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First place on the line as Softball hosts Oakland in weekend series

First place on the line as Softball hosts Oakland in weekend series
Posted: Apr 21, 2022

LIVE STATS LINKS: FRIDAY | GAME 1 SATURDAY | GAME 2 SATURDAY

ESPN+ LINKS: GAME 1 SATURDAY | GAME 2 SATURDAY

 

CLEVELAND – The Cleveland State softball program will play host to Horizon League rival Oakland this weekend at Viking Field in one of the biggest series in recent memory. The Vikings and Grizzlies will play a single game on Friday, April 22 at 3 PM ET, and follow it with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 23 with a first-pitch set for 1 PM.

Cleveland State enters the weekend third in the Horizon with an 11-4 record overall. The Vikes are looking to chase down first-place Oakland, who currently sits at 11-1 in conference play. 

CSU is looking to finish the season strong with one of its best runs in over a decade. The Vikings have already recorded 11 HL wins so far this year, the most since the squad went 12-12 in the 2016 season. With 11 games left on the conference slate, the team can also move past the 2011 unit who finished with 13 conference wins, the highest total reached in the past 11 years. 

It has continued to be a true team effort on the offensive side of the ball this season for the Vikings. While Jenna Deang has paced the group with 32 hits, tied for ninth-most in the conference, three other CSU student-athletes have recorded 20 or more hits, while 11 Vikes in total have 13 or more knocks already on the season. As a unit, the group is fourth in the Horizon in batting average (.247), hits (219), RBI (117) and on-base percentage (.317).

On the conference level, Deang is also tied for sixth in steals (eight), is seventh in batting average (.356) and ninth in on-base percentage (.414). Becky Hurosky ranks 10th in the Horizon with four home runs, while Aly Packish is tied for second in sac flys (two) and tied for fifth in sacrifice bunts (six). Kiera Frascone also ranks tied for ninth in the HL in steals (six). 

Freshman Melissa Holzopfel has made sure her name is written all over the top of the Horizon League statistics. The Massillon, Ohio native is second in strikeouts (155) and punchouts looking (41), third in opponent batting average (.238) and wins (10), and seventh in ERA (3.22).

Admission to all three weekend contests is free of charge and live stats are available on CSUVikings.com. Saturday's doubleheader will also be broadcast live on the ESPN+ platform.

 

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