UIC & CSU Win, Valpo Continues Upset Streak

No. 1 UIC 3, No. 5 Cleveland State 0
No. 1 UIC struck in the first inning and never looked back to defeat No. 5 Cleveland State 3-0 in the first game of Thursday action of the Horizon League Softball Championship.

Laura Swan launched a single to right field and advanced to second off of a single from Tiana Mack-Miller. Kaleigh Nagle earned the first RBI of the ballgame with a single to right center that scored Swan and got the Flames off to an early lead over Cleveland State.

UIC pushed another run across the plate in the second inning as Savannah Soppet and Emily Wetzel hit back-to-back doubles.

The game then hit a 48 minute rain delay in the top of the third inning.

The Flames scored their final run in the fifth on a double from Swan that scored Watts who got on-base off of a bunt.

Cleveland State had a couple opportunities to put runs on the board but could not string together its five hits for the afternoon.

Susan Knight and Alyson Broschk led the Vikings with two hits apiece.

Swan and Mack-Miller each tallied two hits while Heflin picked up the win in the circle for UIC.

No. 6 Valparaiso 4, No. 2 Wright State 0
A grand slam in the top of the second inning by Lanie Callaghan was all No. 6 Valparaiso needed to upset No. 2 Wright State, 4-0.

The Crusaders began the second frame with a walk awarded to Taylor Nadler then Jorgi Calombaris reaching base on a fielder’s choice sacrifice bunt.

Stephanie Moreno singled to left field to load the bases and Callaghan cleared them with a shot over the fence to left center.

It was a pitcher’s duel from then on out as Valparaiso’s Taylor Weissenhofer went the distance collecting the win as well as six strikeouts and only giving up five hits to the Raiders’ offense.

Wright State’s Ashley Sharp also pitched a complete game allowing just six hits and fanned four batters.

Callaghan and Nadler posted two hits each for Valparaiso to lead the offensive attack while the Raiders spread out their hits to five different batters.

No. 5 Cleveland State 5, No. 3 Youngstown State 2
It took extra innings to determine the winner of the nightcap game between No. 5 Cleveland State versus No. 3 Youngstown State. The Vikings rallied in the top of the ninth inning to break the 2-all tie and to take the lead and win the ballgame 5-2.

Youngstown State dominated in the hits category most of the contest, getting off to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The scoring play began with a Sarah Down single up the middle followed by a Cali Mikovich single and a Miranda Castiglione single through the right side of the field. Brittney Moffatt flew out to right field for the sacrifice fly to notch the RBI.

The Vikings got on the board after Alisha Silva doubled to right field and Susan Knight hit her in a few at-bats later on a fielder’s choice.

The Penguins then gained a 2-1 lead in the fourth off of a wild pitch and Cleveland State countered in the sixth after Knight hit a triple down the right field line.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the ninth inning when the Vikings manufactured three runs on two hits while taking advantage of a Youngstown State error and two walks.

Despite the loss, Paige Geanangel tossed a solid game in the circle for the Penguins allowing just six hits, with only three coming in regulation innings.

Knight earned the win on the rubber for Cleveland State after pitching 6.0 innings allowing six hits and no runs. The senior also led the Vikings’ offense with two hits, three RBI and one run scored.

Miranda Castiglione and Stevie Taylor collected three hits each for Youngstown State as the team outhit Cleveland State 14-6.