Horizon League Softball Release #7
March 25, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - UIC junior infielder Melissa Marinacci was selected Horizon League Softball Player of the Week and Loyola junior right-hander Krista Crosson was named Pitcher of the Week. In two games this past week, Marinacci tallied a .500 batting average and drove in five runs, while Crosson worked 11.0 innings and struck out 12 batters in her only appearance of the week to collect her second victory of the season.
Horizon League Player of the Week
Melissa Marinacci, UIC
Jr. * INF * Yorba Linda, Calif.
Marinacci went 3-for-6 in a 2-0 week at the Indiana Classic in Bloomington, Ind. In addition, the UIC junior had four RBIs and two home runs, including a grand slam in an 8-4 victory over Louisville. Against Indiana, Marinacci had one hit and one RBI to help the Flames to a 3-0 triumph. Defensively, the California native recorded a fielding percentage of 1.000.
Horizon League Pitcher of the Week
Krista Crosson, Loyola
Jr. * RHP * Lake Stevens, Wash.
In her only appearance of the week, Crosson helped the Ramblers to a 1-0 victory over Butler in 11 innings this past Friday. Against BU, the Washington native worked all 11 innings and limited the Bulldogs to just three hits. Crosson also struck out a career-high 12 batters en route to her second victory of the season.
Other Top Performances for the Week Ending March 23
Alex Boros, Butler
Jr. * 2B * Elyria, Ohio
Boros capped a four-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning with a two-run single to give Butler a 5-4 victory over Loyola in the Bulldogs' Horizon League opener. She had two hits in the game and drove in two runs. In the nightcap, Boros had one of just three Butler hits, as the Bulldogs fell, 1-0 in 11 innings.
Haley Ambrosch, Loyola
Fr. * SS * Joliet, Ill.
Ambrosch batted .667 (4-for-6) with a pair of RBI and a stolen base last Friday as Loyola split a doubleheader at Butler to open Horizon League play. The rookie went 2-for-3 in each game of the twinbill, rapping two hits while driving in a pair of runs. Ambrosch then notched a pair of singles in the Ramblers' 1-0, 11-inning victory in the nightcap.
Carly DeMarco, UIC
Fr. * LHP * New Lenox, Ill.
DeMarco picked up her first shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory over Indiana on March 21. The Illinois native allowed zero earned runs and fanned three batters in the win.
Jherica Williams, Wright State
Sr. * OF * Piqua, Ohio
In her only game of the week, Williams went 2-for-3 with three RBI to lead the Raiders to a 15-2 triumph over Detroit. In addition, the WSU outfielder collected a double, a home run and scored three runs.
McKenzie Bedra, Youngstown State
Sr. * INF * Bowling Green, Ohio
Bedra batted .462 (6-for-13) with two home runs and five RBI. She also posted a slugging percentage of .923 and scored twice. In the Penguins' 6-2 win over Michigan State on Sunday, Bedra went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, including a three-run home run.
News From Around the League
Butler
The Bulldogs (9-8 overall, 1-1 Horizon League) split a doubleheader with Loyola on Friday. BU defeated LU 5-4 in game one, but fell 1-0 in 11 innings in the second game. The finale of the three-game series on Saturday was canceled due to weather.
Earlier in the week, the Bulldogs had doubleheaders with Indiana State (March 19) and Ball State (March 20) canceled.
In game one against Loyola, the Bulldogs entered the bottom half of the seventh inning trailing 4-1, but Butler went on to plate four runs to claim a 5-4 victory. Alex Boros capped the rally with a two-out, two-run game-winning single.
In the second game of the doubleheader, Butler dropped a 1-0 decision to Loyola in 11 innings. BU pitcher Halinkey took the loss despite working ten scoreless innings, while scattering seven hits.
The Bulldogs' 11-frame contest was just their second extra inning affair of the season. BU's last extra inning game came against Longwood on Feb. 29.
The Bulldogs return to action on Wednesday as they welcome Purdue.
