Horizon League Softball Release #6

March 18, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Cleveland State junior infielder Christa Coppus was selected Horizon League Softball Player of the Week and Valparaiso senior right-hander Andrea Zappia was named Pitcher of the Week. In eight games this past week, Coppus posted a .400 batting average and drove in eight runs, while Zappia went 2-0 and picked up her 15th career save in three appearances.

Horizon League Player of the Week
Christa Coppus, Cleveland State
Jr. * SS * Tiffin, Ohio
Coppus becomes the second player from Cleveland State to receive the League's Player of the Week award. The junior shortstop earned the weekly honor after she helped the Vikings to a 5-3 mark at the Rebel Games in Orlando, Fla. During the eight game stretch, Coppus batted .400, drove in eight runs and collected 10 hits. The Ohio native highlighted the week last Friday by going 6-for-8 with six RBIs and three runs scored in a double-header against Wagner and Rider.

Horizon League Pitcher of the Week
Andrea Zappia, Valparaiso
Sr. * RHP * Indianapolis, Ind.
Zappia collects her second Pitcher of the Week honor this season after she helped the Crusaders to a 3-2 mark at the Maryland Spring Classic in College Park, Md. In three appearances, Zappia tossed two complete games and notched one save, while posting a 2-0 record. The Indiana native began the week with a two-hit shutout of UMBC (3/14). She then picked up a win over nationally ranked Maryland (3/15). Zappia closed out the week by working two perfect innings against St. Peter's to earn her 15th career save (3/16).

Other Top Performances for the Week Ending March 16
Amanda Macenko, Cleveland State
So. * LHP * Brunswick, Ohio
Macenko made seven appearances this past week at the Rebel Spring Games. In her seven appearances, the Ohio native worked 37.1 innings, posted a record of 3-3, collected one save and struck out 49 batters.

Anna Bluemel, Green Bay
Sr. * RHP * Wind Lake, Wis.
Bluemel made three appearances last week at the Rebel Spring Games and went 2-0. In her two victories, the Wisconsin native worked a pair of four-hit complete games, including a 3-0 shutout against Columbia on March 14.

Melissa Marinacci, UIC
Jr. * IN/OF * Yorba Linda, Calif.
Marinacci recorded a .400 batting average in six games for the Flames in the Loyola Marymount Tournament last weekend. The junior was 6-for-15 at the plate with a team-best three doubles. Marinacci was perfect in the field, stole a base and recorded a .526 slugging percentage.

Mallory Gill, Valparaiso
Sr. * SS * Beloit, Wis.
Gill went 3-for-8 in five games this past week at the Maryland Spring Classic and helped guide the Crusaders to a 3-2 mark. The Valpo senior also drove in three runs and scored twice.

News From Around the League
Butler
The Bulldogs (8-7) went 4-4 this past week to conclude play at the Rebel Spring Games in Orlando, Fla.

Butler played a total of 10 games at the Rebel Spring Games spanning from March 9-14. During the stretch, Butler finished with a 6-4 record.

The Bulldogs opened the trip with three consecutive wins and then closed the week with back-to-back victories over Florida A&M and Monmouth N.J.

Butler's losses to Tennessee-Martin (3-1) and Robert Morris (2-0) were by a combined four runs.

The Bulldogs return to action on Wednesday with a double-header against Indiana State before opening their League schedule against Loyola on Friday.

Cleveland State
The Vikings (10-5) went 5-3 over their spring break trip at the Rebel Spring Games in Orlando, Florida. CSU lost three of its first four games, but won four straight to complete the trip.

Cleveland State dropped the first two games of the trip, falling to Yale, 2-1, and IPFW, 7-5 on Wednesday. The Vikings avenged the loss to Yale, defeating the Bulldogs, 1-0 on Thursday.

Freshman right-hander Brittany Bate picked up her first collegiate victory as she shut out Yale (March 13), while holding the Bulldogs to just four hits. Senior Whitney Willard scored the only run of the game on a fielder's choice. Willard reached base earlier in the inning on an error. CSU went on to lose 7-1 to Penn in the afternoon game.

On Friday, Cleveland State scored 22 runs in two games. In the morning match-up against Wagner, the Vikings scored nine runs on 13 hits, defeating the Seahawks, 9-0 (6 inn.).

In Friday's second game against Rider, junior shortstop Christa Coppus went 3-4, hitting three doubles and five RBI's to lead the Vikings to a 13-5 victory.

CSU finished the trip on Saturday, defeating Army and Fairleigh Dickinson, both by the score of 3-1. In the game against Army, sophomore right-hander Amanda Macenko pitched seven innings and struck out 12.

CSU returns to action on March 25 when it travels to Eastern Michigan for a double-header. The Vikings will then welcome Wright State on March 29 for their home opener.

Detroit
The Titans (5-10) competed in the Rebel Spring Games March 2-7 and finished with a 5-3 mark.

UDM went 1-1 on March 3 losing to Sacred Heart 6-1, but rebounded in the afternoon game to take down LaSalle 3-2 (8 innings). The Titans then followed with a pair of victories on March 4 defeating LaSalle 2-1 and Western Carolina 7-2.

On March 6, UDM continued its winning streak with an 8-0 victory (five innings) against Holy Cross, but had its streak snapped in the evening game with a 8-5 loss to Lehigh. The Titans concluded the week on March 7 with a 13-7 loss to Lehigh and a 7-6 victory over Holy Cross.

