Softball Weekly Release #10

April 23, 2007

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Player of the Week

Sarah Clynes, UIC
Sophomore * P / DP * St. Louis, Mo.
Clynes posted a .529 batting average in five games for the Flames last week. Clynes was 9-for-17 with eight runs scored, three doubles, six RBI and two home runs. The pitcher/designated player owned a 1.059 slugging percentage and a .619 on-base percentage. Clynes was 1-for-3 with one runs scored versus Wisconsin on Tuesday. The sophomore was 3-for-5 with two runs scored in game one versus Detroit in a three-game series. Clynes had three hits in game two with two runs, four RBI and a three-run home run. Clynes finished the three-game series sweep over Detroit with two hits, two runs, two RBI and a solo home run.

Pitcher of the Week

Amy Solava, Loyola
Freshman * RHP * New Lenox, Ill.
Solava went 3-0 with 23 strikeouts in 20.1 innings last week for Loyola. The freshman right-hander began the week by striking out five in a complete-game effort in the Ramblers' 4-3 win at UW-Green Bay, then fanned 11 and allowed only one run in a 2-1 victory at Cleveland State on Saturday. She came on to earn the win in relief against the Vikings on Sunday, tossing 6.1 innings of scoreless work, scattering three hits and striking out seven.

Other Top Performances From the Week Ending April 22

Nikki Naffziger, Butler
Junior * RHP * Indianapolis, Ind.
Naffziger was the winning pitcher in three games for the Bulldogs last week, including a 4-1 complete game performance against Horizon League foe Youngstown State. She allowed just six earned runs in the three contests and pitched two complete games, while going unbeaten on the week.

Bridget Paine, Butler
Freshman * SS * Carol Stream, Ill.
Paine hit home runs in three consecutive games for the Bulldogs last week, helping Butler to consecutive victories over IUPUI and Dayton. She also added a round-tripper against Evansville, giving her five home runs on the year.

Kaleigh Rafter, Detroit
Junior * C / 3B * Guelph, Ontario
Rafter hit .429 (6-for-14) in five games this week for the Titans. The junior slugger hit three home runs, giving 23 for her career and moving her to with in one of tying her own single-season record of 12. Rafter drove in four runs and drew four walks.

Sarah Clynes, UIC
Sophomore * RHP * St. Louis, Mo.
Clynes posted a 2-2 record in five appearances last week. The sophomore owned a 2.80 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 25.0 innings pitched. Clynes fanned five batters versus Wisconsin and No. 14 DePaul. The pitcher was 2-0 versus Detroit with 11 strikeouts in 14 innings pitched.

Mollie Kaebisch, UW-Green Bay
Sophomore * INF * Colgate, Wis.
Kaebisch led the Phoenix with a .381 batting average in its seven games last week. She hit safely in six of the seven contests and recorded a double in four of the first five games. The one game in which she didn't collect a hit snapped her team season-best hitting streak at nine.

Anna Bluemel, UW-Green Bay
Junior * RHP * Wind Lake, Wis.
Bluemel limited opposing batters to a .178 average in her four appearances last week. She surrendered just five hits in each of her three starts while allowing just one hit in four innings of relief against Wright State Sunday. Bluemel tossed her first complete-game shutout in a Phoenix uniform in a 4-0 victory over the Raiders Saturday while tying a season-high with eight strikeouts.

Kat Krause, Loyola
Junior * 2B * Arlington Heights, Ill.
Krause batted .438 (7-for-16) in five appearances last week, posting an on-base percentage of .500 and a 1.000 slugging percentage. The slugging junior hit safely in four of her five appearances and went 6 for 12 (.500) with three doubles, a home run and four RBI in a weekend sweep at Cleveland State. She also went yard in a 4-3 win over UW-Green Bay, with her home run providing the winning run.

Allison Cox, Wright State
Freshman * RHP * Chillicothe, Ohio
Cox struck out five in the second game at UW-Green Bay and then earned the win in series finale with the Phoenix, allowing no earned runs in four innings.

Kristen Bradshaw, Wright State
Freshman * SS * Portsmouth, Ohio
Bradshaw belted four doubles last week, while knocking in five runs. She went 3-for-4 with a double and three-run home run in the second game versus UW-Green Bay and doubled in the winning run in the series finale.

McKenzie Bedra, Youngstown State
Junior * 3B * Bowling Green, Ohio
Bedra led the Penguins with a .389 batting average and helped the Penguins to a 3-4 record last week. She belted her 20th career home run and sixth of the season in game one against Toledo. In the Toledo twinbill, Bedra collected two hits in each contest.

Danielle Chase, Youngstown State
Freshman * RHP * Harbor Creek, Pa.
Chase picked up her first two career victories this week with in a 4-3 win over Toledo and fired her first career shutout against Butler on Sunday. In the 2-0 victory over the Bulldogs, Chase allowed just three hits and struck out two. For the week, Chase finished with a 1.43 earned-run average and limited her opponents to the .246 batting average.

Horizon League News & Notes

Butler Bulldogs
- Junior Amy Hyerczyk hit safely in eight of Butler's nine games last week, including the final three against Horizon League foe Youngstown State. She batted .393 on the week, with a team-high 11 hits.

- Junior Jenny Jacobs hit her 20th career home run in Butler's 10-2 victory over Youngstown State. She leads the Bulldogs on the season with six home runs.

- Freshman Jennifer Chasteen tossed a three-hit shutout at Dayton (4-0) to earn her ninth win of the season. It was her second collegiate shutout.

Cleveland State Vikings
- Cleveland State has lost six in a row -- its longest losing streak since dropping its final nine contests at the 2005 Rebel Spring Games.

