Bryan Russo, UIC, Senior, 3B (Davie, Fla.)
Senior third baseman Bryan Russo extended his hitting streak to 13-games as the Davie, Fla., native batted .500 (7-for-14) against Wright State in the Flames' Horizon League series opener. His most impressive performance came in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Raiders, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.
For the season, Russo is batting .306 with two homers and a team-best, 18 RBI.
Dale Mueller, Butler, Senior, Outfield (LaCrosse, Wis.)
Mueller batted .409 in five games for the Bulldogs last week. He had nine hits, including three doubles, a triple and a home run, and recorded seven runs batted in during the week. The senior outfielder had four hits and scored three runs in Butler's 11-4 non-league win against Anderson, and he had two hits, two RBI's and two runs scored in the Bulldogs' 7-1 victory over UW-Milwaukee.
Brandon Caipen, Youngstown State, Junior, Catcher (Tallmadge, Ohio)
Caipen hit safely in every game and .400 overall (8-for-20) with five runs scored, three RBIs and a stolen base to lead YSU to a 4-1 week. His week included going 7-for-15 (.467) in four games against Cleveland State. In Friday's opener that YSU took 5-1, Caipen went 2-for-4 with three runs scored. In Saturday's doubleheader sweep, he went a combined 4-for-7 with a run scored, three RBIs and two doubles. His two-run single in game one gave YSU a 4-2 lead that it would not lose. The junior currently ranks second on the team with a .376 average and has hit safely in the past 11 games dating back to March 26.
Dominic Erney, Cleveland State, Senior, Catcher (Parma, Ohio)
Erney collected 10 hits and eight RBI in six games during the week, including two home runs and two doubles. He belted a two-run home run, a double and a single against Youngstown State on April 10 and came around from first to score the winning run in the ninth. He posted a 4-for-6 performance in a 13-3 win at Akron on April 5 and added a 2-for-3 showing with a homer against YSU on April 9.
Dan Biedenharn, Wright State, Sophomore, 2B (Dayton, Ohio)
Biedenharn, the Raiders starting third baseman last season, has made the most of his opportunity hitting .438 for the week. Biedenharn didn't strikeout on the weekend and walked once and was hit by a pitch. Currently riding a five game hit-streak, he collected multiple hits against Bowling Green and in the finale against UIC. He drove in two RBI in a Raider win against BGSU and in the first game of a double-dip with UIC had the game winning hit in the seventh inning, a bases-loaded single to left-field. Making his first starts at second base, Dan also had 14 assists and eight put-outs on the weekend.
Other Top Horizon League Pitcher Performers - April 11
Ryan Zink, UIC, Sophomore, Pitcher (Madison, Wis.)
Sophomore pitcher Ryan Zink helped UIC to its first Horizon League victory of the season, scattering eight hits in eight innings of work, while allowing three runs and striking out three batters, as the Flames came behind for the 6-3 victory over Wright State on April 8th. For the season, Zink is 3-3 with an ERA of 3.26 and a team-best 38 strikeouts in 58 innings pitched.
Craig Costello, Butler, Junior, LHP (LaPorte, Ind.)
Costello continued his mastery over UW-Milwaukee, pitching the Bulldogs to a 7-1 victory over the Panthers. The Butler left-hander, who pitched a no-hitter against UW-Milwaukee a year ago, allowed just five hits in the game and blanked the Panthers over the final four innings while picking up his first complete game victory of the season. Costello had two strikeouts and no walks in the seven-inning contest.
Chris Snyder, Wright State, Junior, RHP (Englewood, Ohio)
Snyder stepped up and shut down the Flames in the second game of the double-header on Saturday. Snyder threw the complete game, shutout against UIC facing only three batters over the minimum (24) and walked only one batter. Snyder threw 79 pitches in his seven innings of work and allowed only two runners on base once, runners reached on a walk and a Raider error. Retiring the side three times in the game Snyder forced 15 ground outs and eight fly outs to post his first career complete game shut-out.
