April 17, 2011

Box Score

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Gabby Gillilan singled up the middle with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning to score Caila Ferro and give Cleveland State (21-16, 6-5 Horizon) a 1-0 victory over Loyola University Chicago (16-18, 6-5 Horizon) in game two of a doubleheader this afternoon. The Ramblers dropped a pair of 1-0 contests to the Vikings today and are now 5-4 in one-run games this season.

Vikings sophomore righthander Tess Sito stymied the Loyola offense for the second consecutive game and took a no-hitter into the 10th inning before Lauren Arceneaux led off with a double to left center. Jacqueline Grim followed with an infield hit to put Ramblers at the corners with no outs, but for the second straight game, Loyola could not capitalize on that exact same situation as Sito worked her way out of the jam, with the biggest out coming on Lauren Zaworski's attempted squeeze bunt in which Arceneaux was thrown out at the plate.

Ferro got things going for Cleveland State with a one-out single in the bottom of the 10th and after Alicia Nichols drew a walk, Sito grounded out to move the runners to second and third. Loyola reliever Keali Engelkens walked Jessica Burt before Gillilan singled home the winning run.

Loyola managed only two hits off of Sito, who struck out eight in the nightcap, coming on the heels of a 15-strikeouts performance in game one.

Brittany Gardner, who struck out a season-high 11 batters in game one, tossed six shutout innings for the Ramblers, allowing only five hits, while striking out five. Engelkens did yeoman's work out of the bullpen, striking out six in 3.2 innings of work.

Loyola is back in action on Tuesday (April 19) when it hosts Green Bay in a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m.