Cleveland, OH (April 3, 2003) - The Niagara softball team dropped two close games Thursday afternoon on the road to Cleveland State, 4-3 and 3-0 at Viking Field. Niagara had strong offensive performances Thursday afternoon from its captains Angie Clarke (Grafton, Ont.) who went two for three at the plate in the first game and Colleen Larsen (Beiseker, AB) who had a double in each of the games.
In the first game of the day the Vikings got two runs in the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Niagara bounced back in the top of the third with an RBI double by Larsen to bring in one run and cut the lead to 2-1. Cleveland State however added to their lead in the home half of the third inning with one run on a double by J.J. Thornberry who would advance to third on a wild pitch and eventually score on a error to put the Vikings up 3-1. Niagara wasn't done as they made it a one run game again in the fourth on an RBI single to right field by Kelly Honsberger (Pickering, Ont.) that would bring in Clarke from third. The Purple Eagles tied the game at three with another run in the sixth, with the bases loaded Bradi Cochrane (Harriston, Ont.) stepped to the plate and laid down a picture perfect bunt to score the tying run from third. Cleveland State would add the winning run in the bottom of the sixth on Niagara's fourth error of the game to give them a 4-3 win. Ashleigh Barber (Kelowna, BC) went the distance for the Purple Eagles surrendering four unearned runs on Niagara's four errors. Barber had four strike outs, gave up six base on balls and seven hits.
In the nightcap the Purple Eagles were shutout 3-0, as sophomore Kortney Spidell allowed only two hits in seven innings and set down the last 15 batters in a row. The Vikings went up 1-0 in the second inning, added another run in the fourth and got their final run of the game in the sixth inning. Kristina Killian (Grand Island, NY) got her first regular season start for the Purple Eagles Thursday afternoon, giving up just three hits in five and a third innings pitched. Barber came in, in relief retiring the last two batters.
The Purple Eagles will be back in action Sunday afternoon when they open their home schedule against cross-town rival Canisius. They will play a doubleheader that is scheduled to begin at 12:00 noon at the Niagara softball field.
2003 Niagara University Softball - NCAA Box Score
Niagara at Cleveland State (Game 1)
Apr 03, 2003 at Cleveland, Ohio (Viking Field)
Niagara 3 (1-13)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Shannon Mongalise 2b..... 3 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 3
Colleen Larsen 1b........ 4 0 1 1 0 1 4 1 0
Ashleigh Barber p........ 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Amanda Baluch c.......... 4 0 1 0 0 2 3 3 2
Amy Dulski pr........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Angie Clarke ss.......... 3 2 2 0 1 0 2 2 1
Jamie Horn cf............ 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
Kelly Honsberger dh...... 2 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Bradi Cochrane rf........ 3 0 1 1 0 1 2 0 1
Lisa Hess 3b............. 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1
Kristina Killian ph..... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Lauren Dombrowski lf/pr.. 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Totals................... 28 3 7 3 3 9 18 7 8
Cleveland State 4 (9-12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Nicholas, M. rf.......... 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 3
Luginbuhl, G dh.......... 4 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0
Beightol, M. lf.......... 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 0
Taylor, S. c............. 4 0 2 2 0 0 9 0 2
Graves, S. pr........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Spidell, K. 2b........... 2 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 0
Schlenkerman cf.......... 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2
Thornberry 1b............ 3 1 1 0 1 2 8 1 2
Townsend, J. ss.......... 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 2 3
Gervais, L. p............ 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Guyette, K. 3b........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
Totals................... 28 4 7 2 6 4 21 9 12
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Niagara............. 001 101 0 - 3 7 4
Cleveland State..... 201 001 X - 4 7 0
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E - Mongalise, Larsen, Clarke 2. LOB - Purple Eagle 8, Vikings 12. 2B -
Larsen, Thornberry. 3B - Luginbuhl, G. HBP - Barber. SB - Mongalise,
Nicholas, M., Luginbuhl, G, Beightol, M. 2, Gervais, L.. CS - Nicholas, M.,
Luginbuhl, G, Beightol, M..
Niagara IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Ashleigh Barber..... 6.0 7 4 1 6 4 28 34
Cleveland State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Gervais, L.......... 7.0 7 3 3 3 9 28 32
Win - Gervais, L. (2-5). Loss - Barber (0-6). Save - None.
WP - Barber 4. HB - Gervais, L.. PB - Baluch.
Umpires - Home:Bill Suich 1st:Cathy Graf
Start: 3 p.m. Time: 2:23 Attendance: 53
2003 Cleveland State Softball
Niagara at Cleveland State (Game 2)
Apr 03, 2003 at Cleveland, Ohio (Viking Field)
Niagara 0 (1-14)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Mongalese, Shannon 2b.... 3 0 1 0 0 0 5 1 0
Larsen, Colleen 1b....... 3 0 1 0 0 0 6 2 0
Barber, Ashleigh dh/p.... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Baluch, Amanda c......... 3 0 0 0 0 3 4 1 0
Clarke, Angie ss......... 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0
Horn, Jamie cf........... 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Kilian, Kristina p/dh.... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Cochrane, Brandi rf...... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hess, Lisa 3b............ 2 0 0 0 0 1 2 2 0
Dombrowski, Lauren lf.... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 23 0 2 0 0 7 18 10 2
Cleveland State 3 (10-12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Nicholas, M. rf.......... 2 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
Luginbuhl, G dh.......... 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Beightol, M. lf.......... 3 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 0
Taylor, S. c............. 3 0 1 0 0 0 8 0 1
Graves, S. pr........... 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Spidell, K. p............ 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
Schlenkerman, Jessic cf.. 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
Thornberry, J. 1b........ 2 0 0 0 1 1 7 1 0
Townsend, J. ss.......... 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 3
Gervais, L. 2b........... 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 1
Guyette, K. 3b........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Totals................... 19 3 3 1 5 4 21 8 5
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Niagara............. 000 000 0 - 0 2 1
Cleveland State..... 010 101 X - 3 3 1
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E - Baluch; Townsend, J.(8). LOB - Purple Eagle 2; Vikings 5. 2B - Larsen.
3B - Beightol, M.(2); Schlenkerman(2). SH - Luginbuhl, G(4); Spidell, K.(3).
SB - Horn; Luginbuhl, G(8); Thornberry(2). CS - Luginbuhl, G(2).
Niagara IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Kilian, Kristina.... 5.1 3 3 2 5 4 17 24
Barber, Ashleigh.... 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
Cleveland State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Spidell, K.......... 7.0 2 0 0 0 7 23 23
Win - Spidell, K. (3-1). Loss - Kilian (0-2). Save - None.
WP - Kilian 2.
Umpires - HP: Cathy Graf 2B: Bill Suich
Start: 5:50 Time: 1:32 Attendance:
