May 16, 2005
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Baseball Player of the Week
Shane Crowder
UIC, Senior, Oufielder (Sisters, Ore.)
UIC senior, Shane Crowder, is the Horizon League Baseball Player of the Week for the period ending May 16.
Senior outfielder Shane Crowder celebrated his move to the leadoff spot in the batting order, batting .500 (9-for-18) with three homers, six runs scored and five RBI as the Flames swept Youngstown State and moved into first place in the Horizon League. His most impressive performance came in Sunday's 12-4 victory over the Penguins in the nightcap of their doubleheader, going 4-for-5 with two solo homers and three runs scored. Crowder reached first base safely in 14 out of 23 plate appearances (9 hits, 4 walks, 1 HBP) For the season, Crowder is batting .327 with five homers and 29 RBI. In conference play, Crowder is batting .389 with four homers and 13 RBI.
Baseball Pitcher of the Week
Ryan Zink
UIC, Sophomore, Pitcher (Madison, Wis.)
UIC sophomore, Ryan Zink, is the Horizon League Baseball Pitcher of the Week for the period ending May 16.
Sophomore hurler Ryan Zink played a key role in UIC's four-game sweep of Youngstown State, going 1-0 with one save and an ERA of 2.00. His most impressive performance was a complete-game, 14-3, victory over Youngstown State in Game One of Friday's doubleheader, allowing three runs (2 earned) and eight hits while striking out six batters. For the season, Zink is 6-5 with an ERA of 4.01 and two saves, with 68 strikeouts in 98.2 innings pitched.
Other Top Horizon League Player Performers - May 16
Clayton Deeb, Butler, Junior, 1B (Hebron, Ind.)
Deeb started all six games for the Bulldogs last week and batted .421 for the week. He had eight hits, including a double, and he drove in four runs. He also scored three runs, and he handled 12 chances at third base without an error. He had five hits and three RBI's in Butler's four-game series with Wright State.
Bryan Vickers, Wright State, Senior, Catcher (Perrysberg, Ohio)Vickers had a week for the Raiders while setting a career mark in the process. Vickers hit a home run in the second game of the series with Butler, a home run that gave him 41 for his career, more than any other player in WSU history. Vickers hit .563 for the week and reached base in his final 12 at-bats of the weekend against Butler, with eight hits and four walks. Vickers was three-for-five in the second game against Butler with three RBI, and went five-for-five the Sunday doubleheader as he drove in three runs, scored once and walked four times.
Erich Diedrich, Youngstown State, Freshman, Catcher (Bay Village, Ohio)
Redshirt freshman Erich Deidrich went 9-for-16 (.562) with six RBIs and three runs scored in four games against UIC this weekend. He collected a hit in every game, slugged .813 and hit his team-best fifth homer. In Saturday's doubleheader, the catcher went a combined 7-for-10 with four RBIs. After going 3-for-4 with an RBI in the first game, he posted his first-career four-hit game and collected three RBIs. He doubled in game one of Sunday's doubleheader and added a two-run home run in the series finale.
Other Top Horizon League Pitcher Performers - May 16
Chris Snyder, Wright State, Junior, RHP (Englewood, Ohio)
After losing the first game to Butler, Snyder helped the Raiders respond throwing six of the seven innings on Saturday evening at Bulldog Park, Snyder was pulled after six innings due to the dim conditions. Throwing only 80 pitches over his six innings and allowing only one runner past second base, Snyder allowed two Bulldogs on base at the same time only once in the game. Snyder struck out four batters in the game and walked none picking up his third victory in conference play this season.
Craig Costello, Butler, Junior, LHP (LaPorte, Ind.)
Costello tossed a complete game to lead Butler to a 6-2 victory over Wright State. He allowed just four hits in the game and had three strikeouts and no walks. The Butler junior was nicked for two runs on three hits in the fifth inning, but blanked the Raiders on just one hit in the other six frames. He retired the final seven batters he faced.
Horizon League News & Notes
Butler Bulldogs (17-30, 3-9 HL)
Senior Dale Mueller, Butler's leading hitter heading into a four-game series with Wright State, suffered a deep cut on his knee while catching a foul ball in the first game of the four-game series with the Raiders. He received seven stitches to close the wound and was out for the rest of the series. He'll be sidelined indefinitely.
Freshman Joe Pauley had his eight-game hitting streak snapped in Butler's second game against Wright State. He came back to hit safely in the final two games of the four-game series. Junior Clayton Deeb has hit safely in nine of Butler's last ten games, and he's raised his batting average from .185 to .315.
Cleveland State (9-32, 2-14 HL)
After having a week off CSU will return to Classic Park on Tuesday for a 12:00 noon game against Purdue. The game will precede a 6:35 p.m. contest with the Lake County Captains battling Greensboro in South Atlantic League action.
UIC Flames (33-18-1, 14-6 HL)
Freshman first baseman Mark Hallberg extended his hitting streak to 23 games. Senior third baseman Bryan Russo broke former teammate J.P. Moran's school-record with his 749th career at-bat. UIC has won nine Horizon League games in a row.
UW-Milwaukee Panthers (20-25, 11-5 HL)
Senior Charlie Reschke became the second Panther to 200 career hits last Tuesday in the first game of a doubleheader. In game two, he picked up his school-record 46th career double. With four hits on the day, he moved his batting average to .308 and is on pace to become the first player in school history to bat over .300 four times.
If Milwaukee wins 3-of-4 at Youngstown State this weekend, it could win its third League Regular Season Championship, sharing the honor with UIC, and clinch the top seed in the league tournament based on tiebreakers. If the Panthers split, they would earn the second seed and, like the No. 1 seed, a bye at the league tournament next week. UWM can finish no lower than third in the league standings.
Wright State Raiders (22-27, 11-9 HL)
The Raiders have now won three games in a row and are on a roll heading into the last week of the regular season. The Raiders defeated Butler 15-4 and then won 9 with identical 9-4 scores in the final two games.
John Kopilchack had a good weekend, batting .500 and hit home runs in consecutive at-bats, his last of the first game on Sunday and led off game two with a solo homer. He drove in seven RBI on the weekend, including four in the finale.
Youngstown State Penguins (25-22, 7-5 HL)
YSU's 21 hits against the Flames in game two of Saturday's doubleheader is the third-highest amount in a game in school history. It was the most since the Penguins banged out 22 against Cleveland State in 2001. YSU also collected 20 hits earlier in the year against IPFW.
The Penguins can still earn a first-round bye in the Horizon League Tournament by taking three games from UW-Milwaukee this weekend. YSU can enter the tournament ranked anywhere from second to fourth.
