Horizon League Softball Championship - Day Two
May 12, 2006
#5 Loyola 11, #8 Butler 0 (5 inn.)
Canfield, Ohio - Fifth-seeded Loyola University Chicago (19-40) knocked off No. 8 seed Butler (17-30), 11-0 in five innings in a Horizon League Championship elimination game at McCune Park Friday morning.
Loyola dented the scoreboard for four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Tara Miller led off with a walk and loaded the bases on back-to-back singles by Lindsay O'Gean and Nora Schober. Miller would score courtesy of a throwing error and Kristin Guska's sacrifice fly gave the Ramblers a 2-0 lead. Raven Gengler's single up the middle plated two more runs to complete the big inning and put Loyola ahead, 4-0.
Butler threatened in the top of the second, leading off the inning with consecutive singles but Krista Crosson worked out of the jam, thanks in large part to a pair of strikeouts.
The Ramblers tacked on five more runs in the second inning courtesy of four hits, two of which were RBI doubles off the bats of Schober and Gengler.
Loyola's offense was clicking on all cylinders as it pounded out 11 hits off three Bulldog pitchers. Gengler had the biggest day, going 3 for 3 with three RBI, while Schober, O'Gean and Kaycee Tharp had a pair of hits each. Crosson earned her ninth win of the year, scattering three hits in 3.0 innings of work, while striking out three. Katie Schupbach pitched a perfect final two innings in relief.
Box Score
#6 Youngstown State 6, #7 Wright State 4
Canfield, Ohio - For the second straight day, sophomore McKenzie Bedra belted two home runs to lead the Youngstown State softball team (20-25) a 6-4 victory over Wright State (7-40) Thursday morning to advance to the winner's bracket final. Bedra set a new Horizon League Tournament record with four home runs.
With the game tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the third inning, Bedra led off the frame with her third home run of the tournament to give the Penguins a 5-4 advantage. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Bedra set the Horizon League Tournament home run record and gave the Penguins a 6-4 lead.
Wright State jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning on Danielle Dean's two-out double.
The Penguins, who managed just five hits, answered with four unearned runs in the bottom half of the frame. After Bedra walked and Allyse Ledford singled, Lacy Bronson's sacrifice bunt and a Raider error scored Bedra and moved Ledford to third.
Senior Lacey Hess walked to load the bases and senior Tiffany Patteson, who went 2-for-4, singled to plate Ledford and Bronson. Back-to-back walks to Becky Hibner and Kristen McDonnell gave the Penguins a 4-2 lead.
The Raiders tied the game with two more runs in the top of the third inning on Kristen Farley's single to left field and a bases-loaded hit by pitch.
Box Score
#1 UIC 4, #4 UW-Green Bay 2 (8 inn.)
Canfield, Ohio - A two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning from freshman Sarah Clynes helped the UIC softball team (26-31) edge UW-Green Bay (14-20), 4-2, in the 2006 Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals. The Flames are set to battle Youngstown State (20-25) tonight at 7 p.m. (EST) for a spot in the championship contest on Saturday, May 13 at 12 p.m.
With the victory, Clynes moves to 15-6 on the season, recording seven strikeouts in eight innings. UW-Green Bay's Lisa Meissner falls to 11-14, allowing nine hits and walking five. No only did Clynes dominate in the circle for UIC, the freshman went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBI and a walk off homer to win the game.
UW-Green Bay's Jenna Woepse, Ali Rostkowski and Vanessa Lefan went 2-for-4 with Woepse and Rebekah Oestriech recording the two runs for the Phoenix.
UIC's Clynes matched her performance last night with a double to start off the game. With Clynes at third, Liz Jacoby singled up the middle for a 1-0 advantage. The Flames then extended their lead in the second on a solo shot over the fence from sophomore Nicole Robinson, marking her third of the season.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the third, UW-Green Bay tied it up at 2-2 on a UIC error in the outfield.
Scoreless in the bottom of the seventh, UIC threatened to score after UW-Green Bay walked three batters to load the bases, but Meissner fanned Robinson to send the contest into extra innings with the third out.
Holding the Phoenix in the top of the eighth, Lauren Brennan singled up the middle, followed by a walk off home run from Clynes to capture the 4-2 win.
Box Score
#5 Loyola 9, #7 Wright State 7
Canfield, Ohio - Nora Schober hit a grand slam and drove in six runs to power Loyola University Chicago (20-40) to a 9-7 victory over Wright State (7-41) this afternoon in Horizon League Championship action at McCune Park. With the loss, Wright State is eliminated, while the Ramblers advance to play the winner of the Cleveland State - UW-Green Bay game.
Schober's six RBI fell one shy of the Horizon League Championship single-game record set by Jacquelyn Vaca of UIC in 2001, but increased her season total to 40, the second-highest mark in Loyola single-season history. The victory gives Loyola at least 20 wins for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.
The Ramblers drew first blood, scoring three runs in the first inning Schober's double to center scored Tara Miller and Lindsay O'Gean to put Loyola on top, 2-0. Caitlin Krupinski's infield single two outs later plated Schober to give LU a 3-0 advantage.
Wright State cut the Loyola lead to a single run (3-2) with tallies in the second and third innings, but the Ramblers appeared to put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fourth, scoring five times to open up an 8-2 advantage. O'Gean singled home a run before Schober clubbed a grand slam over the fence in left field to cap the five-run inning.
