May 14, 2008

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

LORAIN, Ohio - A heavy downpour didn't help Cleveland State as the Vikings were not able to rally in a rain-shortened 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon at The Pipe Yard.

The game, which was the final home contest of the season for CSU, was called after five innings due to rain which left the field in an unplayable condition.

CSU, which had is losing streak extended to seven in a row, is now 20-27, while Pittsburgh improved to 19-31.

"It's disappointing not to be able to finish this game," head coach Kevin Kocks said. "We were starting to get some good at-bats, but the rain just put a damper on our rally. We'll try to get some momentum going this weekend at Butler as we prepare for the league tournament."

The Panthers jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first thanks to a three-run homer from Joe Leonard to leftcenter. Nick Mullins, who had singled, and Dan Williams, who walked earlier in the inning, both came around to score.

Pitt added another run in the fourth inning as Chris Tonte led off with a double, moved to third on a groundout from Sean Conley and scored on Nick Mullins' sacrifice fly to centerfield.

The Vikings could not get any offense going in the early going as Pitt starter Kevin Dooley retired the first 10 batters he faced before Adam Heideman roped a one-out triple down the rightfield line with one out in the fourth for the Vikings first hit of the game.

He came in to score CSU's first run two batters later when Alex Kerins delivered an RBI single, his 51st run batted in of the season.

CSU added another run in the fifth as Tom Carter hit a two-out double and came around to score on Brad Buell's RBI single to slice the Viking deficit to 4-2. However, that was as close as the Vikings would get as the fifth inning was played during rain, which was heavy at times, creating puddles in the infield.

After a meeting at home plate between the two head coaches and umpires, it was decided to end the game.

Dooley worked 4.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits to earn the win and improve to 2-2 this season. Leonard recorded the final out to earn his first save of the season.

Nate Blankemeyer started for CSU and went four innings. He gave up six hits and four runs, walking four, and took the loss (2-1).

The Vikings will conclude the regular season with a three-game series at Butler on Friday and Saturday (May 16-17) before competing in the Horizon League Championship in Youngstown from May 21-25.