- Junior Christina Swierz continued her run of solid pitching performances by giving up just a pair of earned runs in 11.2 innings of work last week (1.20 ERA). The Horizon League's ERA leader at 1.41, she has surrendered more than one earned run just once in 11 appearances this season. Unfortunately, her 2-3 record is due largely in part to the fact that the Vikings have dropped three one-run contests in her seven starts.

- The Vikings close out their home Horizon League schedule on Wednesday with a twin bill against Youngstown State. Thanks to a washout on April 6-7 at Butler, CSU will play its first road league series this weekend at UIC.

Detroit Titans
- Junior Kaleigh Rafter extended her lead in career homers with numbers 21, 22 and 23 last week. Rafter hit two in the double header at UIC on Saturday after clubbing one against Bowling Green on Tuesday. On Thursday, Rafter was named as the 2007 Titan Club Award winner for Titan Athletics, an award that goes to an upper-class student-athlete who has displayed academic and athletic excellence.

- Head coach Bob Wilkerson announced last week that he had signed two student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. Outfielders Chelsea Lathrop and Ellen Sinclair have signed to continue their athletic and academic careers at Detroit starting this fall.

- The Titans will take the majority of this week off for final exams before heading back on the road for a three game set at UW-Green Bay.

UIC Flames
- In five games last week, UIC posted a .340 batting average with 48 hits, 36 runs scored, 17 doubles, 33 RBI and two homers. The squad owned a .504 slugging percentage and .422 on-base percentage.

- Junior Brittany Dixon posted a .571 batting average (8-for-14) with seven runs scored, a team-high four doubles, and four RBI. Freshman Brooke Frydendall was 8-for-15 with four runs, three doubles and a team-high eight RBI. Sophomore Sarah Clynes was 9-for-17 with eight runs, three doubles, six RBI and a team-best two home runs.

- Sophomore Sarah Clynes leads the Horizon League in innings pitched (158.0) and appearances (31) this season. Overall, she is 12-12 with 94 strikeouts and an opponents' batting average of .270.

Loyola Ramblers
- Loyola has climbed over the .500 mark for the first time under Yvette Healy and the first time since the end of the 2004 season. The Ramblers have prevailed in 12 of their last 15 games since opening the season at 4-12.

- Loyola picked up its second win versus a ranked team this season, and its first-ever over a top-ten opponent with a 3-2 decision over No. 8 Northwestern on Tuesday.

- Catcher Raven Gengler's RBI fielder's choice on April 21 gave her 87 career RBI and moved her past former teammate Allison Scanlin into first place on the Loyola career list.

- Junior Kat Krause now has team-high marks of nine home runs (two from equaling her single-season, school-record mark of 11 set in 2006) and 25 RBI and is batting .352. Since March 10, she is hitting .417 (25-for-60) with nine homers and 22 RBI.

UW-Green Bay Phoenix
- UW-Green Bay's 16 hits in its 9-8 win over Wright State were the team's most since collecting 17 against Detroit May 10, 2001. The Phoenix hit .280 in its seven games last week after entering the week with a team season average of .234.

- After a slow start, sophomore third baseman Mollie Kaebisch has proven to be one of UW-Green Bay's most consistent hitters. Kaebisch collected hits in just two of the team's first eight games this season, but has hit safely in 16 of the last 20 contests including 10 of the last 11. During a recent nine-game hitting streak, she raised her season average from .250 to .303.

- Junior pitcher Anna Bluemel's 2-8 record is a little deceiving at this point. In the seven starts that Bluemel has lost, UW-Green Bay has scored a total of just eight runs.

Wright State Raiders
- It was a real struggle offensively this past week for the Raiders as they scored 14 runs total in seven games, 11 of those coming in the final two, and hit .204 over that stretch to the opposition's .343. Wright State was shut out once in each of the three doubleheaders it played last week and, other than the 12-hit attack in the second game at UW-Green Bay, had five of fewer hits in each of the six other contests.

- Freshman Kristen Bradshaw continues to drive in runs as she knocked in five of the team's 14 for the week, including the game winner Sunday at UW-Green Bay. Bradshaw now has 30 RBI on the season and is just five short of the school record for RBI in a season, set by Michelle Demmitt in 1999.

- After playing 30 games in six different states away from Ohio, Wright State has just two games outside of the Buckeye State the rest of the season, those being a doubleheader at Detroit on May 3.

Youngstown State Penguins
- Freshman Danielle Chase fired her first career shutout on Sunday, throwing seven innings of three-hit ball. She is 2-5 on the season and owns a team-best 3.43 ERA in 53.0 innings pitched.

- Sophomore Kristen McDonnell blasted two home runs last week to inch closer to third place on the all-time YSU charts. She now has 16 career long balls, just one back of Amanda Berry (2001-04).

- Junior McKenzie Bedra went 7-for-18 (.389) last week, belting three doubles and one home run in the team's seven contests. On the season, she is hitting .417 with team-high totals in doubles (12), RBI (24) and slugging percentage (.774).

Valparaiso Crusaders (join HL July 1, 2007)
- The Crusaders went 5-1 last week with their only loss coming against Notre Dame on Thursday. The team swept doubleheaders against IPFW and South Dakota State, while picking up a single victory over Purdue. Junior Chris Halsted went 3-0 in the circle on the week.

- Junior Andrea Zappia had a productive day on Saturday, firing a one-hit shutout with a career-high 12 strikeouts in the opener before coming in to pick up the save in the nightcap. She has five saves on the season, ranking her among the nation's leaders.

- Valpo edged Purdue in a slugfest on Wednesday, 12-11. After jumping out to a 9-1 lead after three innings, the Boilers battled back by scoring multiple runs in three of the last four innings. Senior Megan Carroll and junior Alicia Ashburn both had three RBI in the contest.