Softball Weekly Release #12 - Championship Preview

May 7, 2007

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Player of the Week

Mollie Kaebisch, UW-Green Bay
Sophomore * INF * Colgate, Wis.
Kaebisch hit .400 with a 1.000 slugging percentage last week, including leading the Phoenix to a three-game sweep at Butler over the weekend. In the second game of Saturday's doubleheader against the Bulldogs, Kaebisch went 3-for-3 with a pair of home runs and a double and set a UW-Green Bay single-game record with six RBI in the 8-0 win. Her six RBI and 10 total bases in the contest are both highs for a Horizon League player this season. Kaebisch hit safely in four of five games last week and has at least one hit in 18 of the last 21 contests.

Pitcher of the Week

Amanda Macenko, Cleveland State
Freshman * RHP * Brunswick, Ohio
Macenko was nearly untouchable last week, going 6-0 with a 0.90 ERA (6R/4ER) and three shutouts in her four starts. In 31.0 innings of work, she fanned 19 while walking just one. She won all three games over the weekend against Detroit, posting a 1.71 ERA in 16.1 innings. She pitched a shutout in the opener, and in the three games, struck out 11 without a walk. In mid-week action, Macenko blanked Robert Morris and Oakland in a pair of four-hit efforts.

Other Top Performances From the Week Ending April 29

JoAnna Zumbrun, Butler
Senior * 2B * Spokane, Wash.
Zumbrun batted a team-best .375 in Butler's five games last week. She hit safely in four of the five games and had multiple hits in two of the contests. Zumbrun had six hits on the week, including her sixth double of the season, and scored a pair of runs. She also had a walk and a pair of sacrifices.

Michele Penney, Cleveland State
Senior * OF * Ravenna, Ohio
Penney battered Detroit's pitching over the weekend, going 5-for-11 (.455) with five runs scored, a double, three home runs and seven RBI. In Saturday's first game, she hit a three-run homer and added a RBI single. In the night cap, she hit a solo home run in the fourth and then blasted a two-out, two-run homer in the next inning to put the Vikings ahead for good. In seven games on the week, she hit .364 (8-for-22) with eight runs scored, three doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI.

Sarah Dickey, Detroit
Senior * INF * Brampton, Ontario
Dickey etched her name into the Titan record books this week, moving into first place all-time in hits and setting the new benchmark for hits in a single season. The speedy infielder posted a .529 (9-17) average in 17 at-bats with three doubles and a run batted in. On Saturday Dickey set the new career standard with her 198th career base knock in the second game against Cleveland State and set the new single season record in the first inning on Sunday with her 63rd hit of the season. Dickey now has 202 career hits and 65 for the year.

Sarah Clynes, UIC
Sophomore * RHP * St. Louis, Mo.
Clynes went a 2-1 record last week for the Flames, posting a 2.58 ERA with 10 strikeouts in 19.0 innings pitched. The sophomore guided UIC to a 4-3 win over Wright State on May 5. Clynes fanned six batters in seven innings pitched. Clynes then helped UIC clinch a 2-1 series win over WSU on May 6 with a 9-4 triumph over the Raiders.

Melissa Marinacci, UIC
Sophomore * INF * Yorba Linda, Calif.
Marinacci posted a .500 batting average in four games for the Flames last week. Suffering from a heel injury last weekend against Cleveland State, the sophomore missed one contest for the Flames versus Western Illinois on Thursday. Marinacci totaled two runs scored, five RBI and one home run.

Kat Krause, Loyola
Junior * 2B * Arlington Heights, Ill.
Krause batted .333 (4-for-12) with three of her four hits going for extra bases last week. She went 4-for-7 with a pair of homers, a double and two RBI in With her second homer in a 3-2 victory over Youngstown State on Saturday. She tied her own Loyola single-season record with her 11th home run. Krause drove in a run in the 3-0 victory over #14 DePaul on Wednesday.

