Softball Weekly Release #4

March 7, 2006

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

Player of the Week

Michele Penney, Cleveland State
OF * Junior * Ravenna, Ohio
Hitting in the four spot, Penney cleaned up all weekend at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational, going 8-for-13 (.615) at the plate in four games. She had three multi-hit contests, including a pair of three-hit games, while scoring five times and driving in three runs. She opened the tournament by going 3-for-4 against Dayton with a pair of RBI and two runs scored. In the title game win over the host Colonels, she went 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run.

Pitcher of the Week

Kortney Spidell, Cleveland State
RHP * Senior * Strasburg, Ohio
Pitching for the first time since May of 2004, Spidell went 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA in two complete game efforts at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational. After limiting IUPUI to two runs in and five hits on Saturday, she tossed her seventh career shutout to defeat the host Colonels in the tournament title game on Sunday. She surrendered just five hits while allowing only one EKU runner to advance past second base.

Other Top Performances for the Week of March 5

Tiffany Patteson, Youngstown State - IF
Senior * Guelph, Ontario
Patteson led the Penguins with a .533 batting average (8-for-15) with a double, triple and three runs batted in. Patteson also led the squad with a .733 slugging percentage and scored twice. She went 3-for-3 against Kentucky while collecting two hits against Morehead State and Ohio.

Nora Schober, Loyola - OF
Junior * Palos Park, Ill.
Schober batted .500 (3 for 6) in three games at the Worth Invitational last weekend before leaving the game against #11 Georgia with a foot injury. She went 2 for 3 with a RBI, run scored and walk against UC Davis, then singled in her only at-bat against Georgia before leaving the contest with that foot injury. For the year, Schober is batting .389 (7 for 18) with a double and pair of RBI.

Amanda Cody, Wright State - DP
Junior * Tampa, Fla.
Cody doubled in the first meeting with Akron, drove in WSU's lone run against Louisville, had two hits versus Western Kentucky and finished with two hits, including a double, in the second encounter with Akron.

Katie Schupbach, Loyola - LHP
Sophomore * Rockford, Ill.
Schupbach threw 7.0 innings of four-hit relief spanning a pair of appearances at the Worth Invitational in Fullerton Calif., last week. The sophomore, lefty yielded three hits in 4.0 innings of relief, striking out two and allowing an unearned run against #11 Georgia. She then came in and threw 3.0 innings of one-hit relief versus #9 Oregon State.

Michelle Miller, UIC - IF/OF
Senior * La Habra, Calif.
Miller was 4-for-8 at the SIU Tournament in Carbondale, Ill. in three games. The senior posted two runs, one triple and had four RBI on the weekend with a .500 batting average. Versus Northern Illinois, the outfielder was 3-for-4 with one run and two RBI. In a close 4-3 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes, Miller was 2-for-4 with one run and two RBI.

Kelly Cross, UIC - RHP
Freshman * Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Cross picked up a win in a 5-4 victory for the Flames in the consolation game of the SIU Tournament. The freshman was on the mound for five innings, allowing four hits, zero runs, and had five strikeouts.

Horizon League News & Notes

LAST WEEK: Five Horizon League teams saw action last week, with the League combining for a 4-16 overall standard. Cleveland State earned three of the victories in the Comfort Suites Invitational in Richmond, Ky. on the way to the tournament championship. The Vikings only loss was to host Eastern Kentucky, but the team was able to avenge the loss in the championship game.

In the week's other action: UIC went 1-3 at the Kay Brechtelsbauer Southern Illinois Classic in Carbondale, Ill.; Loyola dropped all four of its games in the CSUF Worth Tournament in Fullerton, Calif.; Wright State went 0-4 at the Courtyard Mariott Red and Black Classic; and Youngstown State went winless in its four games in Lexington, Ky. (Frostbite Classic).

THIS WEEK: The Horizon League softball schedule picks up with 31 games on the slate. Detroit kicks off the 2006 season with a single game against Penn State in Manoa, Hawaii on Tuesday. The team then stays in Hawai'i to take part in the Spring Fling and will play six games at the event this week.

Both Wright State and UIC will travel to Clearwater, Fla. to play in the USF - Adidas Spring Break Invitational. Loyola has a busy week wrapping up at the CSUF Worth Tournament in Fullerton, Calif. on Tuesday, then playing a double-header at UC-Riverside on Wednesday and finishing the week at the Loyola Marymount Tournament.

The Rebel Spring games get underway this weekend with Butler and Cleveland State each playing a pair of games on Sunday. The event, played in Orlando, Fla., will feature UW-Green Bay's first action of the season on Mar. 19.

Butler Bulldogs
- The back-to-back shutouts posted by the Bulldogs over the University of Indianapolis on Friday (Feb. 24) were the first back-to-back shutouts in more than four seasons. Butler allowed the Greyhounds just five hits in the 14 innings.
- The second game of the doubleheader featured six freshmen in the starting line-up. Butler's 2006 roster includes just two seniors and two juniors. Freshman Annie Dolan went 3-of-4 on the day, scoring two of the team's four runs.

Cleveland State
- The Vikings are off to the second-best start in school history, matching the 1982 and '84 squads that both opened 3-1. Only the 1997 team, which began 4-0, got off to a better start.
- CSU may have just two fielders playing in the same defensive spot as last season, but the new look certainly wasn't an issue as the Vikings made just two errors in 124 chances over the weekend for a .984 fielding pct. CSU posted a .941 fielding pct. in 2005.

Detroit Titans
- Senior Kristin Martin has started every game of her career, a streak that is now at 137 games and counting. The two-time All-League First Team selection is recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, but the rehab has gone well enough to see her in the opening day line up when the Titans take on Big Ten foe Penn State prior to the start of the Hawaii Spring Fling in Manoa, Hawaii.

UIC Flames
- The Flames were 1-3 on the weekend at the SIU Tournament. Senior Michelle Miller was 4-for-8 in three games with an RBI triple against Iowa to get the Flames within two runs. Nikki Rogers posted a .455 batting average, going 5-for-11 in the two-day event.
- UIC returned seven starters this season, bringing back a majority of the returning firepower and introducing three stellar freshmen to the 2006 squad.

Loyola Ramblers
- Loyola dropped a pair of games against ranked teams last weekend, giving 11th-ranked Georgia and ninth-ranked Oregon State tough games until late in each contest. The Ramblers' junior class of outfielder Nora Schober and Tara Miller and catcher Raven Gengler, has carried the team offensively so far this season as the trio is batting a collective 22 for 67 (.328)...the rest of the team is hitting only 21 for 124 (.169).

UW-Green Bay Phoenix
- UW-Green Bay will be the last Horizon League team to take the field for the 2006 season when opens its season at the Rebel Spring Games in Orlando, Fla., March 19. By comparison, UIC will have already played over 20 games by the time the Phoenix plays its first game.

Wright State Raiders
- Kristen Farley hit her second home run of the season to account for the Raider offense against Western Kentucky, giving her one more than she had all of last season.
- The Raiders are still looking for their first win of the year as they dropped all four games last weekend at the Red & Black Classic in Louisville. Wright State had the early lead in both games Sunday against Western Kentucky and Akron, but could not hold on.

Youngstown State
- With her double last week, Patteson now owns sole possession of second place on the YSU all-time doubles chart and needs five more to become YSU's all-time doubles leader. Patteson also moved into second place on YSU's all-time hits chart with 178 and needs 31 more to become YSU's all-time hits leader.
- Sophomore Becky Hibner batted .455 last week going 5-for-11 with a double.