Softball Weekly Release #2

Feb. 27, 2007

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Player of the Week

Amanda Houchin, Cleveland State
Sophomore * 3B * Lima, Ohio
Houchin went 4-for-10 with a double, two home runs and three RBI to help the Vikings to a perfect 3-0 mark at the Longwood Spring Classic. She launched her first career home run to knot the score at 1-1 against Canisius and then drilled another bomb to extend CSU's lead to 2-0 versus Longwood. Houchin added a double against the Lancers for her first career two-hit game, helping raise her slugging percentage to 1.100 on the weekend. She also played a flawless third base, fielding all 13 chances cleanly.

Pitcher of the Week

Amanda Macenko, Cleveland State
Freshman * RHP * Brunswick, Ohio
Macenko allowed no runs and just one hit while fanning six in 9.2 innings of work to earn a pair of victories to propel CSU to the Longwood Spring Classic title. Her first career victory came against Canisius, as she tossed 2.2 hitless innings in relief. Later the same day, she hurled a one-hitter against Longwood, striking out five with one walk while giving up just a clean infield single in the fourth inning.

Other Top Performances From the Week Ending Feb. 25

Liz Jacoby, UIC
Senior * OF * Beecher, Ill.
Jacoby picked up her second home run of the season with a grand slam home run in the bottom of the third inning versus Nevada to give the Flames a 4-3 lead. She totaled three hits, one run, four RBI and posted a .375 slugging percentage in the three-day event. In right field, Jacoby committed zero errors and totaled 12 putouts in five games.

Weekly Recap

UIC played in its second tournament of the season, going 0-5 at the Palm Springs Classic last weekend.

The Flames dropped their first matchup at the tournament, 6-2, to the No. 2 team in the country, Arizona State. Registering only three hits in the contest, the team managed to put across two runs on four Sun Devil errors.

Game two pitted the Flames against Nevada and it would come down to a top-of-the-seventh home run by Krist Stith that gave the Wolfpack the 8-7 win. Senior Liz Jacoby provided much of the offense for the team with a grand slam in the third inning, while sophomore Sarah Clynes knocked in two more runs in the sixth.

On Saturday, UIC could manage only three hits off of BYU pitching in a 8-1 loss. Clynes worked four innings in the circle, surrendering six runs (one earned). The offense was also missing in second game of the day as the team dropped a 3-0 decision to Cal State Fullerton. Freshman Chelsea Fuemmeler threw her second complete game of the year, allowing four hits and three runs in the loss.

In the final game at the tourney, the Flames again managed only three hits in falling to Cal Poly, 4-1. Junior Nicole Robinson and Clynes both went 1-for-2 in the contest.

Cleveland State kicked off the 2007 campaign in style over the weekend, sweeping its way to the Longwood Spring Classic title.

Originally scheduled as a two-day event, the tournament was shortened to one day due to an approaching winter storm. In the first game on Saturday, the Vikings got out of the gates early, posting four runs in the first, two in the second and three more in the third. Freshman Tara Meyer threw a two-hitter in the 9-0, five-inning victory.

The team allowed its only run in game two as CSU knocked off Canisius, 3-1. Junior Whitney Willard posted her second-straight 2-for-3 performance, while sophomore Amanda Houchin blasted the team's first home run of the year, a solo shot in the fifth.

In the final game, freshman Amanda Macenko threw a one-hitter, walking one and striking out five in the 3-0 win. Sophomore Christa Coppus went 3-for-4 in the game and Houchin belted her second long ball.

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
- Angie Nicholson's debut as Cleveland State's 10th head coach was a successful one, as the Vikings went 3-0 on Saturday to claim the Longwood Spring Classic title. Originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, the tournament was shortened to one day due to an approaching winter storm.

- Sophomore Amanda Houchin had a solid opening weekend, going 4-for-10 with a pair of home runs and three RBI. The performance was even more stunning considering she went 3-for-30 all of last season, driving in just three runs the entire year.

- Freshman Amanda Macenko made quite an impression in her collegiate debut in the circle. In her first appearance, she earned the win by pitching 2.2 hitless innings in relief against Canisius. She then came back a couple of hours later and one-hit Longwood, allowing just a fourth-inning infield single while fanning five.

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
- UIC moved to 2-8 on the season after falling to five 2006 NCAA participant team's at the Palm Springs Classic, Feb. 23-25.

- Senior Liz Jacoby picked up her second homer of the season on a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning versus Nevada. Trailing by three runs, Jacoby gave UIC a 4-3 lead with the home run.

- Junior Mallory Studzinski led the team with a .500 batting average. Studzinski was 3-for-6 at the plate, totaling three runs scored and one double.

- Junior Ashlee Ackerman picked up three hits, three runs and UIC's lone steal on the weekend.

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 Feb. 18. 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 on Feb. 18, 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 last 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.