Cleveland State
The Vikings (10-5 overall, 0-0 Horizon League) went 5-3 over their spring break trip at the Rebel Spring Games in Orlando, Fla, March 12-15. CSU lost three of its first four games, but won four straight to complete the trip.
Cleveland State dropped the first two games of the trip, falling to Yale, 2-1, and IPFW, 7-5 on Wednesday. The Vikings avenged the loss to Yale, defeating the Bulldogs, 1-0 on March 13.
Freshman right-hander Brittany Bate picked up her first collegiate victory as she shut out Yale, while holding the Bulldogs to just four hits. Senior Whitney Willard scored the only run of the game on a fielder's choice. Willard reached base earlier in the inning on an error. CSU went on to lose 7-1 to Penn in the afternoon game.
On March 14, Cleveland State scored 22 runs in two games. In the morning match-up against Wagner, the Vikings scored nine runs on 13 hits, defeating the Seahawks, 9-0 (six innings). In the second game against Rider, junior shortstop Christa Coppus went 3-4, hitting three doubles and five RBI's to lead the Vikings to a 13-5 victory.
CSU finished the trip on March 15, defeating Army and Fairleigh Dickinson, both by the score of 3-1. Against Army, sophomore right-hander Amanda Macenko pitched seven innings and struck out 12.
CSU returns to action on March 29 when it travels to Wright State for a double-header. The Vikings' game against the the Raiders was originally scheduled to be played in Cleveland, Ohio, but due poor weather conditions the game was moved to Dayton, Ohio.
Detroit
The Titans (5-11 overall, 0-1 Horizon League) fell 15-2 in a run-rule decision to Wright State on Friday.
Detroit had its doubleheader with the Raiders canceled on Saturday.
Despite the loss, sophomore Courtney Gill raised her batting average to .421 on the year as she went 1-for-1 with two walks and a RBI.
Freshman Ellen Sinclair also had a hit against Wright State as she extended her hitting streak to 13 games. Sinclair's hitting streak dates back to the Titans' Feb. 9 game against Marist.
Detroit had the final two games of its League opening series with Wright State canceled due to poor weather conditions.
The Titans were scheduled to return to action on Wednesday with a doubleheader against Eastern Michigan, but that was also canceled due to weather.
UDM will step back into League play this weekend when it meets Valparaiso for a three-game series on Saturday and Sunday.
Green Bay
The Phoenix (6-10 overall, 0-0 Horizon League) was scheduled to open League play this past Saturday and Sunday against Valparaiso, but had its three-game series canceled.
Earlier in the week, the Phoenix closed out play in the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla., as it defeated Lafayette (4-1) and Army (4-3) on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Green Bay downed Army (3-2), but fell to Manhattan (3-2). In the final day of the tournament, the Phoenix had its first game against Army canceled, but in the afternoon contest, Green Bay lost to Siena 4-3.
The Phoenix closed out the Rebel Spring Games with a 6-5 record.
Green Bay is idle this week returning to action on April 2 when it begins League play against UIC.
Loyola
The Ramblers (6-11 overall, 1-1 Horizon League) split a double-header with Butler on Friday as they fell 5-4 in game one, but rebounded in game two with a 1-0 victory in 11 innings.
In game one against Butler, Loyola jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings. LU went into the bottom half of the seventh with a 4-1 advantage, but BU rallied with four runs to claim a 5-4 victory.
In game two, junior right-hander Krista Crosson struck out a career-high 12 Bulldogs in a complete game, 1-0 triumph. Crosson yielded only three hits en route to her second victory of the season.
Offensively for the Ramblers, freshman shortstop Haley Ambrosch collected a pair of singles in LU's 1-0 triumph.
Loyola's victory over Butler in 11 innings improved the Ramblers to 2-1 in extra-inning affairs.
The Ramblers will open their home schedule on Wednesday against Bradley before traveling to Illinois on Thursday.
This weekend, Loyola returns to League play as it welcomes Youngstown State. A year ago, Loyola posted an 8-3 mark at home.
UIC
The Flames (9-18 overall, 0-0 Horizon League) went 2-0 this past weekend at the Indiana Classic in Bloomington, Ind., as they posted victories over Louisville (8-4) and Indiana (3-0) on Friday.
