Horizon League Baseball Weekly Release #11

May. 2, 2005

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Baseball Player of the Week

Bryan Nolte

UIC, Junior, Catcher (Higginsville, Mo.)

UIC junior, Bryan Nolte, is the Horizon League Baseball Player of the Week for the period ending May 2.

Nolte helped propel UIC to four victories over this past week, batting .550 (11-for-20) with 10 RBI and six runs scored. His most impressive performance came in a 9-5 victory over Butler in Game One of their doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, going 4-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. For the season, Nolte is batting .298 with 26 RBI. In conference play, Nolte is batting .297 and leads the squad with five doubles.

Baseball Pitcher of the Week

Justin Thomas

Youngstown State, Junior, LHP (Oregon, Ohio)

Youngstown State junior, Justin Thomas, is the Horizon League Baseball Pitcher of the Week for the period ending May 2.

Thomas allowed only two hits and one unearned run in a nine-inning complete game to lead the Penguins to a 5-1 win over Wright State in a battle of the Horizon League's top two teams on Friday. The Raiders, who came into the game hitting .312 as a team and had been ranked as high as 27th in the country in hitting, had its only two hits of the game in the third inning and had only one baserunner after the third inning as Brian Vickers drew a one-out walk in the fourth. But after the walk to Vickers, Thomas forced Amin Abusaleh into a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play and went on to retire the final 16 hitters of the game. The junior southpaw also struck out the side in the ninth to finish the game with eight strikeouts. With the effort, Thomas improved to 6-3 overall and 2-0 in the Horizon League. In 18 innings against league opponents, Thomas has not allowed an earned run, has allowed only six hits

Other Top Horizon League Player Performers - May 2

Joe Pauley, Butler, Freshman, Infielder (Skokie, Ill.)

Pauley batted .524 while starting all six games for the Bulldogs last week.  He had 11 hits, including a double, a .571 slugging percentage, a .545 on-base percentage, and he drove in a team-high eight runs on the week.  He finished the week with a five-game hitting streak.  The shortstop/second baseman had a team-high 22 assists on the week, including several of the spectacular variety.  He handled 30 chances with just one error.

Erich Diedrich, Youngstown State, Freshman, Catcher (Bay Village, Ohio)

Diedrich went 7-for-15 to hit .467 with four runs scored and three RBIs in leading YSU to a four-game sweep of Wright State last weekend. He also swiped a base and slugged .667. He hit safely in every game and recorded more than one hit in two of the games. In Friday's opener, he went 2-for-4 with a two-run triple in a three-run sixth that put YSU up 5-1. He then went a combined 4-for-6 with four runs scored and an RBI in Saturday's doubleheader. In game one he scored twice and hit a double, and in game two he recorded his first three-hit game and added two runs and an RBI. He also had a single in Sunday's finale.

Mike Ochwat, Cleveland State, Senior, Outfielder (Garfield Heights, Ohio)

Ochwat is currently riding a 12-game hitting streak, during which he has improved his average from .245 to a team-best .333.  He collected four hits, two runs and a stolen base against Notre Dame on April 29 and ripped an RBI double against Duquesne in helping CSU to a 9-8 extra-innings win on April 27.  He is currently second on the team with eight steals and third with a .404 slugging percentage.

Other Top Horizon League Pitcher Performers - May 2

Ross Vagedes, Wright State, Sophomore, RHP (Tipp City, Ohio)

Vagedes had another stellar non-conference start this week against EKU. Vagedes threw five innings and faced only 17 batters in the no-decision. He left the game with a 3-1 lead, as he walked only one batter and allowed only two runners to advance past first base.

Jason Foster, UIC, Junior, Pitcher (Wyoming, Minn.)

In four outings out of the bullpen this past week, Foster tossed nine innings and finished with a win and a save, striking out four batters and an ERA of 0.00. His most impressive performance came in a three-inning save without surrendering a hit in an 8-3 victory over Butler. For the season, Foster is 6-6 with an ERA of 4.55 with 24 strikeouts in 55.1 innings pitched. In conference play, Foster is 2-2 with two saves and a

4.96 ERA.

Horizon League News & Notes

Butler Bulldogs (14-26, 2-6 HL)

Senior Dale Mueller had his 15-game hitting streak snapped in Butler's 16-0 loss to Miami (Ohio).  He bounced back with ten hits, including a triple and a home run, in Butler's next four contests.

Sophomore right-hander Matt Byzet picked up his first complete game victory in Butler's 4-3 win over UIC.  He allowed just six hits in the game and never gave up more than one hit in any single inning.

Butler has rescheduled its non-league game against Franklin for Tuesday, May 3.  The game was originally added to the Bulldogs' schedule to replace an earlier cancelled game against Xavier.  Following the Franklin game, the Bulldogs will take a week off for final exams.

Cleveland State (9-25, 2-10 HL)

Cleveland State will host Ohio on Tuesday (May 3) at 6:00 p.m. for the annual game at Jacobs Field, home of the Cleveland Indians.

Catcher/first baseman Dominic Erney certainly earned his spot in the middle of the Viking lineup, as the senior was one of the hottest bats in the Horizon League during the past month. Erney collected 27 hits, including all seven of his home runs, in 21 games during April. He currently leads the Vikings in home runs (7), RBI (28), slugging percentage (.545) and total bases (67).

UIC Flames (24-17-1, 6-6 HL)

Sophomore hurler Zach Peterson has picked up victories in his last four appearances (2 start, 2 relief).

Senior third baseman Bryan Russo has reached base safely in 34 straight games, dating back to March 6th against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Sophomore center fielder Larry Gempp Jr., set a Les Miller Field record with three home runs and tied two other records with seven RBI and five runs scored in a 20-5 victory over UW-Stevens Point on April 27th.

UW-Milwaukee Panthers (17-20, 8-4 HL)

Sunday's game between Milwaukee and Wright State will be played at Miller Park. It is the second UWM game to be played at Miller Park this season, after it defeated Valparaiso, 12-4, April 13. Game time is approximately 5 p.m., following the completion of the preceding Brewers/N.Y. Mets game.

Junior Aaron Sorenson has won his last six starts and needs just one more win to tie Quintin Oldenburg's school record of seven-straight wins in one season. Oldenburg also holds the record for consecutive wins over multiple seasons, having won eight-straight decisions.

Wright State Raiders (18-21, 7-5 HL)

The Raiders have dropped six straight games now and fall to 18-21 on the season and 7-5 in Horizon play, the Raiders now gear up for a home game against Dayton on Tuesday before hitting the road for their next nine contests.

Youngstown State Penguins (23-15, 7-1 HL)

With their 7-1 start, the Penguins are off to their best-ever start in Horizon League play. The team's previous best mark through eight games was 5-3 in 2002.

Youngstown State's pitching staff limited Wright State to just a .151 average in four games. The Raiders came into the series hitting .312 as a team.

J.D. Hannan also had an outstanding series against the Raiders going 8-for-18. After starting only eight of the team's first 25 games, the junior has started the last 13 games in centerfield and batting leadoff. In those 13 starts, he is hitting .411 with 14 runs scored. He is also hitting .452 with five funs scored against Horizon League opponents.

Eight different Penguins are hitting above .300 for the season. Jim Phillips heads the list at .393 while J.D. Hannan, Justin Banks, Tommy Nutt, Brandon Caipen, Dustin Thomas, Erich Diedrich and Josh Page are also above the mark.