Horizon League Softball Release #4

March 4, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Butler senior infielder Amy Hyerczyk was selected Player of the Week and Valparaiso senior right-hander Andrea Zappia was named Pitcher of the Week. In five games this past week Hyerczyk finished with a .462 batting average, while Zappia went 2-0 and struck out 15 in two appearances.

Horizon League Player of the Week
Amy Hyerczyk, Butler
Sr. * INF * Palos Park, Ill.
Hyerczyk batted .462 in five games at the Georgia Softball Classic. She helped lift the Bulldogs to a 9-5 victory over Longwood with a three-run home run in the eighth inning of the game, and she had three of Butler's eight hits in two games against No. 17 Georgia. Hyerczyk led the Bulldogs in total bases in the tournament with 10, and she had a team-high 23 putouts. She also posted a .611 on-base percentage for the week.

Horizon League Pitcher of the Week
Andrea Zappia, Valparaiso
Sr. * RHP * Indianapolis, Ind.
In two appearances this past Sunday, Zappia shut out Sacred Heart, allowing just three hits while striking out 12 batters, including seven in the first two innings. She then came on in relief against Holy Cross and earned the victory, tossing 2.1 hitless innings while striking out three batters. Zappia is four strikeouts shy of becoming just the third Crusader pitcher in Valpo history to reach 300 for her career.

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending March 2
Kristen Malinkey, Butler
So. * RHP * LaGrange, Ohiov
Malinkey turned in a complete game performance to lead Butler past Michigan State, 2-1, at the Georgia Softball Classic on Sunday. She allowed eight hits and had four strikeouts with just one walk in her seven innings of work against the Spartans. She finished the tournament with a 1-1 record, with the loss coming to No. 17 Georgia, 7-0.

Ellen Kresl, Loyola
So. * OF * Kankakee, Ill.
Kresl batted .714 (10 for 14) with three runs, a double, a RBI and four stolen bases in four games at the Worth Invitational hosted by Cal State Fullerton last weekend. The left-handed hitting outfielder went 7-for-7 in a pair of games on Saturday. She then went 3-for-3 with three runs and three stolen bases in a loss to Oregon State. Kresl closed out the tournament with a 3-for-4 performance in a loss to Pacific.

Alicia Abbott, UIC
Fr. * INF * New Lenox, Ill.
Abbott led UIC with five RBIs in five games last week at the Hillenbrand Invitational hosted by the University of Arizona. Abbott was 5-for-15 at the plate with one double, one runs scored and a sacrifice fly. In addition, Abbott recorded a .400 slugging percentage and a .923 fielding percentage for the week.

Karen Korb, Valparaiso
Jr. * OF * Indianapolis, Ind.
Korb tallied hits in both Crusader games on Sunday to extend her hitting streak to four games. She also stole two bases in the third inning against Sacred Heart, which tied and then broke Valpo's career stolen base record (Laura Ebersole, 1987-1989, 39). Korb has 40 career thefts on 50 attempts; has been successful on 21 of her last 22 attempts.

Jherica Williams, Wright State
Jr. * C * Piqua, Ohio
Williams went 7-for-17 in five games this past week and helped the Raiders to a 3-2 record in the Frost Classic. The WSU junior singled and stole a base against Jackson State on Friday. She then went 4-for-5 with a grand slam, a triple, a stolen base and five RBIs versus Buffalo. In the final day of the tournament, Williams doubled with a RBI and three runs scored against Marshall and then singled and drove in a run versus Morehead State.

News From Around the League
Butler
The Bulldogs (2-3) split a pair of games on Friday defeating Longwood (9-5) in eight innings, but fell 7-0 to Georgia in the second game. On Saturday BU fell twice losing to Longwood (4-3) and Georgia (7-1). The Bulldogs wrapped up the tournament with a 2-1 victory over Michigan State on Sunday.

Senior Nikki Naffziger pitched all eight innings and picked up the win in Butler's extra-inning victory over Longwood. She allowed just one earned run on six hits in the game.

Senior Jenny Jacobs was five for five with two doubles and two RBI's in her first game this spring. She wound up batting .636 (7-11) in three games in the Georgia Classic.

Junior Alex Boros hit a two-run home run in the first inning of the Michigan State game to lead Butler to a 2-1 win. It was her first home run of the season. Boros had a team-high 4 RBI's and a team-best four runs scored in the tournament.

Butler returns to action on Sunday against Penn and IPFW.

Cleveland State
The Vikings (5-2) opened up play at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational by extending their winning streak to five games with a 12-2 triumph over Appalachian State on Saturday. CSU then dropped its next two games, losing to Dayton (8-3) and Eastern Kentucky (6-4).

Against ASU, junior shortstop Christa Coppus and senior outfielder Whitney Willard combined for six hits and seven RBIs. Willard went two-for-five with three RBI while Coppus, who went 0-10 in CSU's first four games, went four-for-five with four RBI. Coppus then finished the tournament by going 4-for-7 raising her batting average to .364.

The CSU pitching staff struggled in the final two games of the tournament allowing 14 runs on 18 hits. Prior to the Eastern Kentucky Invitational, the Vikings had allowed only two runs.

CSU returns to action this week in the Rebel Games where it will faceoff against Tennessee-Martin and Penn.

Detroit
The Titans (0-7) concluded last week with a pair of losses to begin play in the Rebel games. The Titans lost to Lehigh (12-2) and Fairfield (2-1).