Amy Solava, Loyola
Freshman * RHP * New Lenox, Ill.
Solava went 1-2 with both of her losses being tough-luck one-run decisions. The freshman right-hander was the winning pitcher, allowing only two hits while striking out four, in Loyola's 3-0 victory over #14 DePaul on Wednesday. The win was the Ramblers' first over the Blue Demons since 1995 and was their third over a ranked opponent this spring. She came on in relief to earn her third save, striking out two, in an inning of work in a 3-2 victory at Youngstown State on Saturday.

Jenny Rehfeldt, UW-Green Bay
Senior * OF * Appleton, Wis.
Rehfeldt led the Phoenix with a .471 batting average in its five games last week. She sparked UW-Green Bay to a three-game sweep at Butler over the weekend by being inserted into the leadoff spot in the lineup and responding with 8 hits in 12 at-bats (.667) during the series. Rehfeldt tied a career high with three hits in each of the last two games of the series and her three runs scored in Saturday's game-two win were also a career-high. She drove in two runs Sunday's series finale, including the go-ahead run with two outs in the top of the eighth inning.

Jacqueline Macy, Wright State
Junior * 1B * Middletown, Ohio
Macy had three hits in the opening game at Detroit on Thursday, then collected a hit in the second game with the Titans and in both ends of the UIC doubleheader on Saturday.

Jamie Perkins, Wright State
Freshman * RHP * Convoy, Ohio
Perkins struck out seven over six innings in a start at Detroit on Thursday. She also fanned three in relief in the second game against UIC on Saturday and three more in the series finale.

McKenzie Bedra, Youngstown State
Junior * 3B * Bowling Green, Ohio
Bedra led YSU with a .438 batting average during the Penguins' 2-3 week. Bedra drove in a run in every game of during the week, including the game-winner in a 1-0 defeat of league regular season champion Loyola. Bedra, who belted her ninth home run of the season against Niagara last Wednesday, posted a .786 slugging percentage.

Karlie Burnell, Youngstown State
Senior * RHP * Brampton, Ontario
Burnell went 1-2 on the week with one save and a 0.90 earned-run average. She fired a two-hit 1-0 shutout against Loyola on the last day of the regular and picked up her first save of the year in YSU's 3-2 win over the Ramblers on Saturday. On the weekend, Burnell went 1-1 with a save and a 1.21 earned-run average against the League's top team.

Horizon League News & Notes

Butler Bulldogs
- Senior JoAnna Zumbrun had a six-game hitting streak snapped in the opening contest of Butler's three-game series with UW-Green Bay, but she bounced back with hits in each of the last two games. Zumbrun hit safely in 10 of Butler's final 12 games. She batted .395 over that 12-game stretch.

- Junior Jenny Jacobs had just four hits in Butler's five games last week, but she led the team with seven RBI's and a .733 slugging percentage. Jacobs' four hits included two home runs and a double. Jacobs finished the regular season with a team-high eight home runs, boosting her Butler career record to 22 home runs over three seasons.

- Freshman Kristie Malinkey picked up her first collegiate win with three strong innings in relief in Butler's 2-1, 10-inning victory over Oakland. Malinkey allowed just one hit and one unearned run in her three innings of work.

Cleveland State Vikings
- Cleveland State ran its winning streak to 10 with seven victories last week. The skein is the longest since the 2005 squad rattled off 11 in a row from April 9-21. The burst couldn't have come at a better time, as the Vikings moved from seventh to second in the League standings in just nine days.

- This marks the third time in the last four years that CSU has finished second in the League standings.

- Freshman Amanda Macenko ran her personal win streak to eight to improve to 23-8 on the season. Tied with Grace Luginbuhl's 2006 performance for second in the CSU annals, she needs just one more victory to equal Amy Kyler's school record set in 1997.

Detroit Titans
- In addition to setting the Detroit career and single-season hit marks, senior Sarah Dickey has also moved up in other career marks in the Titan record book. Dickey is currently second all-time in assists (449), runs scored (97) and fourth in batting average, hitting at a .335 clip during her career.

- Junior Kaleigh Rafter is on pace to rewrite the Titan record book by the time her career is over. Rafter currently holds the top spot all-time in home runs (25), slugging percentage (.632) and is number three in batting average (.347). In the single season marks, Rafter owns the top two spots in home runs, with 13 this season after hitting 12 last year. She is second in batting average (.421), first in slugging percentage (.816), fifth in doubles (12) and second in runs batted in (35).

