Softball Weekly Release #7

March 28, 2006

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Player of the Week

Amy Hyerczyk, Butler - 1B
Sophomore * Palos Park, Ill.
Hyerczyk had hits in seven of her eight plate appearances last week, hitting at an .875 clip. Hyerczyk started the week with a 2-for-3 performance against Northern Illinois Saturday. She then went a perfect 5-for-5 from the plate in Sunday's doubleheader against IPFW. The sophomore tripled in a pair of runs in the first game before hitting a solo home run in the nightcap. It was her third homer of the season. In addition to her .875 batting average, Hyerczyk had four RBIs, scored two runs and added a stolen base.

Pitcher of the Week

Meghan Howard, Butler - RHP
Senior * Carmichael, Calif.
Howard threw a no-hitter in Sunday's 4-0 win over visiting IPFW. The right-hander struck out four Mastodons in the contest. In two appearances last week, Howard posted a 1-0 record with a 0.88 ERA. On the season, Howard leads the team with a 4-1 record. She has a 2.14 ERA and the IPFW conquest was her second shutout of the young season. Opponents are batting just .171 against Howard in 2006.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending March 26

Nikki Rogers, UIC - C
Sophomore * Homer Glen, Ill.
Rogers went 1-for-5 in UIC's doubleheader versus South Florida on Tuesday. The catcher was 1-for-2 in game one against the Bulls with four assists and two putouts.

Lisa Meissner, UW-Green Bay - RHP
Senior * Two Rivers, Wis.
Meissner tied a career high by striking out 15 Dartmouth batters in a 4-2 Phoenix win last Thursday. The 15 strikeouts matched her total against Cleveland State in a Horizon League tournament game last season, though that game lasted 10 innings. She posted another double-digit strikeout game against Ohio, fanning 10 Bobcat batters in a 4-1 Phoenix victory. Meissner allowed just eight combined hits and no earned runs in her two wins.

Tara Miller, Loyola - OF
Junior * Mokena, Ill.
Miller collected four hits (4-for-17) with a pair of stolen bases and a run scored for Loyola last week. The lead-off hitter has now moved into sole possession of second place on the Loyola all-time stolen base chart (42). She was 1-for-3 with a stolen base in a 1-0 loss at Western Michigan on Tuesday, then was 2-for-2 with a walk and a steal against Iowa on Friday.

Michelle Baggio, Detroit - INF
Junior * Windsor, Ontario
Baggio hit .667 in two games for the Titans, going 4-for-6 with four singles. Also, she had five putouts and made five assists to post a 1.000 fielding percentage.

Sarah Clynes, UIC - RHP
Freshman * St. Louis, Mo.
Clynes pitched a complete contest in UIC's 1-0 loss to South Florida on game one of a doubleheader versus the Bulls on Tuesday. In six innings, Clynes allowed six hits, one run, zero walks and posted two strikeouts versus USF.

Laura DeLeon, Loyola - RHP
Freshman * Chesterton, Ind.
DeLeon faced plenty of hard luck, going 0-2 last week in four appearances, despite not allowing a single earned run. Loyola scored only one run in her three starts last week. The rookie right-hander went the distance, scattering three hits and striking out three in a 1-0 loss at Western Michigan on Tuesday. She also tossed 5.0 innings and struck out three, again, failing to allow an earned run, and did not factor in the decision against North Dakota State on Sunday.

Jamie Fornal, Youngstown State - C
Sophomore * Rochester, Ind.
Fornal led the Penguins with a .667 batting average, going 4-for-6 in a doubleheader against Pittsburgh last week. She went 2-for-3 in each game and belted her first career home run while driving in two runs and scoring another. She improved her seasonal batting average to .421, which is second on the team.

Kate Sullivan, UW-Green Bay - C
Senior * Horicon, Wis.
Sullivan paced the Phoenix with a .400 batting average (10-for-25) and seven RBI in the team's eight games last week. In the team's 4-1 win over Ohio last Tuesday, she broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run double. In Wednesday's victory over Dartmouth, Sullivan led the way with three hits.

Horizon League News & Notes

Butler Bulldogs
- Sophomore outfielder Jenny Jacobs slugged her first home run of the season Saturday against Northern Illinois after hitting a Butler single-season record nine last season in her rookie campaign.

- Freshman shortstop/third baseman Alex Boros leads the team with 17 hits and 11 runs this season.

- Freshman shortstop Katie Bell picked her first career hit in Sunday's win over IPFW with a single that led off the team's three-run fifth inning. In the next half-inning she saved teammate Meghan Howard's no-hitter with a diving catch in right field.

Cleveland State
- At 12-3, the Vikings are tied with the 1997 squad for the best 15-game start in school history. CSU is currently in the midst of a modest four-game winning streak.

- Cleveland State's been quick out of the blocks offensively this season. The Vikings have scored first in 14 of 15 games, including 10 times in their first at-bat.

Detroit Titans
- The Titans finally get to play games in the state of Michigan this week with mid-week double headers at Northwood (#19 in NCAA Division II) and Eastern Michigan (which no-hit defending national champion Michigan last Friday) before hosting defending league champion UW-Green Bay to open League play on Saturday and Sunday at Buysse Ballpark.

- Junior infielder Michelle Baggio has been the hottest Titan at the plate over the last six games, hitting at a .467 clip with a .533 slugging percentage and a .467 on-base percentage. She is also getting it done with the glove, posting 14 putouts and 14 assists over the last six games.

UIC Flames
- The Flames have been led by the bat of senior shortstop Joyce Cathey in 2006. The shortstop leads the team in batting average (.325), slugging percentage (.488), hits (26), home runs (4), total bases (39) and stolen bases (4).

- Freshman right-hander Kelly Cross is in the midst of a solid rookie campaign. The right-hander has registered a team-best marks in ERA (2.41), opponents batting average (.231), appearances (19), strikeouts (67) and innings pitched (64.0).

Loyola Ramblers
- With 32 stolen bases through 22 contests this season, Loyola is on pace to shatter the single-season school record of 65 set in 1992.

- Freshman right-hander Laura DeLeon has not allowed an earned run in her last five appearances.

- With 42 career stolen bases, junior centerfielder Tara Miller ranks second on the Loyola all-time list, behind only Ellen Antonacci (1995-98), who swiped 77 bases in her illustrious career.

UW-Green Bay Phoenix
- UW-Green Bay will play eight straight games on the road to open the Horizon League season. That will make 18 straight games on the road to open the season before the Phoenix plays its first home game April 14 against Cleveland State.

- After collecting five hits in 30 at-bats all of last year, sophomore Jenna Woepse has settled into a role as the team's starting second baseman and has 10 hits in 32 at-bats (.313 batting average) already this season.

Wright State Raiders
- Wright State dropped all five games this week, falling in extra innings at IPFW before losing all four games at IU Classic. The Raiders were outscored 41-5 in the five games.

- The Raiders are still looking for their first win of the season. WSU opens the home portion of its schedule Tuesday with a doubleheader against Ohio and then begins Horizon League play over the weekend at Youngstown State.

Youngstown State
- Senior shortstop Tiffany Patteson and sophomore utility Becky Hibner each extended their season hitting streaks to nine games while pushing their overall hitting streaks to 15 games, dating back to last season. Patteson leads the team with a .469 average while Hibner is third on the squad with a .417 batting average.

- Patteson has tied the school's all-time doubles record with 47 and needs one more to move into sole possession of the record. She is currently tied with Amanda Berry (2001-04). She also needs 24 more hits to become YSU's all-time hits leader, surpassing Berry who collected 208 from 2001-04.