Cleveland State softball falls to Notre Dame 3-1 in NCAA Tourney

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Katie Fleury's bases loaded single in the bottom of the seventh broke open a tie game and helped to give Notre Dame a 3-1 win over Cleveland State in the opening round of the Michigan Regional of the 2009 NCAA Sofball Championship on Friday night at Alumni Field on the University of Michigan campus.

The loss drops Cleveland State (35-17) into a consolation round match-up vs. the loser of Friday night's Michigan (41-10) vs. Miami (OH) (32-22) game at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Notre Dame (41-15) will face the winner at 12:00 noon.

"I feel bad for our squad because we came out today and did just about everything that we wanted to do except hit with two outs," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "We had a runner on base in all but one inning today, we played outstanding defense and our pitching was very strong.

"Notre Dame is a good team but I am proud of the way that we hung with them and didn't let them take control. It was our goal to come out and play a strong all-around game and try to make a name for ourself. I thing we did that."

The Vikings drew first blood when Amanda Houchin blasted a two-out homerun to left to put CSU ahead, 1-0. It was the 11th homer of the year for Houchin and the fourth first inning homerun for her in the last six games dating back to the start of the Horizon League Championship.

"I just wanted to get a good at-bat and drive the ball somewhere," Houchin said. "The first pitch is usually the best so I jumped out it and really connected. It felt great."

"Amanda has been on a role lately in the early inning," Nicholson said. "She hit the ball hard like that in the tournament last week and it was a great way to start the game tonight."

Notre Dame evened the score in the bottom of the second when Dani Miller hit her 11th homerun of the season, a blast that barely cleared the wall in left center.

Jody Valdvia relieved Brittney Bargar in the circle in the top of the fifth after Bargar had thrown the first four innings, allowing the one run on five hits, striking out four without a walk.

The game went to a rain delay in the top of the sixth when the light rain that had been falling since the second inning picked up, necessitating a stoppage for 67 minutes.

After retiring the last 10 batters she faced before the rain delay, the Fighting Irish got to Macenko in the sixth.

Linda Kohan led off with a double to the wall in right center and Heather Johnson was hit by a pitch. Christine Farrell and Kasey O'Connor ran fo Kohan and Johnson, respectively. Following a sacrifice bunt by Christine Lux, Dani Miller was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Katie Fleury then ripped a single up the middle to score Farrell and O'Connor to give Notre Dame a 3-1 lead.

The Vikings did not go quietly in the seventh as with two outs, Andrea Nagy was hit by a pitch and Christa Coppus stroked a line drive single to centerfield. The rally ended there however as Danielle Young struck out to end the game.

"We just needed to get that big hit," Nicholson said. "Go back to the first batter of the inning and Shay (Adams) has a 14-pitch at-bat before popping out. She just couldn't get a break and get on, otherwise, it is a different inning."

Macenko went the distance for the Vikings, allowing three runs on five hits, striking out five and walking one to drop to 28-13 on the season.

Valdivia picked up the win in relief, allowing just two hits in three innings, striking out five to improve to 19-5 on the year.