Baseball Weekly Release #13

May 8, 2006

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Player of the Week

Justin Banks, Youngstown State
Senior * 1B * Steubenville, Ohio
Banks hit .500 with a .643 on-base percentage, helping YSU to a 3-1 record. All three wins came against teams with at least 26 wins, including a pair from League front-runner UIC on Saturday. His stat line also included three RBI, three doubles and three walks. Banks drove in two runs in a 3-2 victory over MAC leader Kent State on Wednesday and also went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI in the first win over UIC, a 2-1 triumph.

Pitcher of the Week

Rick Cavaiani, UW-Milwaukee
Senior * RHP * Appleton, Wis.
Cavaiani struck out a career-high 11 batters in a victory over Cleveland State on Saturday. The senior pitched eight innings, allowing only six hits and one walk to win his fifth consecutive decision and improve to 6-3 overall. The 11 K's are also the most by a Horizon League pitcher this season, while his six victories also match the most in the League in 2006.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending May 7

John Westra, Cleveland State
Junior * OF * Sturgis, Mich.
Westra posted a .400 (8-for-20) average, lifting his season pace to .310. He went 3-for-5 with two RBI against Pittsburgh before collecting three hits and a pair of RBI against UW-Milwaukee.

Ben Trotter, UIC
Junior * DH * Coal City, Ill.
Trotter continued to produce at the plate, driving in eight runs during an 8-for-16 (.500) showing in five games. He had three doubles and scored four runs for the Flames.

Mike Goetz, UW-Milwaukee
Senior * OF * Franklin, Wis.
Goetz extended his hitting streak to 24 games, batting .625 (10-for-16) last week to improve to .526 for the season. He scored seven runs in four games, hitting four doubles with four RBI.

Craig Costello, Butler
Senior * LHP * LaPorte, Ind.
Costello allowed two runs on five hits in eight innings to get his second win of the season as Butler defeated Indianapolis, 8-5. Costello struck out two in his longest outing of the season.

Pat McKitrick, Cleveland State
Junior * RHP * Steubenville, Ohio
McKitrick pitched well in two outings last week, allowing one earned run in two innings versus eighth-ranked Notre Dame, and two tallies in 4.1 innings of work at UW-Milwaukee.

Zach Peterson, UIC
Junior * RHP * Minnetonka, Minn.
Peterson struck out seven batters in a 7-2 victory over Youngstown State on Friday. He scattered eight hits, allowing two runs in seven innings to earn his sixth victory of the season.

Robert Barrett, Wright State
Senior * RHP * Sacramento, Calif.
Barrett held 20th-ranked Miami (Fla.) to five hits in 6.1 innings Friday, striking out seven in a 4-2 loss. He allowed four runs (two earned) to lower his season ERA to 2.83.

Ryan Sellman, Youngstown State
Sophomore * RHP * Twinsburg, Ohio
Sellman played a role in all three of YSU's victories, picking up a win and two saves. He allowed three hits in 4.1 innings over three appearances, posting four strikeouts.

On Deck for the Horizon League
Two weeks and six League games remain for each team before the Horizon League Championship (May 24-28). The standings tightened a bit over the weekend, leaving little margin for error the rest of the way.

UIC (27-17 overall, 17-6 in the League) can clinch the regular-season title with a three-game sweep of Butler (17-27, 9-15). The Flames try to bounce back after suffering their first League series loss of the year, dropping two of three at Youngstown State. Butler was idle last weekend during final exams.

UW-Milwaukee (24-20, 14-10) stands second in the League, but must take on that same YSU club (22-26, 12-12) which knocked off the Flames. The Panthers have won seven of their last nine loop contests.

The weekend's other series features Wright State (24-22, 13-11) at cross-state rival Cleveland State (8-34, 6-17), with the Raiders trying to get back into second place in order to earn a first-round bye at the League championship on their home field.

Midweek action outside the League has CSU hosting Duquesne on Tuesday at Jacobs Field, plus Toledo on Wednesday, while Tuesday's slate also includes UIC hosting Northwestern. Wednesday's slate features Butler hosting Evansville and UW-Milwaukee entertaining Bradley, plus Wright State visiting Bowling Green.

Around the Horizon League

Flames look to clinch title
UIC dropped two of three to Youngstown State over the weekend but remains atop the League standings at 17-6 as part of a 27-17 overall mark. The Flames can clinch the regular-season championship this weekend when UIC hosts Butler.

Junior designated hitter Ben Trotter leads the team with a .396 average but doesn't have enough at-bats to qualify for League rankings. Senior catcher Justin Johnson's .380 clip puts him second on the loop charts, with senior first baseman Mark Hallberg eighth at .347. Johnson went 5-for-11 with three doubles against YSU pitching.

Junior right-hander Zach Peterson picked up his sixth win of the season and third in a row with seven innings of work Friday, striking out seven Penguins. He shares the League lead with those six victories and tops the circuit with a 2.13 earned-run average. Peterson has walked only nine batters while fanning 54 in 84.2 innings this season.

Peterson leads a staff which tops the League in ERA by nearly a full point (3.79, with Wright State next at 4.78). The Flames have walked just 89 hitters in 386.2 innings. Senior closer Jason Foster ranks second in the League with a 2.77 ERA, while junior Joe Skinner suffered his first loss in six loop decisions Saturday but still boasts a 2.01 ERA against Horizon League competition.

Panthers gear up for stretch run
UW-Milwaukee moved into second place with a three-game sweep of Cleveland State, improving to 24-20 overall and 14-10 in League play. The Panthers have won nine of their last 11 games overall and are now 5-1 in extra innings after an 11-10, 10-frame decision on Sunday.

