April 23, 2009

Contact: Greg Murphy

NIAGARA, N.Y. - Nate Dick scattered three hits over six innings and Josh Hungerman had four hits to lead Cleveland State to a 7-3 victory over Niagara at Bobo Field on Thursday afternoon.

The win improves CSU to 13-21, while the Purple Eagles fell to 15-25.

Dick, who was making his first start of the season, worked six solid innings to earn the win and improve to 2-1. He gave up just two runs, neither of which was earned, on three hits and fanned three.

Anthony Sambula, Sam Suitca and Travis Miller worked one inning each out of the bullpen, combining to give up just one unearned run on two hits.

Hungerman finished 4-for-5 with two runs and three RBI, while Brad Buell went 3-for-5 with three runs and an RBI.

"This was a good effort and a good win for us today," head coach Kevin Kocks said. "Nate did a great job on the mound and we got good efforts out of all our relief pitchers. We used some timely hitting to score some runs. Hopefully we will be able to carry this momentum over to this weekend."

Buell gave the Vikings a 1-0 lead in the first as he ledoff with a single, moved to second on Alex Johnson's sacrifice bunt and scored on a Niagara throwing error.

Buell made it 2-0 in the third with a one out homer to leftfield and the Vikings extended the lead to 4-0 with two unearned runs in the fourth as Ryan Franks and Hungerman would score on another Niagara error.

The Purple Eagles finally got on the board in the sixth, scoring a pair of unearned runs, but CSU came right back in the seventh on Hungerman's three run homer to make it 7-2.

Buell started the rally with a one out single, but Johnson flied out for the second out of the inning. However, Franks delivered a single, setting the stage for Hungerman's eighth blast of the season.

Niagara added a run in the seventh on a passed ball to conclude the scoring.

Chris Coleman (0-2) threw 6 2/3 innings for Niagara, allowing seven runs (four earned) on eight hits to take the loss.

The Vikings will be back in action on Saturday, April 25, when CSU travels to Butler for a 12:00 p.m. twinbill.