when out-hitting the opponent or having hits tied compared to 2-27 when being out-hit. It's also important for the Vikes to jump out to a quick start as the team has won 10 of 14 games when leading or tied after four innings.

SIEGER STEPS UP
With Cleveland State competing without its top two starters in Hanna Griffin and Taylor Betz, freshman Alexa Sieger made her collegiate debut in the circle, pitching in all four of Cleveland State's games against Green Bay. The Cleveland native compiled a 2.56 ERA (5 ER/13.2 IP) and helped the Vikings snap a 14-game skid in a 4-3 win on Saturday, throwing a complete game in her first-ever start. Sieger scattered 11 hits while allowing only one earned run and striking out three over seven frames to pick up her first win. Sieger also launched a two-run homer in Cleveland State's lone victory on the weekend and drove in four runs throughout the series. On the season, Sieger is tied for the team lead with 11 RBI in Horizon League games.

PICKING UP WHERE SHE LEFT OFF
After appearing in only nine of the Vikings' first 23 #HLSB games, Mackenzie Tucker has played in nine straight contests, batting .346 (9-for-26) with a double, a homer, three RBIs, a pair of walks and only three strikeouts during that stretch. After mainly splitting playing time in center field with freshman Kiera Frascone to begin the year, Tucker's hot bat and solid defense has turned her into an everyday player for Cleveland State. The junior, who hit .409 in a shortened campaign in 2020, leads the Vikings with a .308 batting average in conference play. In the Green and White's victory over Green Bay on Saturday, Tucker launched one of Cleveland State's farthest home runs of the year off the tennis dome beyond the fence in right field at Viking Field and has two long balls after entering the year having not hit a home run in 112 career at-bats.

DON'T RUN ON COURTNEY
Senior backstop Courtney Fernette had a big weekend behind the plate against Oakland on April 9-10, gunning down four would-be base-stealers. In the final contest of the weekend, Fernette threw out a pair of runners in the opening inning. Fernette is the current #HLSB leader with 11 runners caught stealing on the season.

BOMBS AWAY
The Vikings are fourth in the conference with 24 homers on the season. Sydney Bajusz and Torrie Jenkins have combined for over half of Cleveland State's blasts while Aly Packish has four. Courtney Fernette has a career-high three homers while Gabby Shackelford, Alexa Sieger and Mackenzie Tucker have all homered twice.

RISING IN THE HORIZON OVERALL
Freshman Kiera Frascone ranks tied for third in the Horizon League with 15 stolen bases while Sydney Bajusz sits tied for seventh in runs scored (24) and tied for eighth in home runs (six). Becky Hurosky has been one of Cleveland State's top defensive players with the sixth-best fielding percentage in #HLSB at .989 despite being tied for the seventh-most total chances (180). Jenna Deang has settled in to her role as a second baseman and ranks fifth in the conference with 69 assists.

RISING IN THE HORIZON OVERALL – IN THE CIRCLE
Hanna Griffin ranks within the top 10 in the league in innings pitched (79.0) while Taylor Betz is tied for seventh with 65 strikeouts.

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.

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Cleveland State Softball Travels to Youngstown State For Final Road Series

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