April 15, 2008

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

LORAIN, Ohio - Cleveland State committed three errors which led to four unearned runs as the Vikings dropped an 8-4 decision to Kent State on Tuesday night at The Pipe Yard.

CSU fell to 12-15 overall, while Kent State, which also defeated CSU earlier this season, improved to 17-15.

"This was a disappointing performance for us tonight," head coach Kevin Kocks said. "We pitched from behind all night and didn't show up defensively. Pitching and defense have been our downfalls this season and we need to find a way to improve them."

Adam Heideman went 2-for-3 with a run to extend his hit streak to nine straight games. During that time, Heideman is 16-for-30, allowing him to raise his season batting average to .358.

Brad Buell finished 3-for-5 with a pair of runs, while Kyle Bischof drove in two runs.

Anthony Sambula (2-1) started and went 6.1 innings, allowing seven runs (three earned) on 13 hits, while striking out three. Jonathan Sprowls worked the final 2.2 innings and gave up one run on two hits.

The Viking defense did help CSU pitchers out of several jams by turning four double plays.

CSU jumped on the board early with a run in the first inning as Buell hit the first pitch of the inning for a triple and came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Alex Kerins.

However, Kent State rallied with five runs in the second, sending 11 batters to the plate. Ryan Mitchell delivered the big blow with a bases clearing three-run double.

The Vikings came back to plate a pair of runs in the third to slice their deficit to 5-3. Josh Lowe led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a single by Buell. After Kerins flew out for the first out of the inning, Bischof sent a shot into the rightcenterfield gap that allowed both Lowe and Buell to score.

Kent State got one of the runs back in the fourth as Michell and Anthony Gallas hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the inning and extend the Golden Flashes lead to 6-3.

Bobby Cash delivered an RBI single in the fifth to plate Heideman, but once again, Kent State had an answer with another run in the sixth. Chris Tremblay led off with a triple and scored on a passed ball with one out.

The Golden Flashes added an insurance run in the eighth when a out-out double by Mitchell scored Tremblay, who had singled earlier in the inning.

Mitchell finished 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored, while Tremblay scored three times and went 2-for-4.

Steve Ross worked five innings to pick up his first win of the season (1-0). He gave up four runs on eight hits, while fanning three. Kyle Hallock worked the final four innings for his first save. He surrendered just three hits and struck out seven.

CSU has little time to dwell on the loss as the Vikings will be back in action on Wednesday (April 16) afternoon for a 4:00 p.m. game at Niagara.