Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

DETROIT -- Freshman Erin Huddleston (Normal, IL/Normal West) hit her team-leading sixth home run of the season in the fourth inning in game one of a doubleheader against Cleveland State (27-17, 12-6 Horizon League) Wednesday afternoon. The Titans (7-33, 2-16 Horizon League) would fall 7-2 in that opener and in the second game leave the bases loaded in a seventh-inning rally in a 6-4 loss.

In the opener, the Titans first run came off the bat of Huddleston in the bottom of the fourth inning as she belted a solo home run to left that sailed high over the wall for her team-leading sixth home run of the season.

In the bottom of the sixth, there was plenty of traffic on the base paths as the inning started with freshman Sara Cupp (Hartland, MI/Milford) reaching first on a hit-by-pitch and Huddleston walking on four straight pitches. McCarty then had a bunt that was caught for an out by the catcher, but was then dropped preventing more Titan outs on the play. Two batters later, junior Renee Zaccagni (Macomb, MI/Dakota) walked to load the bases but a fielder's choice and an unassisted putout at third base ended the inning with Detroit down 3-1.

Four runs in the top of the seventh for Cleveland State pushed the lead to 7-1.

The Titans had one last chance in the bottom of the seventh as freshman Hannah Klenk (Hamilton, MI/Hamilton) hit a bloop single into right field to start it off and a single from junior Whitney Stratton (Muskegon, MI/Fruitport) set up a Rachel Copple (Dearborn Heights, MI/Cabrini) double that brought in one more run for the Titans. With the deficit now cut to 7-2 and no outs with runners on second and third, three straight strikeouts for Detroit extinguished any further rally and brought the game to a close.

In the second affair, the Titans jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. With two outs, Cupp and Huddleston hit back-to-back singles setting the table for freshmen Karyn McCarty (Allen Park, MI/Cabrini) and Katelyn Steffel (Defiance, OH/Defiance). McCarty and Steffel hit back-to-back doubles with McCarty bringing in one run and Steffel cashing in two more.

Detroit would not get a runner safely past second base until the seventh inning when it was time for the Titans to board the rally train yet again. With a pair of comeback wins in the seventh inning already this year, including being down 8-2 and plating eight runs against South Dakota back on March 8 in a 10-9 Titan win, Detroit now needed three more runs to tie and four to win.

With one down, Copple and Cupp reached base with a single and walk respectively to give Huddleston an RBI opportunity. Huddleston recorded her team-best 20th RBI of the 2011 campaign and her second of the day on a 2-1 pitch she hit through the left side of the infield that scored Copple.

A walk to McCarty loaded the bases in what was now a 6-4 game with two outs left on the table for Detroit. With last year's Horizon League Player of the Year Tess Sito in the circle for Cleveland State, it was not an easy task. Sito won the battle adding two more strikeouts to her conference-leading total as she retired the next two batters swinging on strike three to finish with 11 strikeouts in game two after fanning 12 in the opener.

The two teams will close out the three-game series Thursday at Buysse Ballpark with first pitch set for noon.