Softball Weekly Release #8

April 4, 2006

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Player of the Week

Kaleigh Rafter, Detroit - C/INF
Sophomore * Guelph, Ontario
Rafter hit .524 in (11-for-21) with six doubles and three homeruns, while driving in 10 runs with a 1.238 slugging percentage and a .583 on-base percentage. The sophomore had a walk-off home run in the eighth inning as the Titans finished a sweep of UW-Green Bay in the opening weekend of League play. She made nine put outs and had 21 assists playing both third and catcher.

Pitcher of the Week

Tricia Hilbish, Youngstown State - LHP
Junior * Uniontown, Ohio
Hilbish went 2-1 last week with a 1.37 earned-run average, picking up victories over Toledo and Wright State. Against the Raiders, she tossed seven scoreless innings while allowing just four hits. On the week, Hilbish saw action in three contests (all relief appearances), working 15.1 innings with three punchouts.

Horizon League News and Notes

Butler Bulldogs
- Sophomore outfielder Jenny Jacobs has a modest five-game hitting streak going and has raised her average to .262 on the season.

- Butler has gotten itself into trouble by walking 80 batters, while receiving only 40 free passes. However, the Bulldog staff has rebounded by striking out 99 batters, compared to just 68 whiffs by Butler hitters.

- Due to injuries, Butler had only eight position players and three pitchers available Sunday against Loyola.

Cleveland State
- At 16-5, the Vikings are tied with the 1995 squad for the best start in school history.

- Cleveland State went 3-1 this week against long-time rivals Akron and UIC. Heading into this season, the Vikings had been a combined 10-66-2 against the Zips and Flames. CSU took 2-of-3 from UIC despite being outscored 18-10.

- Christina Swierz made her first appearance in the circle this year one to remember. The sophomore gave up just an unearned run in 4.1 innings in relief on Saturday as the Vikings rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to claim the second game of a doubleheader from UIC.

Detroit Titans
- Senior catcher Katrina Klemp had an impressive series against UWGB, going 7-for-9 with a trio of homers and two doubles. Klemp's walk-off blast in the eighth inning of the second game Saturday gave the Titans a 6-5 come from behind win.

- The Titans finally got to play a home game this week, taking all three from UW-Green Bay to open the Horizon League season. Detroit, which has yet to claim a road win this season, has four tries at it this week with two games at Central Michigan on Tuesday and two more at IPFW Thursday before returning home to face off with UIC in a three-game series next weekend.

UIC Flames
- The Flames have been led by the bat of senior shortstop Joyce Cathey in 2006. The shortstop paces the team in batting average (.333), slugging percentage (.531), hits (32), home runs (5), total bases (51) and stolen bases (5).

- 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 (3.13), opponents batting average (.248), appearances (22), strikeouts (79) and innings pitched (78.1).

Loyola Ramblers
- With 51 stolen bases through 29 contests this season, Loyola is on pace to shatter the single-season school record of 65 set in 1992.

- Loyola is 7-0 this season when scoring four or more runs.

- In the last four games, outfielder Nora Schober is batting .727 (8 for 11) with four runs scored and five RBI.

UW-Green Bay Phoenix
- Senior catcher Kate Sullivan went 5-for-10 at the plate against Detroit over the weekend to raise her Horizon League-leading batting average to .436.

- Senior pitcher Lisa Meissner appeared in all three games for the Phoenix against Detroit last weekend, recording 19 strikeouts in 14.0 innings pitched. Meissner now has 86 strikeouts in 55.2 innings pitched this season for an impressive conference-leading average of 10.81 per seven innings. Grace Luginbuhl of Cleveland State has the next highest strikeouts per seven innings average at 7.38.

Wright State Raiders
- After batting .192 heading into Horizon League play, the Raider bats came alive in the Youngstown State series as WSU hit .308 as a team for the weekend. Four Wright State players hit .300 or better in the three games, led by Amanda Cody's seven-for-eight effort.

- The win over Youngstown State Sunday broke a 23-game losing streak overall dating back to 2005 as the Raiders defeated Butler on May 13 in the loser's bracket of the Horizon League Tournament.

Youngstown State
- Senior shortstop Tiffany Patteson became YSU's all-time doubles leader with a walk-off double in a 5-4 victory over Wright State. She now has 48 career two-baggers. She also needs 19 more hits to become the Penguins' all-time hits leader.

- Sophomore utility Becky Hibner drove in seven runs last week including her first home run of the season, a three-run blast against Wright State.