Softball Weekly Release #9

April 17, 2007

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Player of the Week

Kaleigh Rafter, Detroit
Junior * C / INF * Guelph, Ontario
Rafter etched her name into the Titan record books again this week, clubbing her 18th and 19th career homers against Oakland to set the all-time record at Detroit. Rafter then added to her own total with her league leading eighth homer of the season against Butler. The Canadian National Team selection now has 20 long balls for her career. For the week, Rafter hit .471 with eight hits, including three homers and a double, plus nine runs batted in. In League action, Rafter hit .444 with a .455 on-base percentage and was perfect in the field, recording 10 putouts.

Pitcher of the Week

Christina Swierz, Cleveland State
Junior * RHP * Amherst, Ohio
Swierz went 1-1 with a 1.91 ERA (4 ER) and 10 strikeouts while putting together a pair of complete game efforts in her 14.2 innings of work. On Tuesday at IPFW, she hurled her first career shutout, surrendering just three hits while fanning six. In Saturday's loss to Wright State, she gave up nine hits and four runs while striking out three.

Other Top Performances From the Week Ending April 15

Jennifer Chasteen, Butler
Freshman * RHP * Avon, Ind.
Chasteen picked up a complete-game victory in Butler's 5-3 win at Detroit, boosting her season record to 7-2. She allowed seven hits and three runs in the seven-inning game, while striking out six Titans and walking none. Chasteen was called on less than 24 hours later to pitch three and a third innings in relief against the Titans.

Lindsay Schluge, Butler
Sophomore * OF * Greenwood, Ind.
Schluge batted .400 while helping Butler to a pair of wins in a three-game Horizon League series at Detroit. She hit a three-run home run (her second of the season) to help lead Butler to a 5-3 victory over the Titans, and she had two hits and a run scored in Butler's 7-6 victory.

Christa Coppus, Cleveland State
Sophomore * SS * Tiffin, Ohio
Coppus hit .429 (6-for-14) in four games last week, scoring three times while driving in three. She also ripped her third home run of the season while fielding all 18 chances cleanly.

Jill Perry, Detroit
Freshman * LHP * Ortonville, Mich.
Perry led the Titans to their first League win of the season, throwing a complete game, five-hitter against the Bulldogs on Sunday. Perry went seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits. She struck out two Bulldogs, while only issuing one walk.

Sarah Clynes, UIC
Sophomore * RHP * St. Louis, Mo.
Clynes was 1-1 in two games against Loyola last weekend on the road. Clynes posted a 2.15 ERA with six strikeouts and one shutout in 13.0 innings pitched.

Melissa Marinacci, UIC
Sophomore * INF * Yorba Linda, Calif.
Marinacci was hot at the plate in a three-game series versus Loyola last weekend with a .714 batting average (5-for-7). Marinacci totaled five hits, two runs scored, two RBI and her first two homers of the season against the Ramblers.

Kristen Medrud, Loyola
Freshman * DP * Santee, Calif.
Medrud batted .333 with a homer and four RBI for the week. The freshman went 1-for-3 with a RBI in a 4-3 victory in game one versus the Flames on April 14, then blasted a three-run homer, the first of her career, in an 8-0 win in the nightcap. She went 1-for-3 and managed one of the Ramblers' three hits in a 4-0 loss to UIC on April 15.

Amy Solava, Loyola
Freshman * RHP * New Lenox, Ill.
Solava allowed only one run and three hits, while striking out six, in five innings of relief work in a 3-2 loss to #14 DePaul on April 10, then came on to earn her second save of the year in Loyola's 4-3 victory over UIC in game one of a doubleheader on April 13. She hurled five shutouts innings, struck out five and scattered two hits in an 8-0 victory over the Flames in the nightcap.

Allison Cox, Wright State
Freshman * RHP * Chillicothe, Ohio
Cox worked a complete game to pick up the victory over Cleveland State in the nightcap on Saturday. She struck out three and walked only one, while surrendering three hits on eight runs.

Jamie Perkins, Wright State
Freshman * OF * Convoy, Ohio
Perkins went 3-for-4 with her first two collegiate home runs and five RBI in the opener at Cleveland State, belting a solo home run in the second and a three-run homer in the sixth to put the Raiders up 5-4 and notching an a RBI on a fielder's choice in the decisive three-run seventh.

Karlie Burnell, Youngstown State
Senior * RHP * Brampton, Ohio
Burnell fired a complete-game four hitter with six strikeouts in the opener against UW-Green Bay. In game two, Burnell tossed four innings of scoreless relief in YSU's 3-2 victory. She struck out four with no walks. In total, Burnell pitched 10 innings and allowed just seven hits with 10 stikeouts and did not allow a walk against the Phoenix.

McKenzie Bedra, Youngstown State
Junior * 3B * Bowling Green, Ohio
Bedra held a .533 batting average with four doubles and four runs scored last week. She collected a hit in every game, including tying a school record with four hits in game one against UWGB.

Horizon League News & Notes

Butler Bulldogs
- Cold weather forced the cancellation of Butler's first four scheduled games last week, running the Bulldogs' streak of consecutive cancelled games to 10 in a row. The Bulldogs finally did manage to play their three-game series at Detroit, ending an 11-day layoff.

- Sophomore Lindsay Schluge hit safely in all three Butler games at Detroit last week. She has hit safely in 13 of Butler's last 14 games, including three in a row.

