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CSU Plays At EMU, Hosts Detroit
April 7, 2008
Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Release in PDF Format
Games 24-25 Games 26-27 SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State will play a pair of mid-week doubleheaders this week for the first time this season. The Vikings will travel to Ypsilanti, Mich. on Tuesday (April 8) for a 3:00 p.m. twinbill at Eastern Michigan. CSU will then return home on Thursday (April 10) for a 2:00 p.m. Horizon League doubleheader against Detroit at Viking Field. CSU enters the week with a 15-8 record, standing in a third place tie with Valparaiso in the Horizon League with a 4-2 mark. Eastern Michigan carries a 7-15 overall mark into the week while Detroit is currently 6-15 overall and in eighth place in the Horizon League with a 1-5 record. PREVIEWING THE VIKINGS: Under the direction of second year head coach Angie Nicholson, the Vikings enter the 2008 campaign with few questions that need to be answered. With seven starters returning from last year's squad that posted a 33-14 record and the addition of nine first year players, Nicholson has a deep and experienced roster that will allow her many options when filling out the starting lineup. Like all good teams, the Vikings are strong up the middle. The double-play combination of shortstop Christa Coppus (.403 avg., 17 RBI) and Amanda Houchin (.235) at second base return after each earned first team all-league honors a year ago. CSU has first-year starters at the corners as junior transfer Natalie DeMatteis (.213) takes over at third base with freshman Katelyn Ciminelli (.308) or junior Amanda Kern (.292) starting at first base. Junior Haley Keller (.283, 4 HR, 17 RBI), who started every game behind the plate last year, shares time with freshman Amy Powell (.256). Jessica Burt (.217, 12 runs, 10 RBI, 6 SB) moves from left to right with Danielle Young (.329, 14 RBI, 16 runs) taking over in center field. Whitney Willard (.316, 13 RBI, 18 runs, 10-12 SB), who missed the last third of the season with a concussion, is the lone senior on the roster and returns to start in left field. Second team All-Horizon League honoree Amanda Macenko (11-7, 1.37 ERA, 3 saves), who set CSU records for wins (26) and innings pitched (227.1) as a freshman, returns as the ace of the pitching staff. Freshmen Brittany Bate (2-0, 2.57 ERA) and Kala Allred (2-1, 3.45) are expected to both see time in the circle, alleviating the burden of pitching almost every game that Macenko endured last year. REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings won three of the five games they played last week, splitting a doubleheader at Robert Morris before claiming two of three from Butler over the weekend. Here is a summary of those games: Game 19: Robert Morris 7, CSU 5 Cleveland State 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 - 5-8-4 Game 20: CSU 7, Robert Morris 6 (10 Innings) Cleveland State 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 1 - 7-13-2 Game 21: Butler 2, CSU 0 (9 Innings) Butler 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 - 2-6-1 Game 22: CSU 3, Butler 2 Butler 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 2-3-1 Game 23: CSU 6, Butler 1 Butler 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 - 1-6-1 MACENKO NAMED HORIZON LEAGUE PITCHER OF THE WEEK: For the second time this season and sixth in her career, sophomore Amanda Macenko has been named the Horizon League pitcher of the week. She earned the honor after throwing 30 of CSU's 39 innings last week, going 2-2 with an 0.47 ERA and one save. She allowed 12 runs (just two earned) on 22 hits, striking out 30 while walking just one. Opposing batters hit just .188 against her during the week. NOT A BAD START TO ENCORE: Sophomore Amanda Macenko, the most-dominant pitcher in the Horizon League a year ago, has started her sophomore campaign out strongly, taking an 11-7 record and 1.37 ERA into the week. As a freshman last year, Macenko set a school record by pitching 227.1 innings (out of a possible 322). She went 26-10 with a 1.79 ERA to break Amy Kyler's school record for wins in a season. She also ranked second all-time in appearances (41) and games started (35), was sixth in shutouts (5) and seventh in strikeouts (153). . . . RANKING AMANDA: As we approach the halfway point of the 2008 schedule, sophomore Amanda Macenko has already made a place for herself among the league statistical leaders. She currently leads the league in wins (11), ERA (1.37), batting average allowed (.189), strikeouts (135) and strikeouts looking (38) and is second in innings pitched (122.1), saves (3) and appearances (22). MACENKO EQUALS SAVES RECORD: When Amanda Macenko pitched the 10th inning in Wednesday's 7-6 win at Robert Morris, she tied the school record with her third save of the year. Amy Kyler originally set the mark with three in 1997. Macenko now has five career saves, one less than the school record of six set by Grace Luginbuhl (2003-06). 123 & COUNTING FOR COPPUS: Junior shortsop Christa Coppus enters the week having started every game during her Viking career. . . 