Green Bay and Valparaiso Remain in Winner's Bracket After Day 1 of #HLSB Championship Action

No. 4 Green Bay 6, No. 6 Cleveland State 5

It all came down to the bottom of the seventh inning for No. 4 Green Bay to claim the win over No. 6 Cleveland State in the opening game of the 2015 Horizon League Softball Championship.

The bottom of the seventh inning kicked off with a double by Allie Taylor followed by a single from Miranda Spangberg through the left side of the field. With the tying run on third base, the Phoenix tied up the ballgame on a Vikings’ wild pitch. The wild pitch moved Spangberg to second and she advanced to third on a grounder to the second basemen from pinch hitter Allie Hislope. Spangberg then scored the winning run for Green Bay on another wild pitch.
Phillips led Cleveland State going 3-for-3 at the plate while Player of the Year Cynthia Woodard when 1-for-2 including a home run in the first inning over the left field fence.

The Phoenix displayed a balanced offense with six hitters tallying two hits, respectively. Katelyn Huemmer, Abby Brinkmeier and Taylor accounted for the team’s three runs batted in.

The Vikings’ second team All-League honoree Susan Knight went 6.1 innings in the circle allowing 12 hits, a walk and fanning two batters in the loss.

Heather Sanderson claimed the win for Green Bay in relief going 1.0 innings with no hits and one strike out while facing three Vikings’ hitters. Briana Cavin claimed the remaining six innings in the circle for Green Bay and allowed eight hits, a walk and notched five strikeouts.

Green Bay advances to the second round of the winner’s bracket and will face No. 1 Oakland at 12:00 p.m. ET tomorrow.

No. 5 Valparaiso 7, No. 3 Wright State 1

Fueled by six runs scored in the top of the second inning, No. 5 Valparaiso defeated No. 3 Wright State 7-1 in game two of the Horizon League Softball Championship.

The Crusaders strung together seven hits in the top of the second inning resulting in six runs to take the lead over the Raiders after going down by one run in the first inning. Valparaiso’s Taylor Nadler kicked off the inning with a single to center field as Tarah McShane kept the momentum rolling with a shot up the middle. The two back-to-back singles followed by a fielder’s choice were then complemented by a Lindsey Norway double that knocked in the game-tying RBI en route to five more Crusader runs that crossed the plate throughout the remainder of the inning.

Mollie Lindeman had an impressive showing in the circle to collect the win for Valparaiso throwing a complete game with nine hits allowed, one run scored and two strikeouts.

Wright State started Montana Wear who pitched 1.2 innings for the Raiders and was relieved by Ashley Sharp for the remaining 5.1. Both pitchers allowed seven hits as Wear picked up the loss in the contest.

Valparaiso was aided by six student-athletes with multi-hit performances in the team’s 14-hit outing. Nadler led the way going 2-for-3 with two RBIs while teammate Jenna Stauffenberg also went 2-for-3 and added an RBI.

Wright State’s Kortney Tackett and Becka Peterson each notched two hits while Reagan Stofcheck collected the teams sole RBI in the game.

Wright State enters the losing bracket and takes on Cleveland State in the nightcap of the first day of tournament action.

No. 3 Wright State 1, No. 6 Cleveland State 0

In the final game of the first day of the Horizon League Softball Championship, No. 3 Wright State defeated No. 6 Cleveland State 1-0.

The sole run of the ballgame came in the bottom of the fifth inning that began off of a double by Alexis Mayle. After advancing to second on a ground ball from

Honnah Susor, Jess Gorman hit the second double of the inning to pick up the RBI.

Wright State’s Ashley Sharp tallied up the win from the pitching rubber after throwing a complete game allowing just six hits and fanned one batter.

Cleveland State started Alex Radjen who went 5.0 innings in the loss recording seven hits and two strikeouts. Mackenzie Joecken pitched one inning in relief and fanned one of the three batters she faced.

In the low scoring contest, each team had scoring opportunities early and left a combined 13 runners on base.

Libby Pfeffer led the Raiders at the plate going 2-for-3 while Gorman’s single hit accounted for the game-winning RBI.

Cleveland State notched just six hits in the game with each coming from a different student-athlete in the line-up.
Wright State is set to play at 5:00 p.m. ET tomorrow in game 6 of the tournament.