- Dickey has also made her mark in the Horizon League record book, moving into third place with her 449 assists. She is also nearing the top-10 in hits and at-bats.

UIC Flames
- Sophomore Sarah Clynes powered the Flames this season in League games with a .519 batting average. Clynes totaled a team-high 18 runs, 28 hits, 10 doubles, one triple, 18 RBI and four homers.

- Freshman Brooke Frydendall posted a stellar rookie season with a .354 loop batting average. Frydendall owned 12 RBI against League opponents, ranking second on the team.

- Sophomore Melissa Marinacci ranked second on the team with a .500 batting average. Marinacci owned 10 runs, 16 hits, two doubles, 10 home runs, three homers.

Loyola Ramblers
- Loyola has claimed the Horizon League regular-season title for the fourth time in the last seven seasons and will be the top seed at next weekend's Horizon League Championship in Cleveland, Ohio.

- The Ramblers snapped a 21-game losing streak to #14 DePaul, defeating the Blue Demons for the first time since 1995 with a 3-0 victory, despite only one hit, on Wednesday. Loyola posted victories this spring against three ranked teams, all from the state of Illinois - #17 Illinois State, #7 Northwestern and #14 DePaul.

- After starting the year 4-12, Loyola closed out the regular season by capturing 16 of its final 23 contests. The Ramblers have won 20 or more games in eight of the last nine campaigns.

UW-Green Bay Phoenix
- After being picked to place sixth in the Horizon League preseason poll and despite sporting the youngest roster in the League, UW-Green Bay finished along with Cleveland State 3.5 games behind Loyola for the runner-up spot in the final League standings. Cleveland State earned the No. 2 seed for the postseason tournament ahead of the Phoenix because of a higher winning percentage due to the teams playing an unequal amount of games.

- Sophomore third baseman Mollie Kaebisch set a school single-game record with six RBI in the second game of UW-Green Bay's doubleheader at Butler Saturday. She hit two home runs and a double in the contest and the 10 total bases and six RBI are both highs for a Horizon League player this season.

- The Phoenix has decisively enjoyed Horizon League pitching over that of its non-conference foes. UW-Green Bay has hit just .218 as a team in 22 non-conference games this season, but batted .297 in its 16 games against Horizon League foes.

Wright State Raiders
- After being shutout in both games at Ohio State and scoring just once in the opener at Detroit, Wright State tallied 20 runs and 38 hits over the final four games last week. Jherica Williams led the Raiders with eight hits while Kristen Farley had seven and Michelle Logan six.

- For the second straight year, Wright State and Cleveland State will meet in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament and, like 2006, it will be the same 2-7 matchup. The Raiders came away with a 6-3 win last year as Kristen Farley drove in two and Jacqueline Macy had three hits.

- The Raiders head to Cleveland this weekend for the Horizon League tournament. WSU has had success at Viking Field over the past five years, winning nine of its last 11 games at the venue. After splitting a regular-season doubleheader there in 2003, Wright State won four straight in capturing the 2003 Horizon League tournament title, took two of three from CSU in 2005 and swept the Vikings in a doubleheader earlier this year.

Youngstown State Penguins
- Senior Karlie Burnell picked up her 11th victory of the season and the 39th of her career. She needs one more victory to become the third player in school history to post 40 victories in a career.

- Junior McKenzie Bedra needs one more home run to tie the school's single-season home run record and two more to set the record at 11.

- Freshman pitcher Danielle Chase picked up her third victory of the season with an impressive 3-2 win over Loyola. Chase fired 6.2 innings and did not allow an earned run.

Valparaiso Crusaders (join HL July 1, 2007)
- Senior Taylor Callahan's broke Valparaiso's career hits record Sunday with her 166th, an eighth-inning single in game one against Oakland.

- Shannon Robinson surpassed the Crusader single-season hits record on the same day, notching a single in the third inning. She has 55 hits on the season.

- With the Valpo's 2-1 loss to Oakland on Sunday, the team was officially eliminated from the Mid Continent Conference Championship which will take place May 11-12 in Shreveport, La.