The Raiders chipped away, scoring a run in the fifth thanks to a solo home run by Melanie McInally, then, after Loyola got a run back in the bottom of the inning, made things interesting courtesy of a grand slam off the bat of Amanda Cody. Cody's blast, which hit the scoreboard in right center field, cut Loyola's lead to 9-7.
Winning pitcher Laura DeLeon, was able to work her way out of a potential jam in the Raiders' half of the seventh, getting Kristen Farley to ground into a double play to end the threat, before striking out Bridget Henry to end the game.
DeLeon allowed only one earned run and struck out five in 5.1 innings of work en route to her 11th victory of the season. Loyola's offense was potent again, pounding out 10 hits, six of which came from the top three hitters in the order.
Schober went 2 for 4 with a double, home run and six RBI, while Miller, O'Gean and Raven Gengler also notched two hits apiece. With seven RBI this weekend alone, Schober needs one more RBI to equal the Horizon League Championship record for an entire tournament. Miller reached base in each of her four plate appearances, as she recorded a single, double and was intentionally walked on a pair of occasions.
Box Score
#2 Cleveland State 9, #4 UW-Green Bay 0 (6 inn.)
Canfield, Ohio - Cleveland State erupted for nine runs in its last two at-bats to eliminate UW-Green Bay from the 2006 Horizon League Championship with a 9-0 six-inning victory on Friday evening. With the victory, the Vikings advance to face Loyola in an elimination game at 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night at McCune Park.
CSU improved to 37-14 on the year, matching the 1995 team's school record for victories in a season. The Phoenix finished the season with a 14-21 mark.
For the second straight game, senior pitcher Kortney Spidell was the story. She allowed two first-inning singles and nothing else the rest of the way to improve to 13-3 on the year. Spidell extended her scoreless streak in the tournament to 13 innings while collecting her eighth consecutive victory.
CSU broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of fifth inning. With runners on second and third and two outs, Christa Coppus drove in both with a double off of the top of the wall in left field. After a Michele Penney walk, Coppus scored all the way from second on an infield single by J.J. Thornberry. Spidell then helped her own cause with a two-run single.
Grace Luginbuhl singled in a run CSU's next at-bat before Penney ended the game with a three-run homer to right-center field.
Lisa Meissner gave up eight hits and all nine runs to fall to 11-15.
Coppus drove in three runs, while Luginbuhl and Penney both scored a pair of runs.
Box Score
#6 Youngstown State 3, #1 UIC 2
Canfield, Ohio - Junior Karlie Burnell (14-8) tossed a complete game with three strikeouts and freshman Kristen McDonnell went 3-for-4 with a double to lead the Youngstown State softball team (21-25) to a 3-2 victory over Illinois-Chicago (26-32) on Friday evening to reach the championship game of the 2006 Horizon League Softball Championship. The Penguins will face either Illinois-Chicago, Cleveland State or Loyola at noon on Saturday at McCune Park.
The Penguins jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on McKenzie Bedra's sacrifice fly to center field. After Becky Hibner walked, McDonnell doubled down the left field line to moved Hibner to third. Jamie Fornal walked to load the bases and Hibner scored on Bedra's fly out.
The Flames quickly knotted the game, 1-1, on Nikki Shepard's two-out infield single.
Youngstown State regained the lead, 3-1, with two runs in the top of the second frame. Freshman Allyse Ledford led off the inning with an infield single and moved to second on Lacy Bronson's sacrifice bunt. After Bethany Hafley reached on an error, senior Tiffany Patteson drove in Ledford with a single to the right side and advanced Hafley to third. Hafley scored on a wild pitch while Patteson stole second and advanced to third on the same pitch but was stranded at third.
Burnell held the Flames at bay stranding 10 runners, including two runners in the fourth, one in the fifth, and three in the sixth. UIC plated one run in the bottom of the seventh on Liz Jacoby's single to center field, but Burnell induced Shepard to hit into a fielder's choice and Nicole Robinson to line out to second base to end the game.
Box Score
#2 Cleveland State 5, #5 Loyola 4
Canfield, Ohio - Cleveland State rallied from an early three-run deficit to defeat Loyola, 5-4, in an elimination game Friday night in the Horizon League Championship. The Vikings, who set a new school record with their 38th victory, will face UIC at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning (May 13) in the loser's bracket final. The winner of the game will take on Youngstown State at noon.
The Ramblers (20-41) started the game off with back-to-back singles before Nora Schober followed with a three-run homer to chase CSU starter Kortney Spidell. The Vikings loaded the bases in their half of the first, but failed to push a run across.
However, CSU (38-14) didn't waste another bases loaded opportunity in its next at-bat. Grace Luginbuhl drove in a run on an error and Michele Penney plated a pair with a two-out single. Spidell then drove in the fourth run of the frame with an RBI single.
Loyola tied the game in the third when Schober doubled, stole third and scored on a throwing error.
The score remained knotted until the sixth when Whitney Willard crossed the plate with the winning run on a Luginbuhl sacrifice fly.
Luginbuhl went seven innings in relief, giving up just four hits and a run to improve to 23-10 on the year.
Laura DeLeon dropped to 11-14 after allowing four hits and a run in four innings out of the bullpen.
Box Score
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