Friday, May 9
Cleveland, Ohio
5 PM
Purdue Fort Wayne
21-25
4
at
2
Cleveland State
23-21
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Purdue Fort Wayne
3
0
0
0
0
0
1
4
12
0
Cleveland State
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
6
1
Mastodon Softball Advances to Championship With 4-2 Win Over Cleveland State
5/9/2025 7:52:00 PM | Softball
CLEVELAND - Behind a three-run first inning, Purdue Fort Wayne knocked off No. 1 Cleveland State for the second day in a row to advance to the Horizon League Championship. The Mastodons beat the Vikings 4-2 on Friday (May 9).
Purdue Fort Wayne moves on to play Robert Morris for the league title at noon. The Mastodons, coming from the losers' bracket, will have to knock off RMU twice.
The Mastodons overloaded their lefty batters early in the lineup to gain an early advantage against Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Melissa Holzopfel and it immediately paid off. Bailey Manos, Tori Countryman and Gwen McMenemy all singled in their first at bats, giving the 'Dons an early 1-0 advantage. Grace Hollopeter, who has played a phenomenal tournament, doubled to right center to score two more.
CSU responded in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer from Emma Gilkerson. It seemed as though it was going to be a high-scoring affair after a 3-2 opening frame. From there, however, Cleveland State could not manage another run. Not for lack of trying, the Vikings had five runners stranded on the base paths.
The Mastodons nearly broke the game open in the fifth when they loaded the bases. Hollopeter walked, McKenna Minton singled and Addison Zimpleman reached on an error. There were already two outs though, so CSU had to retire just one to end the inning.
In the seventh, Hollopeter was due up to start. After fouling off three in a seven-pitch at bat, she ripped the seventh over the left field wall. It was not necessary, but it was the exclamation point on the game that sent Cleveland State packing.
Purdue Fort Wayne racked up 12, with three coming from both Manos and Hollopeter and two from McMenemy and Minton. Alexa Carter also had a hit for the 'Dons.
Alanah Jones was very effective, going all 7.0 innings and giving up just two runs. She struck out three without walking anyone. She earned her 16th win of the season. Holzopfel suffered the loss after giving up 12 hits and four earned runs.
Purdue Fort Wayne improved to 21-25 while Cleveland State fell to 23-21.
Purdue Fort Wayne moves on to play Robert Morris for the league title at noon. The Mastodons, coming from the losers' bracket, will have to knock off RMU twice.
The Mastodons overloaded their lefty batters early in the lineup to gain an early advantage against Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Melissa Holzopfel and it immediately paid off. Bailey Manos, Tori Countryman and Gwen McMenemy all singled in their first at bats, giving the 'Dons an early 1-0 advantage. Grace Hollopeter, who has played a phenomenal tournament, doubled to right center to score two more.
CSU responded in the bottom of the inning with a two-run homer from Emma Gilkerson. It seemed as though it was going to be a high-scoring affair after a 3-2 opening frame. From there, however, Cleveland State could not manage another run. Not for lack of trying, the Vikings had five runners stranded on the base paths.
The Mastodons nearly broke the game open in the fifth when they loaded the bases. Hollopeter walked, McKenna Minton singled and Addison Zimpleman reached on an error. There were already two outs though, so CSU had to retire just one to end the inning.
In the seventh, Hollopeter was due up to start. After fouling off three in a seven-pitch at bat, she ripped the seventh over the left field wall. It was not necessary, but it was the exclamation point on the game that sent Cleveland State packing.
Purdue Fort Wayne racked up 12, with three coming from both Manos and Hollopeter and two from McMenemy and Minton. Alexa Carter also had a hit for the 'Dons.
Alanah Jones was very effective, going all 7.0 innings and giving up just two runs. She struck out three without walking anyone. She earned her 16th win of the season. Holzopfel suffered the loss after giving up 12 hits and four earned runs.
Purdue Fort Wayne improved to 21-25 while Cleveland State fell to 23-21.
~ Feel the Rumble ~
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jones, Alanah (16-16)
L: Melissa Holzopfel (17-9)
Batting:
2B: Hollopeter, Grace 2
HR: Hollopeter, Grace 1
RBI: McMenemy, Gwen 1 ; Hollopeter, Grace 3
SH: Lickey, Brooke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Manos, Bailey 1 ; Countryman, Tori 1 ; McMenemy, Gwen 1 ; Hollopeter, Grace 1
SB: Manos, Bailey 1 ; Minton, McKenna 1
Batting:
HR: Emma Gilkerson 1
RBI: Emma Gilkerson 2
SH: Brooke Albaugh 1 ; Kylie Gorsuch 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brooke Albaugh 1 ; Emma Gilkerson 1
HBP: Brooke Albaugh 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
3
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
3
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/UTL
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
C/UTL
/ Softball
RHP/OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballHuge Dubs!
Saturday, May 10
Mastodon Softball walks off NKU
Friday, April 25
Softball Win over IUPUI
Monday, April 15
Winning 'Dons are Happy 'Dons!
Sunday, February 25
