April 21, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

Complete Release in PDF Format

SETTING THE SCENE: For the third straight week, Cleveland State will play a pair of mid-week doubleheaders, but unlike the last two weeks, both twinbills will be at home. The Vikings will host IPFW on Tuesday, April 22 and Toledo on Wednesday, April 23. All four games will take place at Viking Field.

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 (.404 avg., 22 RBI) and Amanda Houchin (.238) 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 (.205) takes over at third base with freshman Katelyn Ciminelli (.288) or junior Amanda Kern (.269) starting at first base. Junior Haley Keller (.258, 4 HR, 19 RBI), who started every game behind the plate last year, shares time with freshman Amy Powell (.246). Jessica Burt (.275, 19 runs, 14 RBI, 9 SB) moves from left to right with Danielle Young (.339, 18 RBI, 21 runs) taking over in center field. Whitney Willard (.303, 16 RBI, 24 runs, 15-18 SB), who missed the last third of the 2007 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 (18-9, 1.50 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 (3-1, 1.43 ERA) and Kala Allred (2-1, 3.45) are expected to both see time in the circle to help alleviate the burden of Macenko pitching every inning.

REVIEWING LAST WEEK: The Vikings won five of seven games last week, including three of four league games. Here is a summary of those games:

Game 28: CSU 5, Youngstown State 1 Katelyn Ciminelli broke open a tie game with a two-run single in the sixth and Amanda Macenko threw a three-hitter to win her 40th game as a Viking. Christa Coppus added a pair of hits and Amanda Houchin scored twice for CSU.

Game 29: CSU 6, Youngstown State 2 Katelyn Ciminelli hit a two-run homer in the second and YSU could manage just a pair of solo homeruns as CSU moved into a first place tie in the league standings. Macenko went the distance, allowing two runs on four hits to help CSU win its fifth straight game.

Game 30: Saint Francis 4, CSU 3 Amy Powell and Jessica Burt each hit seventh inning homeruns but it was not enough as Saint Francis claimed a 4-3 win. Brittany Bate was the hard-luck loser, allowing just one runs in five innings.

Game 31: CSU 8, Saint Francis 0 (5 Inn.) Katelyn Ciminelli drove in four runs as the Viking bats came alive in the nightcap in a five-inning 8-0 win over the Red Flash. Macenko scattered three hits to win her 16th game of the year. Jessica Burt and Danielle Young each had a pair of hits for CSU.

Game 32: UIC 7, CSU 1 Sarah Clynes limited CSU to just four hits and an unearned run in a 7-1 UIC win. Whitney Willard recorded two of CSU's four hits. The Flames broke the game open early with five runs in the second and two more in the third.

Game 33: CSU 3, UIC 2 Amanda Macenko allowed two unearned runs over seven innings as the Vikings knocked off UIC, 3-2. Danielle Young hit a solo homerun, while Shalyn Adams and Jessica Burt had two hits each.

Game 34: CSU 4, UIC 1 Amanda Macenko surrendered just two hits and one run, while Kateyn Ciminelli had three hits as the Vikings earned a 4-1 win over UIC to take two of three games from the Flames. The Vikings scored three runs in the third to aid Macenko as Jessica Burt finished 2-for-2 with a solo homerun and two runs scored.

VIKINGS ARE STRONG FINISHERS: One statistic that just jumps off the sheet is that CSU is 14-0 this year when leading after five innings and a perfect 16-0 when leading after six innings. The Vikings have outscored their opponents, 23-10, in the sixth inning this season and an amazing 23-3 in the seventh inning. The seventh inning total has allowed CSU to rally from behind three times in the seventh inning this season and once when the score was tied going into the seventh.

. . . AND ARE PERFECT ON FRIDAY: The good news, bad news statistic of the year is that Cleveland State has not lost a game played on Friday this year, owning a perfect 6-0 mark on that day. The bad news is that the Vikings will not play another Friday game until May 9th, the second day of the Horizon League Championship. To date, CSU has outscored its opponents 40-12 on Friday, owning wins over James Madison (8-0), Niagara (2-1), Wagner (9-0), Rider (13-5) and two wins over Wright State (4-3 & 4-3).

NOT A BAD START TO ENCORE: Amanda Macenko, the most-dominant pitcher in the Horizon League a year ago, has started her sophomore campaign out strongly, taking an 18-9 record and 1.50 ERA into the week. As a freshman, 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 start the second half 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 eight stat categories, including wins, appearances (25), ERA (1.50), complete games (22), opposing batting average (.198), innings pitched (177.1), strikeouts (181) and strikeouts looking (53).

. . . AND RANKING MACENKO'S CAREER: When sophomore Amanda Macenko won five games last week, she raised her career win total to 44, maintaining her hold on third place in CSU history for career wins. In fact, Macenko ranks in the top six in all seven pitching statistics, owning the record for career winning percentage (44-19, .698), ranking second in saves (5), third in ERA (1.66) and wins, fourth in strikeouts (334) and eighth in both innings pitched (404.2) and appearances (73)

MACENKO EQUALS SAVES RECORD: When Amanda Macenko pitched the 10th inning in the 7-6 win at Robert Morris on April 3, 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). 134 & COUNTING FOR COPPUS: Junior shortsop Christa Coppus enters the week having started every game during her Viking career. . . 134 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 34 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 .372 (155-417) while also ranking fourth with 89 RBI, fifth with 11 homeruns and seventh with 82 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 42-for-94 (.447) with 22 RBI and 18 runs scored. She has had 12 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 third in the Horizon League in batting (.404), fourth in on base percentage (.475) and slugging percentage (.625) and eighth in RBI (22).

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 14-for-50 (.280) with five doubles, and nine runs scored in 13 games over the last three weeks to raise her season batting average to .238. 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 181 and walked just 23, good for a 7.87 strikeouts to walk ratio. She has been even better of late, striking out 108 and walking just 13 in her last 19 appearances covering 113 innings, including a streak of 35.1 innings without a walk which was snapped in the second Butler game. BURT PICKS UP HONOR: Sophomore Jessica Burt put together her best week of the season and earned Horizon League Player of the Week honors after batting .476 (10-21) with three doubles, two homeruns and four RBI in seven games last week.

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 12 games as a designated hitter, ranking fourth on the team with a .288 batting average (17-59). Powell has started 18 games at either DP or catcher, hitting .246 (16-65).

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 third on the team with a .303 batting average. She leads the team and ranks 11th in the league with 24 runs scored and is fourth on the squad with 16 RBI. She has at least one hit in 24 of the 33 games, posting 10 multi-hit games.

OH TO BE YOUNG: Junior centerfielder Danielle Young has put together three of her best weeks of her season, hitting .368 (21-57) with seven runs scored, two homeruns, one triple, three doubles and 11 RBI in the last 16 games. She drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh in the 1-0 win over Detroit on April 10 and had a hand in all three runs in the 3-2 win over Butler on April 5. She sacrificed Whitney Willard to second in the first inning and when Willard kept going to third, she drew 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.

NEXT UP: The Vikings head back to Chicago to play a three-game series with Loyola over the weekend. CSU will play a doubleheader on Saturday (April 26) and a single game on Sunday (April 27).