UIC was scheduled to face the two teams again on Saturday, but both games were canceled due to poor weather conditions.
In game one against Louisville, Melissa Marinacci got the Flames on the board as she hit a grand slam in the first inning. Marinacci finished the game 2-for-3 with five RBI, two runs and two home runs. Brittany Dixon was 2-for-3 with one double, while Sarah Clynes notched her fourth homer of the season.
In game two, Nicole Robinson led the Flames with two hits and one RBI. In addition, Marinacci and Mallory Studzinski each notched an RBI and one hit apiece.
Freshman pitcher Carly DeMarco (3-3) recorded her first shutout of the season as she fanned three batters in 7.0 innings pitched.
The Flames open their home schedule on Tuesday against Illinois before welcoming Notre Dame on Thursday. UIC then heads to Butler for a three-game series this weekend.
Valparaiso
The Crusaders (12-7 overall, 0-0 Horizon League) split a pair of games with Ball State on Monday.
In game one Valpo defeated BSU in eight innings (1-0) thanks to a complete game shutout from Andrea Zappia. The Valpo right-hander went the distance to earn the win (7-2), striking out nine while allowing just two hits and one walk.
In addition, Zappia carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.The Crusaders won the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Tracy Korth opened the inning on second base due to the international tiebreaker. Courtney LaFerle laid down a sacrifice bunt but the throw went into right field allowing Korth to score the winning run.
In game two, Ball State got on the board first in the top half of the sixth inning. Valpo answered with four runs in the bottom half of the inning, but the Crusaders were held scoreless for the remainder of the contest.
BSU went on to score the go ahead run in the top of the ninth.
Valparaiso was scheduled to open their first-ever Horizon League series this past weekend, but the three-game set with Green Bay was canceled.
This week, Valparaiso welcomes Northern Illinois for a doubleheader on Tuesday before traveling to Detroit this weekend for its League opener.
Wright State
The Raiders (8-12 overall, 1-0 Horizon League) defeated Detroit 15-2 last Friday as WSU opened the home and League portion of its schedule.
Friday's game turned out to be the only one of the week for WSU as Saturday's doubleheader with the Titans along with Thursday's twinbill with Findlay were both canceled due to weather.
Wright State had three home runs and collected 14 hits in the victory against Detroit.
WSU scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning, highlighted by a two-run triple from Justine Shilt and a two-run double by Jherica Williams.
Wright State added two more in the second, including a solo home run by Williams, her fifth of the season. Kristen Bradshaw lined a three-run home run to left center, her second of the year, in the third and the Raiders rounded out the scoring in the fourth on a two-run double by pinch-hitter Stephanie Lee followed by a two-run homer from Bridget Henry, her first of the season.
Williams went two-for-three with three RBI and three runs scored to pace the Raider offense, while Haney and Birl also had two hits.
Wright State will play in a pair of midweek doubleheaders as the Raiders play host to Rio Grande on Tuesday and Ohio on Wednesday before welcoming Cleveland State on Saturday and Sunday.
WSU's matchup with the Vikings was scheduled to take place in Cleveland, but the series was moved due to weather conditions in Northeast Ohio.
Youngstown State
The Penguins (1-10 overall, 0-0 Horizon League) went 1-3 in the Miami (Ohio) Tournament this past week in Oxford, Ohio.
YSU fell to Miami (Ohio) (4-1) and Toledo (14-9) on Friday, but split with Big Ten schools Michigan State and Penn State. The Penguins collected their first victory of the season against MSU (6-2), but fell to Penn State (5-1).
Senior McKenzie Bedra extended her own career home run record to 25 after she belted two round-trippers last week.
She also moved into third place on the YSU all-time RBI list with 94, passing Tiffany Patteson (93, 2003-06). She also needs 10 more to move into second place.
Freshman Rochelle Vanyi continues to lead the Penguins with six extra-base hits (three doubles and three home runs) and owns a .611 slugging percentage.
YSU returns to action on Wednesday with a doubleheader against Akron before opening League play at Loyola this weekend.
