Softball Weekly Release #1

Feb. 20, 2007

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Player of the Week

Allison Cox, Wright State
Freshman * DP / P * Chillicothe, Ohio
Cox belted two home runs and drove in five runs in the Raiders' opening weekend. She hit a two-run shot for her first collegiate homer against Southern Utah, and she followed that performance with a pair of RBI against Oregon State and capped the weekend off with a solo blast against UCLA on the final day in Las Vegas, Nev. The freshman drove in five of WSU's nine runs over the six games.

Pitcher of the Week

Sarah Clynes, UIC
Sophomore * RHP * Florissant, Mo.
Clynes posted a 2-1 record at the Alexis Resort Classic, Feb. 9-11. She fanned 12 batters in 17.1 innings. The 2006 Newcomer of the Year also recorded nine-plus innings with no hits, and didn't surrender a hit against Tulsa until the top of the seventh.

Other Top Performances From the Week Ending Feb. 18

Brooke Frydendall, UIC
Freshman * INF * Corona, Calif.
Frydendall recorded two home runs, four RBI, four runs scored and two homers in her collegiate debut at the Alexis Resort Classic (Feb. 8-11). Frydendall was 3-for-13 at the plate (.231) and recorded a team-high .692 slugging percentage. Defensively, the freshman posted a .941 fielding percentage at second base with 12 putouts.

Jenna Woepse, UW-Green Bay
Junior * SS * Manitowoc, Wis.
Woepse hit safely in three of UW-Green Bay four games at the Schutt Invitational, including posting a pair of hits in a 5-3 win over Bradley Sunday. Batting out of the leadoff spot, the junior shortstop scored three runs on the weekend which was half of the Phoenix's total for the tournament. She also stole a base and was flawless in the field.

Weekly Recap

UIC got the 2007 softball season started at the Alexis Resort Kickoff in Las Vegas, Nev. The team finished the weekend 2-3, it's best showing in three years.

The Flames won their first game at the event, behind the pitching arm of 2006 Newcomer of the Year Sarah Clynes. The sophomore right-hander worked all seven innings in the circle against Nicholls State, allowing six hits and four runs while striking out six. At the dish, Clynes went 3-for-3 and scored two runs.

After being blanked, 3-0, by Marshall, UIC picked up a win over Tulsa, 5-2, on a walk-off home run by freshman Brooke Frydendall. Clynes earned her second victory of the season, working the complete game.

The Flames would drop their final two games at the tournament, falling 5-1 to Pacific and 10-6 to UNLV.

Wright State was the next team to begin play as the Raiders played six games at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas.

Despite the Raiders' 0-6 record, the team did see a bright spot in the hitting of freshman Allison Cox. The Chillicothe, Ohio, native went three-for-10 at the plate, blasting a pair of home runs to go along with five RBI. Junior Michelle Logan also found success in the batter's box with a .333 batting average (two-for-six) on the weekend.

UW-Green Bay took shelter in the Dragon Dome in Pekin, Ill., for the Schutt Invitational hosted by Bradley University. The Phoenix went 1-3 on the weekend.

The team began the week with a pair of losses in which the offense struggled, combining for only one run and seven hits. Day two started better for the Phoenix as freshman Katie Cooney drove in two runs and pitched a complete-game victory. Juniors Jenna Woepse and Dana Brockman along with senior Jenny Rehfeldt all recorded two hits in the contest.

UWGB ran out of steam in the final game and was defeated 8-0 in five innings by Western Illinois. Freshman Leah Kroger managed the only hit for the team.

On the weekend, Brockman went four-for-nine for a .444 batting average. She belted two doubles and drove in one run. Woepse also had a solid opening weekend, hitting .400 (four-for-10) with three runs and a stolen base.

Horizon League News & Notes

Butler Bulldogs
- Junior first baseman Amy Hyerczyk garnered First-Team All-Horizon League honors last year when she batted .343 with five home runs and 24 runs batted in. She had two 10-game hitting streaks as a sophomore.

- The Bulldogs return two of last year's top three pitchers, senior Jamie Wonderly and junior Nikki Naffziger. Wonderly led the team in strikeouts with 59, while Naffziger was second on the squad with 40. The two combined to record 10 of Butler's 17 wins.

- Butler softball recruit Kristie Malinkey, who compiled a perfect 26-0 pitching record in 2006, was a Second Team choice on the 2006 Louisville Slugger National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) High School All-America squad.

Cleveland State Vikings
- On Aug. 21, 2006, Angie Nicholson was named the 10th head coach in Cleveland State history, replacing Julie Jones who compiled a 244-260-2 mark in 10 seasons at the helm of the Vikings. Nicholson is no stranger to CSU and the Horizon League, having played four years for the Vikings and serving as the Butler head coach in 2006.

- Junior Christina Swierz (1.08 ERA, 1-0, 8.1 IP) is the lone returning pitcher from last season as the Vikings lost two-time Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Grace Luginbuhl, Kortney Spidell and J.J. Thornberry to graduation. The trio combined to throw 356.2 of CSU's 365.0 innings last year.