In the 2-1 win over LaSalle on March 3, sophomore Jill Perry earned the win as she pitched the entire game and allowed one earned run off 11 hits, while striking out four Explorers.

Senior Kelli Short pitched a two-hitter for the Titans and struck-out four in an 8-0 victory over Holy Cross. Detroit scored eight runs off of seven hits and tallied six RBI against Holy Cross to increase its winning streak to four games. The four-game winning streak was its longest since the 2005 season.

The Titans return to action on Friday when they open League play against Wright State.

Green Bay
The Phoenix (5-8) improved its record to 5-3 at the Rebel Spring games with a pair of victories over Lafayette and Army.

The Phoenix closed out play last week by going 3-3 with victories over Columbia (3-0), Monmouth (10-4) and Rhode Island (5-2).

In each of Green Bay's three losses, the Phoenix lost by just one run losing to Penn (3-2), Robert Morris (3-2) and Fairleigh Dickinson (4-3).

In its first seven games of the season, Green Bay had scored 12 runs, but in its last four games, the Phoenix have tallied 20 runs.

The Phoenix conclude play at the Rebel games on Thursday and then head to Valparaiso to open its League schedule.

Loyola
The Ramblers (5-10) went 3-3 on March 4-8, while competing against West coast schools Loyola Marymount (double-header), San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara (double-header).

LU opened the week with a double-header on March 4 against Loyola Marymount. In game one, Nora Schober and Angie Funston each drove in three runs to help the Ramblers to a 6-3 victory. With the win, the Ramblers put an end to a six-game losing skid.

On March 5 against nationally ranked San Diego State, Ellen Kresl went 2-for-3, but Loyola managed only three hits in a 12-1 loss. The Ramblers' loss to SDSU marked the fourth time LU had fallen to a ranked opponent.

Loyola rebounded on March 6 with a 7-0 victory over Cal State Fullerton. Funston went 4-for-4 and Schober went 3-for-4 and Amy Solava yielded only two hits and no walks, while striking out six.

Loyola closed out its spring trip to California by splitting a double-header at UC Santa Barbara, dropping game one, 10-2 in six innings, before posting a 3-0 victory in the afternoon game.

The Ramblers return to action on Friday when they face off against Butler to open League play.

UIC
The Flames (7-18) went 2-4 this past week at the Loyola Marymount Tournament in Los Angeles, Calif.

UIC opened the tournament with a 3-2 triumph over Bucknell last Friday, but fell in the second game 6-3 to UC Santa Barbara.

On Saturday, the Flames dropped its second straight game to UC Santa Barbara falling 6-4. UIC then rebounded to defeat Bucknell for the second straight game.

The Flames closed out the tournament on Sunday with a pair of 2-0 losses to Loyola Marymount.

During the six game stretch in Los Angeles, the Flames had six players bat over .300.

Junior pitcher Sarah Clynes fanned 14 batters in 14.1 innings pitched. Against Bucknell on March 15, Clynes picked up her second shutout of the season.

The Flames return to action on Wednesday with two games against Central Michigan to open their home schedule. UIC will then conclude the week with a trip to Bloomington, Ind., to compete in the Indiana Tournament.

Valparaiso
The Crusaders (11-6) went 3-2 this past week at the Maryland Spring Classic in College Park, Md.

Valparaiso opened the week last Friday by defeating Lehigh 1-0, but dropped the afternoon game to UMBC 8-0. On Saturday, Valparaiso dropped a 5-3 decision to Niagara, but rebounded by beating Maryland 7-5, which was ranked No. 23 at time.

The win over Maryland was the first victory over a ranked team in head coach Randy Schneider's five years at Valpo.

The Crusaders then closed out the week with a 3-2 triumph against St. Peter's.

Junior outfielder Karen Korb stole two more bases on the week, making her a perfect 13-for-13 on the basepaths this year.

The Crusaders made just two errors on 135 chances last week to improve their season fielding percentage to .985.

This week, Valparaiso welcomes Green Bay for a double-header on Saturday to open up League play.

Wright State
The Raiders (7-12) split four games at the UNM Classic in Albuquerque over the weekend, defeating Georgetown twice and falling to host New Mexico twice.

The Raiders hit .360 as a team for the tournament, led by the .714 hitting of Jherica Williams as she smacked a two-run home run in three consecutive games and drove in nine overall. Five other Wright State players hit .333 or better over the weekend, including Jamie Perkins (.467), Justine Shilt (.444), Louie Haney (.333), Allison Cox (.333) and Kristen Bradshaw (.333).

Wright State will play host to Findlay in a double-header on Thursday. The Raiders will then host Detroit that weekend to begin Horizon League play.

Youngstown State
The Penguins were slated to compete in the George Mason Tournament March 8-9, but the event was canceled due to poor weather conditions.

YSU opened the season with seven straight loses in the Santa Clara Tournament Feb. 29-March 2, losing to Saint Mary's (Calif.) twice (6-1, 6-3), Sacramento State (8-0), Providence (9-1), Campbell (8-0), Santa Clara (8-4) and North Dakota State (8-4).

Sophomore transfer Kristin Bair leads the squad with a .529 batting average through her first seven games.

YSU returns to action on Friday in the Miami (Ohio) Tournament.