Senior outfielder Mike Goetz has hit safely in 24 consecutive games and 51 of his last 52 (dating back to last year), going 10-for-16 in four contests last week. He has posted 28 multi-hit games, and his 19 doubles put him one short of the school single-season record of 20. Goetz continues to lead the nation with a .526 average for the season.

Junior outfielder Ross McCoy hit his 11th home run of the year, putting him fourth on the school's one-year charts and matching the most by a Panther since Eric Goerdt had 11 in 2001.

UWM boasts the League's most productive offense, with eight regulars batting .301 or better. But Panther pitchers made a statement in Saturday's doubleheader as UW-Milwaukee limited Cleveland State to 11 hits---all singles---and no earned runs in the two games. Senior Rick Cavaiani struck out a career-high 11 batters in eight shutout innings.

As a team, UW-Milwaukee is hitting .324 with a League-high 320 runs scored. The Panthers' 512 hits include 110 doubles, 16 triples and 41 home runs.

Raiders return to loop play after Miami trip
Wright State remains at 13-11 in the League but dropped to third place in the standings, as the Raiders (24-22 overall) were swept in a rare non-conference weekend series at Miami (Fla.).

The Raiders managed only four runs in the series, although senior outfielder Amin Abusaleh went 4-for-12 with a triple, a homer, two RBI and two runs scored. Abusaleh raised his season averaged to .315 and leads the Raiders with five homers and 29 runs batted in. Freshman first baseman Jeremy Hamilton also has five homers in his debut campaign.

On the mound, senior right-hander Robert Barrett allowed only two earned runs in 6.1 innings in Friday night's opener, striking out seven Hurricanes in taking a tough-luck 4-2 defeat. Barrett suffered only his second loss in eight decisions but lowered his ERA to 2.83 (third-best in the League).

Wright State ranks fourth with a .292 team batting average, but the Raiders are still the only Horizon League team not to be shut out this year. On the mound, WSU's 4.78 team ERA trails only UIC (3.79), with the Raiders boasting a 24-4 record when allowing five runs or less.

WSU is also 19-1 when leading after seven innings, due in large part to junior right-hander Joe Smith who has saved ten games and has 50 strikeouts in 40 innings while posting a 0.90 ERA.

Penguins pass first test, face another
Youngstown State leveled its League record at 12-12 and improved to 22-26 overall after taking the weekend series from UIC. The Penguins ended a streak of difficulty against the Flames, having lost eight straight games to UIC before sweeping Saturday's twinbill.

The Penguins stand fourth on the loop ladder but can keep climbing as Youngstown State hosts second-place UW-Milwaukee this weekend. YSU took two of three in Milwaukee last month and enters the week two games behind the Panthers.

Senior first baseman Justin Banks claimed his third school record by playing in his 211th career game, surpassing the mark set by Kendall Schlabach. Classmate Kevin Libeg also tied the YSU mark with his 79th pitching appearance Friday.

Sophomore infielder Josh Page owns a seven-game hitting streak which has lifted his season average to .370 (third-best in the League). Page, who hit .252 last year, also has 23 multi-hit games and ranks second in the circuit with 68 hits.

Senior catcher-outfielder Brandon Caipen drove in the winning run with a ninth-inning single in Saturday's opener. He is third on the loop charts with 65 hits while his 40 RBI put him fifth on that list.

On the mound, sophomore right-hander Lucas Engle has fanned 55 batters this season, putting him second behind UW-Milwaukee's Rick Cavaiani (59) among Horizon League hurlers.

Bulldogs return to action after finals
Butler ends an eight-day layoff with Wednesday's game at Evansville, then visits League-leader UIC for a three-game series over the weekend. BU enters the week at 9-15 in loop action and 17-27 overall.

Junior outfielder Tony Barnes and three underclassmen combined for all eight Bulldog hits in an 8-5 victory over crosstown rival Indianapolis last week, the team's last action before taking time off for final exams. Barnes, sophomores Ryan Neat and Joe Pauley, plus freshman Joel Matheny each recorded two hits, with Barnes, Neat and Matheny each posting two RBI while Pauley scored a pair of runs.

The game was played with wooden bats, with the first 7 1/2 innings taking only 1:50. Butler had four hits and two runs through seven innings, before scoring six runs on four hits in the eighth. Indianapolis answered with three runs on four hits in the ninth before BU ended the comeback attempt.

On the mound, sophomore right-hander Brian Deter ranks fourth in the League with a 3.16 ERA. Sophomore left-hander Brian Bokowy owns 50 strikeouts in building a 3.86 ERA to rank seventh in the League.

Vikings prepare for extended homestand
Cleveland State saw its losing streak reach seven games, falling to 8-34 overall and 6-17 in the League following losses to Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, combined with a three-game sweep at the hands of UW-Milwaukee. CSU closes the regular season with a ten-game homestand, beginning Tuesday versus Duquesne.

Senior second baseman Steve Chinn, who ranks fifth in the League with a .362 batting average, had his streak of 21 consecutive games reaching base safely snapped in Saturday's opener. Chinn has been aboard in 40 of 42 contests this season. He leads the team with 59 hits and 24 RBI.

Sophomore catcher Josh Geric also had a 13-game hitting streak come to an end Saturday. The streak is the longest of 2006 for CSU and tied for the ninth-longest in school history.

Junior outfielder John Westra joins Chinn as the only Viking regulars batting over .300 for the season. Westra's 8-for-20 effort last week raised his overall mark from .294 to .310. The junior leads the Vikings with 22 runs scored.

On the mound, sophomore Nathan Schaefer ranks seventh on the loop charts with 48 strikeouts in a team-high 56 innings of work.