- Freshman Jennifer Chasteen tossed her first collegiate seven-inning complete game to pick up a win at Detroit last weekend. She's won her last three decisions and boasts a team-best 7-2 record on the season.

Cleveland State Vikings
- Cleveland State continues to fight a losing battle with Mother Nature, as the Vikings have had 10 games either postponed or canceled the past three weeks due to inclement weather. CSU will attempt to play six games this week, including a three-game set with league-leading Loyola over the weekend at Viking Field.

- In between games of Saturday's twin bill with the Ramblers, Cleveland State will honor seniors Sarah Milosek and Michele Penney. The pair has combined to start 274 of the 287 games in which they've played over the past four seasons.

- Sophomore shortstop Christa Coppus is hitting .458 (11-for-24) during her current career-best eight-game hitting streak. Overall on the year, she leads the Vikings in average (.402), hits (35), doubles (7), home runs (3), RBI (23) and slugging percentage (.586).

Detroit Titans
- Detroit looks to play an entire week of games this week after losing at least two games to Mother Nature each of the last two weeks. Detroit hosts Bowling Green on Tuesday and then finally (it hopes) plays a Horizon League road series at preseason favorite UIC Saturday and Sunday. Following the UIC series, the Titans will take a week off for final exams.

- Junior slugger Kaleigh Rafter has drawn 22 walks thus far in 2007, doubling her total of 11 from last season and surpassing her career total of 15. Rafter's also drawn the respect of her opponents, being issued four intentional free passes.

- Freshman Jill Perry had perhaps her best outing as a Titan on Sunday to get Detroit its first league win of the season. Perry scattered five hits over seven innings, allowing just two runs to secure her second win of the season. Perry's strikeout-to-walk ratio leads the team at 4-1 (28-7).

UIC Flames
- The Flames face Big Ten foe Wisconsin in Madison and host Big East member DePaul this week before stepping back into Horizon League action this weekend in a three-game series versus Detroit at Flames Field.

- Sophomore Melissa Marinacci started a hot streak at the plate last weekend versus Loyola. The first baseman was 5-for-7 (.714) with two runs scored, two RBI and her first two homers of the season in the series. Sophomore Sarah Clynes posted a .500 batting average with three doubles in three games.

- Clynes also picked up her fourth shutout of the season in the finale of the series with a 4-0 win. Clynes totaled six strikeouts in 13.0 innings pitched in the circle.

Loyola Ramblers
- Loyola suffered its first home defeat in five tries this season in a 4-0 setback to UIC on April 15. The Ramblers have prevailed in seven of their last nine games at Loyola Softball Park.

- With a DH sweep of UIC on April 14, Loyola took both games of a twinbill from the Flames for the first time since 2001.

- Of Loyola's 14 losses this season, seven home come at the hands of ranked opponents and five of those defeats to ranked foes came by two runs or less.

- Loyola needs three more wins in league play to reach 10 victories for the sixth time in the last seven campaigns.

UW-Green Bay Phoenix
- After having its first five scheduled home games cancelled or postponed due to poor weather, UW-Green Bay is slated to open its home season Tuesday with a doubleheader against Minnesota. The Phoenix and the Golden Gophers were originally scheduled to play last Wednesday..

- Tuesday's doubleheader will be the start of a busy week for the Phoenix which will play seven home games over a six-day span. UW-Green Bay will also play a twinbill against Horizon League leader Loyola Wednesday and a three-game series against Wright State over the weekend.

- The Phoenix continues to rank atop the Horizon League with a .962 team fielding percentage. UW-Green Bay has committed just one error in its last five games.

Wright State Raiders
- Wright State has a busy week ahead as the Raiders host Miami on Tuesday and visit Ball State on Thursday before heading to UW-Green Bay for the weekend.

- With the three home runs at Cleveland State, the Raiders now have 18 as a team, just seven short of the school record set in 1999. Seven different Wright State players have hit round trippers this season, with Jamie Perkins and Jacqueline Macy joining the list Saturday.

- Jamie Perkins had quite a first game Saturday at Cleveland State. Offensively, she went three-for-four, smacked her first two collegiate home runs and drove in five of Wright State's eight runs. In the circle, she picked up the complete-game win as she scattered 10 hits and allowed three earned runs while striking out three. She added another RBI in the second game to give her six on the day, matching her entire season total to that point.

Youngstown State Penguins
- For the second time this season, YSU tied a school record for hits in a game with 17 in game one against UWGB. YSU also collected 17 hits against St. Francis (Pa.) on April 4.

- Junior Jamie Fornal batted .455 last week and hit her first home run of the season against Pittsburgh. Fornal also went 3-for-3 in game one against UWGB.

- Freshman Autumn Grove batted .400 and belted two home runs last week to take the team lead with six home runs. Grove hit a home run in each of the games against UWGB.

- Sophomore Kristen McDonnell belted her fourth home run of the season with her walk-off against UWGB in the bottom of the ninth inning in game two. McDonnell is currently third all-time with 14 career home runs.

Valparaiso Crusaders (join HL July 1, 2007)
- Beth Adamski registered her 965th career putout late in game oneagainst IUPUI, becoming Valpo's career leader in the category.

- Taylor Callahan was named the Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Week this after hitting .478 over the Crusaders' seven games last week.

- The Crusaders earned the 400th win in program history with a 7-6 victory in game one against Southern Utah on March 31.