Three of Detroit's losses have come in extra innings. The Titans took No. 22 Ohio State into extra innings in the tournament's opening game, but fell 2-0 in nine innings to the reigning Big Ten champions.

This week, UDM opened with a 6-1 setback against Sacred Heart, but then rebounded with a 3-2 triumph over LaSalle. The Titans will then face LaSalle and Western Carolina on Tuesday, Holy Cross and Lehigh on Thursday concluding with Lehigh and Holy Cross on Friday.

Green Bay
The Phoenix (0-5) opened its season Feb. 9 and played five games in two days at the Fargodome Tournament in Fargo, N.D.

The Phoenix began the tournament on Saturday and struggled offensively as it was shutout in the first two games losing to North Dakota State (8-0) and Iowa State (8-0). In the loss to Iowa State, Green Bay was held without of hit.

Green Bay's offense rebounded in the final game as it collected 13 hits, but fell short in a 10-5 loss to North Dakota State.

In the second day of the tournament on Sunday Green Bay's offensive struggles continued as it lost to Iowa State (8-0) and North Dakota State (7-2).

The Phoenix is off until March 14-20, when the team plays at the Rebel Games in Orlando, Fla.

Loyola
The Ramblers (2-7) dropped four games in a row this past weekend at the Worth Invitational. On Saturday, Loyola fell to Texas Tech (4-3) and Oregon State (12-4). The Ramblers then closed out the tournament with a loss to Purdue (4-0) and Pacific (6-0) on Sunday.

Loyola has dropped six straight games since a victory over Texas Tech on Feb. 9.

Sophomore outfielder Ellen Kresl batted .714 (10 for 14) last week, hitting safely in three of the Ramblers' four games. She tallied three or more hits in three of the team's four contests. Her 4-for-4 performance against Texas Tech on Saturday was her first career four-hit effort.

Loyola swiped 11 bases in four games at the Worth Invitational to run their season total to 18.

Loyola continues their spring break trip to California this week with games at Loyola Marymount, San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara this week.

UIC
The Flames (3-11) went 1-4 in five games this past week at the Hillenbrand Invitational in Tucson, Ariz. UIC opened the week with a 6-5 set back against No. 24 Virginia Tech on Friday the Flames then rebounded with a 4-3 victory over New Mexico State 3. On Saturday, USF got past UIC 5-2 and then dropped a 18-3 decision to No. 18 Arizona.

In UIC's five games last week, the Flames hit .254 as a team. UIC senior Brittany Dixon led the Flames with a .455 batting average. In addition, senior Ashlee Ackerman went 7-for-17 at the plate with one RBI. In total, the Flames had four players bat over .300 in five games over the three-day tournament. Senior pitcher Sarah Clynes worked 16.0 inning and fanned 14 batters.

UIC returns to action in the this week at the Speedline Invitational as it faces off against Coastal Carolina and Hofstra on Thursday, Michigan State on Friday concluding with East Tennessee and Baylor on Saturday.

Valparaiso
The Crusaders (4-4) closed out last week with a pair of victories over Sacred Heart (2-0) and Holy Cross (7-6) on Sunday after having its double-header with Fairfield canceled on Saturday.

This season, the Crusaders have swiped 13 bases on just 16 attempts.

Junior lefthanded pitcher Stephanie Kelly tossed three shutout innings in her start against Holy Cross on Sunday. Senior catcher Shannon Robinson knocked in game-tying run against Holy Cross with a fifth-inning triple and scored game-winning run on a suicide squeeze.

Valparaiso opened this week on Monday going 1-2 with a pair of losses to Western Carolina (4-3) and Lehigh (1-0), but the Crusaders rebounded in their final game of day as they defeated Fairfield (12-4).

Valpo concludes this week with matchups against Lehigh and Holy Cross on Tuesday, LaSalle and Sacred Heart on Wednesday before traveling to Lexington, Ky. for the Kentucy Frostbite Classic.

Wright State
The Raiders (5-10) went 3-2 at the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn., defeating Jackson State (7-1), Buffalo (9-4) and Marshall (9-3) and falling to Kentucky (5-1) and undefeated Morehead State (5-4).

The Raiders hit .291 as a team over the weekend, with six players hitting .300 or better in Mollie Berry (.417), Jherica Williams (.412), Jamie Perkins (.357), Kristen Bradshaw (.333), Ashleigh Jackson (.333) and Allison Cox (.313). Williams also drove in seven while Jackson hit two home runs and knocked in five. In the circle, Perkins allowed just one earned run in 11.2 innings with eight strikeouts.

Wright State wraps up the tournament portion of its schedule this week with the New Mexico Classic in Albuquerque, taking on the host Lobos and Georgetown.

Youngstown State
The Penguins (0-7) lost seven straight games in the Santa Clara Tournament as they dropped a pair of games on Thursday to Saint Mary's (Calif.) (6-1, 6-3). YSU then lost to Sacramento State (8-0) and Providence (9-1) on Friday. On Saturday the Penguins fell to Campbell (8-0) and Santa Clara (8-4). YSU concluded the tournament Sunday against North Dakota State with an 8-4 setback.

Sophomore transfer Kristin Bair is off to a hot start for the Penguins. She leads the squad with a .529 batting average and has driven in three runs in her first seven games.

Freshman Rochelle Vanyi is batting .318 over the first seven games. Of her seven hits, five have gone for extra-bases, including three doubles and two home runs. She owns a .727 slugging percentage. Senior Becky Hibner's consecutive game streak was snapped at 112.

YSU returns to action this weekend with matchups against Iona, Morgan State and George Mason.