123 to date. She earned the starting nod in all 53 games as a freshman in 2006 and started 47 straight last season. This year, she is one of five Vikings to start all 23 contests. . . . AND COPPUS ON THE CHARTS: Christa Coppus begins the week ranked among the top 10 in school history in several categories. She is hitting a school record .369 (142-385) while also ranking fifth with 10 homeruns and 84 RBI and eighth with 77 runs scored. . . . AND COPPUS ANSWERS SLOW START: Coppus opened the season carrying over a 12-game hitting streak from the end of the 2007 season but couldn't buy a hit during the first weekend, going 0-10 in four games at UNC Greensboro. The hitting slump didn't even phase the junior as she banged out seven hits in nine at-bats during the first two games at Eastern Kentucky to start a stretch that has seen her go 29 for 62 (.468) with 17 RBI and 13 runs scored. She has had eight multi-hit games, using four singles to drive in four runs against Appalachian State on March 1 and three doubles to register a season-high five RBI vs. Rider on March 14. Coppus begins the week fifth in the Horizon League in batting (.403) and on base percentage (.470), sixth in slugging percentage (.597) and eighth in RBI (17) HIBERNATION APPEARS OVER FOR BEAR: After struggling to hit .196 in the first 18 games, junior Amanda Houchin, who is nicknamed Bear, appears to have come alive at the plate, going six-for-17 (.353) with three doubles, and four runs scored in five games last week to raise her season batting average to .235. Last year, she was second on the team with a .383 batting average and 29 RBI to earn first team All-Horizon League honors. WAY TO GO MACENKKKKKO: One area of noticeable improvement this season for Amanda Macenko is her strikeouts to walks ratio. Last year, she struck out 153 batters and walked 22, or one walk for every 6.95 strikeouts. This year, she has struck out 135 and walked just 12, good for an 11.25 strikeouts to walk ratio. She has been even better of late, striking out 62 and walking just two in her last nine appearances covering 58 innings, including a streak of 35.1 innings without a walk which was snapped in the second Butler game. FRESHMAN DUO MAKE THEIR MARKS: After opening the season as reserves, the freshmen duo of Katelyn Ciminelli and Amy Powell have used strong showings at the plate to find a place for themselve in the starting lineup. Ciminelli has started eight games as a designated hitter, ranking fourth on the team with a .308 batting average (8-26). Powell has started 15 games at either DP or catcher, hitting .256 (11-43). Both players were even better last week. Powell hit .462 (6-13) in four games while Ciminelli hit .333 (3-9) in four contests, including her first homerun of the season. WILLARD'S RETURN A SUCCESS: Senior Whitney Willard has shown no ill affects from the concussion that caused her to miss the final 17 games last year, earning Horizon League Player of the Week honors after leading the Vikings with a .500 batting average in the season-opening tournament at UNC Greensboro. Willard has continued her torrid pace, entering the week ranking second on the team with a .350 batting average. She leads the team and ranks seventh in the league with 18 runs scored and is fourth on the squad with 13 RBI. She has at least one hit in 17 of the 23 games, posting seven multi-hit games. . . . BUT HER HITTING STREAK ENDS: Whitney Willard saw her team-best nine game hitting streak come to an end in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against Butler when she failed to get a hit in three at bats. She went on to get a hit in the nightcap before going hitless on Sunday as well. Willard could easily have an active 12-game hitting streak had she not been called for hitting the ball outside of the box in both the first and third game of the Butler series, nullifying basehits in both instances. OH TO BE YOUNG: Junior centerfielder had the best week of her season, hitting .389 (7-18) with two runs scored, a homerun and five RBI in the five games last week. She had a hand in all three runs in the 3-2 win over Butler on Saturday. She sacrificed Whitney Willard to second in the first inning and when Willard kept going to third, she dew an errant throw that allowed her to score. Young drove home the final two runs the traditional way, hitting a homerun to right in the third inning with one runner aboard. Earlier in the week, she gave CSU a 6-5 lead in the top of the seventh when she singled home two runs against Robert Morris. After the Colonials tied the game in the bottom of the inning, Young drove in the game-winner in the 10th to give CSU a 7-6 win. QUALITY NOT QUANTITY FOR KELLER: Junior catcher Haley Keller enters the week making the most of her .283 batting average. She is 17 for 60 at the plate this year with eight of her hits being for extra bases to rank second on the team and seventh in the league with a .583 slugging percentage. Keller leads the team and is ninth in the league with four homeruns, is second on the team (fifth in the league) with a pair of triples and has two doubles. She shares the team lead with 17 RBI (8th in the league). She hit .400 last week (6-15) with her one extra base hit being a grand slam at Robert Morris. A FLIP-FLOP IN THE OUTFIELD: One of the big lineup changes made down in Florida came in the outfield where Danielle Young and Jessica Burt exchanged outfield spots with Burt taking over in right field and Young moving to center. The duo has played well this season with Young ranking second on the team in both batting average (.329) and runs scored (16) while being third in RBI (14). Burt is hitting .217 with 12 runs scored, 10 RBI and six stolen bases. A LATE HOME OPENER: When the Vikings were finally able to open the home schedule last weekend against Butler, it marked one of the latest opening days in almost a decade. The last time CSU played its home opener later than April 5 came in 1999 when CSU opened the home slate with a doubleheader against Niagara on April 6. That pales in comparison to the 1996 season which saw the Vikings open the home schedule on April 17, going on to play at home just eight times in 45 games. NEXT UP: The Vikings travel to Green Bay for a three-game series with the Phoenix. CSU will play a doubleheader on Saturday (April 12) and a single game on Sunday (April 13).
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