CLEVELAND – The Cleveland State softball program took another step closer to first place in the Horizon League as the Vikings knocked off visiting Oakland with a 4-3 victory on Friday afternoon at Viking Field.
With the win, CSU improved to 12-4 in conference play and now sits two games back of leader Oakland (11-2), with two more games to play against the Grizzlies this weekend.
The 12 conference victories are already the most for the Vikes since the team went 12-12 in league play during the 2016 campaign.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Cleveland State – 4, Oakland – 3 (seven innings)
LOCATION: Viking Field – Cleveland, Ohio
RECORDS: Cleveland State 16-18 (12-4 Horizon), Oakland 16-10 (11-2 Horizon)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Vikings recorded just three hits in the game, but CSU made sure each of them counted, as they also took advantage of four Oakland miscues to push four runs across the plate.
- Jenna Deang has continued her tear with a 1-for-3 day at the dish. She also scored the game-tying run. Deang has recorded a hit in five straight games and has now gone 18-for-44 (.409) over her last 13 contests.
- Courtney Fernette (1-for-3) and Kaelin Ettinger (1-for-3) each added a hit for the Vikes, respectively.
- Kiera Frascone crossed the plate twice for CSU, which included the game-winning run, while Ettinger also added a run scored.
- Melissa Holzopfel collected her 11th win of the year with another complete game. She twirled seven innings of work and allowed 10 hits and three runs (just one earned) to go with seven punchouts.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Oakland jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning.
- Cleveland State responded right away in the bottom half of the frame as Frascone and Ettinger came around to score off a Grizzly error to tie the game at 2-2.
- The Grizzles struck again with another run in the top of the fifth to leap back ahead, 3-2.
- Once again, the Vikes answered right back as Deang and Frascone scored off an error in the bottom half of the inning to retake the 4-3 advantage.
- CSU shut the Grizzlies out over their last two at-bats to seal the 4-3 win.
NEXT UP
The Vikings and Grizzlies are right back at it for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 23, with first pitch set for 1 PM ET at Viking Field. Admission to both contests is free of charge and the game will also be featured on the ESPN+ platform (check the CSU Softball schedule page here for the links for both live stats and the ESPN+ broadcast).
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