Jed Dolske, UW-Milwaukee, Junior, Pitcher (Ripon, Wis.)
Dolske picked up four saves in as many appearances for Milwaukee this week, helping the team to a 5-1 record. On Wednesday, he picked up the save in both ends of UWM's doubleheader at IPFW, before collecting two more in its league series with Butler. For the week, he threw 3.1 innings, allowing just two hits and posting a 0.00 ERA.
Horizon League News & Notes
Butler Bulldogs (9-18, 1-3 HL)
Senior Dale Mueller hit safely in all five games in which he played last week, running his current hitting streak to nine straight games. Mueller is Butler's all-time hits leader with 249 career hits.
Cleveland State (5-14, 1-3 HL)
Cleveland State came back from four runs down with two outs in the ninth inning on Sunday , April 10 to shock the visiting Penguins with a 9-8 victory at Forest Hill Park. A grand slam by Marc Sikora set up back to back singles and a costly Youngstown State error that scored Dominic Erney from first base with the winning run.
UIC Flames (14-12-1, 1-3 HL)
UIC was swept in heartbreaking fashion in Saturday's doubleheader against Wright State as the Raiders won both games on walk-off hits.
UIC sophomore pitcher Ryan Hopkins retired the first 13 batters that he faced in game two of Saturday's twinbill against Wright State. Junior outfielder Bart Babineaux accounted for all four of UIC's RBI in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Raiders, including the game-tying, two-run homer in the sixth inning.
UW-Milwaukee Panthers (11-13, 3-1 HL)
With UWM's 5-1 record this week, head coach Jerry Augustine reached 300 wins for his career. He is the first Panther head coach, in any sport, to win 300 games at the Division I level. Augustine now boasts a career record of 300-254-1 (.541).
The Panthers defeated IPFW, 26-21, in game one of a doubleheader on Wednesday, setting records with nine home runs and 47 combined runs. Two players hist two home runs in game one, while a third hit two in the second game. For the day, UWM scored 36 runs and hit 12 home runs over two seven-inning
games.
Milwaukee had great success from the plate this week, hitting .380 as a team with 14 home runs, while scoring 56 runs in six games. The Panthers' team batting average jumped 31 points this week, while they tripled the number of home runs they hit from the first 18 games of the season. The team now boasts a hitting mark of .281.
Wright State Raiders (14-14, 3-1 HL)
The Raiders wrapped up the week with a 4-1 record, as they reached the .500 mark for the second time this season. The Raiders are 3-1 in the conference and took a series from UIC for the first time since 1992. The Raiders dropped the opener on Friday night, but rebounded with three, one-run victories to close out the weekend. The Raider offense has held steady as ten Raiders are hitting over .300 for the season and seven players have driving in 10+ RBI, compared to the four batters at .300 from last season.
With his walk-off home run in game two against UIC, Bryan Vickers closed within two home runs of the Wright State career mark in that category. Alfredo Batista bashed 40 homers in his Raider career and Vickers has sent 38 balls over the fence so far.
Youngstown State (15-13, 3-1 HL)
With YSU's 5-2 victory over Cleveland State in game two of Saturday's doubleheader, head coach Mike Florak picked up his 150th victory at the helm of the Penguins. He is only the third coach in school history to reach the milestone.
Junior Brandon Caipen enters this week on an 11-game hitting streak while senior Jim Phillips is on a 10-game hitting streak. In Caipen's streak, he is hitting .462 with 10 runs scored. Phillips is hitting .487 with 10 RBIs in the past 10 games.
YSU's 5-1 victory over Cleveland State was its first victory in a Horizon League opener in school history.
Youngstown State has won 14 of its past 17 games. Over that span, YSU has outhit its opponents .334 to .214, outscored them 108-54 and have a 3.12 to 6.19 ERA advantage.
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