- In addition to setting school records for overall (38) and League (14) victories in 2006, the Vikings also established season marks for batting average (.288), runs (237), hits (386), doubles (59) and home runs (26) in addition to matching the 1997 squad's record with a .967 fielding percentage.

Detroit Titans
- Junior Kaleigh Rafter returns as the reigning Horizon League Player of the Year. Rafter, who set the Detroit single-season home run record last spring with 12, is also in third place all-time in homers at Detroit. The NFCA All-Region pick hit .359 last season overall and an even more impressive .435 in League play.

- Head coach Bob Wilkerson returns for his 11th season at the helm of the Titans. Wilkerson, the longest-tenured coach in the League was picked by his peers as the Horizon League Coach of the Year after leading his troops to 13 League wins, a new school record.

- The Titans lost 11 letterwinners from last season, including All-League pick Katrina Klemp and All-Newcomer selection Brittney Hire.

UIC Flames
- The Flames posted their most impressive showing at the Alexis Resort Classic in three years with a 2-3 record. UIC topped Nicholls State (7-4) and recorded a come-from-behind bottom of the seventh victory over Tulsa (5-2).

- Freshman Brooke Frydendall notched her first two UIC career home runs on Saturday in two games. Fyrdendall's first collegiate homer was a three-run walk-off homer in the bottom of the seventh to win the contest for the Flames.

- Sophomore Sarah Clynes led the team with a .333 batting percentage (5-for-15) and was 2-1 in the circle. In 17.1 innings, Clynes totaled 12 strikeouts.

Loyola Ramblers
- Loyola, which won nine of its final 15 contests a year ago, will be a young team yet again as this year's roster features five freshmen and five sophomores.

- The Ramblers return their top two hitters from a year ago in senior outfielders Tara Miller and Nora Schober. Miller, who became the third Rambler in program history to earn All-Mideast Region honors, batted .357 and had school-record totals of 50 runs and 34 stolen bases a year ago. Miller also hit eight home runs and had eight doubles, a triple and 24 RBI en route to First Team All-Horizon League honors.

- A year ago, the Ramblers established single-season school standards for runs (202), home runs (33), walks (154) and stolen bases (101).

UW-Green Bay Phoenix
- Freshman Katie Cooney picked up her first collegiate win in her first career start, a 5-3 UW-Green Bay victory over Bradley Sunday. Cooney tossed a complete game and helped her own cause with two hits and two RBI. Among her three pitching strikeouts was one of her sister, Christine, a senior on Bradley's team.

- The Phoenix pounded out 10 hits in its 5-3 victory over Bradley Sunday but managed just eight combined hits in its other three contests.

- Junior outfielder Dana Brockman led UW-Green Bay with a .444 batting average at the Schutt Invitational. She tied classmate Jenna Woepse with a team-high four hits at the tournament including two doubles and a run batted in.

Wright State Raiders
- It was a tough opening weekend for Wright State as the Raiders were outscored 62-9 in six games at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas, including matchups with #7 Oregon State and national power UCLA.

- Wright State and UCLA combined for nine roundtrippers, with Wright State hitting two and the Bruins setting a school record with seven. Kristen Bradshaw gave WSU an early lead with a solo shot to left center and Allison Cox hit her second of the season to left.

- Overall, the Raiders hit four home runs over the weekend as Cox connected against Southern Utah and UCLA, Bradshaw versus UCLA and Kristen Farley against Portland State.

Youngstown State Penguins
- The Penguins captured their first Horizon League Championship and reached NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history last spring. Graduated shortstop Tiffany Patteson provided the heroics for the squad with a walk-off, solo home run in the seventh inning of the championship game, while McKenzie Bedra earned tournament most Valuable Player honors after hitting five round-trippers. Karlie Burnell posted all four of the Penguins' victory at the League summit.

- Head Coach Christy Cameron needs just 14 more wins to collect her 150th win at Youngstown State University.

- Sophomore Kristen McDonnell became the third Youngstown State player in four seasons to earn Great Lakes All-Region honors in 2006. McDonnell also tied the Penguins' single-season home run record with 10 in 2006.

Valparaiso Crusaders
- Valpo returns all but one player from the squad that won 22 games last season, the most victories by a Crusader softball team since 1989.- Head coach Randy Schneider became Valpo's all-time winningest coach with the team's 21st win last season. He has won 55 games over his three years at the helm.

- Senior outfielder Megan Carroll hit .410 in 24 games last year before missing the second half of the season due to injury. She currently is tied for third in Valpo history with 22 doubles, and is on pace to finish her career in the top-five in hits, runs scored and stolen bases.

- Catcher Shannon Robinson collected 51 hits in 51 games last year, the second-most hits in a single season in Crusader history. The junior also tied Valpo's single-season doubles record with 13.