April 14, 2004

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This Week: Wednesday, April 14 vs. Youngstown State, 5:00 p.m. Thursday, April 15 vs. IPFW (DH), 4:00 p.m. Saturday, April 17 vs. Detroit (DH), 1:00 p.m. Sunday, April 18 vs. Detroit, 1:00 p.m.

Slap Hits: Playing its best softball of the season, Cleveland State kicks off an eight game homestand on Wednesday that includes four Horizon League contests. The Vikings have won six of their last eight and four in a row in the league. CSU opens the week with a single game on Wednesday against Youngstown State, followed by a doubleheader the next day versus IPFW. The Vikings then conclude play with a three-game series with Detroit over the weekend.

Head Coach Julie Jones: In her eighth year at the helm of the Vikings, head coach Julie Jones has directed Cleveland State a 168-210-2 record. The 1997 Midwestern Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year, she guided the Vikings to the league championship that season and to a berth in the NCAA Tournament. A member of the NCAA Regional Softball Committee, she has coached 20 all-conference selections and three players who went on to play professionally during her tenure in Cleveland. A 1992 graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College in nearby Berea, she was inducted into the Yellow Jacket Hall of Fame in 2003. While at B-W, she was an all-region selection, an all-conference pick both on the field and in the classroom and a four-year starter.

Raising The Bar: With a dozen Horizon League games left on its schedule, Cleveland State already stands just one victory shy of matching its conference win total for all of last year. The 2003 squad struggled to a 6-11 league mark before putting it all together during its run to the Horizon League tournament championship game. The Vikings are currently in the midst of a four-game winning streak in the league - their fifth-longest run since joining the conference in 1995 (10 - 1997; 6 - 1995; 5 - 1999 & 1996).

Vikings Change Start Times Slightly: The team will open its eight-game homestand a couple of hours earlier than originally planned. The game time for Wednesday's single contest with Youngstown State has been moved up two hours to 5:00 p.m. In addition, the start time for Thursday's doubleheader with IPFW has been pushed back from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Luginbuhl Earns Weekly Honor: Sophomore Grace Luginbuhl earned Horizon League Softball Pitcher of the Week accolades for her outstanding performance for the period from April 5-11. This marks the first time in her career that the league has recognized the Bath, Ohio native. The last CSU player to garner league honors was Kortney Spidell on April 2, 2002. Luginbuhl carried the Vikings last week, posting a 3-1 record with a save and a 0.63 ERA in five appearances. On Friday at Wright State, she did not give up an earned run and struck out a career-high 15 as she went the distance in a 2-1, 14-inning victory. She then came back the next afternoon to record another win in 2.2 innings in relief as CSU completed the series sweep. On Tuesday at Robert Morris, Luginbuhl hurled a 5-hit shutout in game one and then came back to toss 2.2 scoreless innings in the night cap to earn her third career save.

A Glance At The Midweek Contests: Cleveland State will battle Youngstown State (18-11, 2-1 HL) on Wednesday for sole possession of second place in the league. The Penguins lead the most frequently contested series in CSU history by a 42-28 margin. Amanda Berry is hitting a league-high .404 with three homers and 28 RBI while Tiffany Patteson is batting .391 with three home runs and 20 RBI. Kelly Murphy paces the Penguins in the circle with an 8-6 record and a league-best 1.11 ERA. On Thursday, CSU will square off with IPFW for the first time ever. The Mastodons (4-22) are led by Jenna Beachy (.354, 5 2B, 9 RBI) at the plate, while Mindy Pomeroy is 2-5 with a 3.31 ERA.

Noting The Titans: Heading into its doubleheader at Wright State on Wednesday, Detroit is 10-19 overall and stands eighth in the Horizon League with a 3-7 mark. The Titans won the final game at Youngstown State last Saturday to snap an eight-game losing streak and then split with Wayne State on Monday. Sarah Dickey leads Detroit with a .290 batting average while Katrina Klemp is hitting .278 with seven doubles and 11 RBI. In the circle, Lindsay Roy is 5-7 with a 1.92 ERA while Adrienne Baran is 3-3 with a 2.81 ERA. The Vikings and Titans have met 20 times previously, with CSU owning a 14-6 advantage. The two teams did not meet in the regular season last year after the series was washed out. However, the CSU claimed a 2-0 victory over Detroit in an elimination game on the second day of the Horizon League Championship.

Spidell Shines: While Grace Luginbuhl might have earned Player of the Week honors, junior Kortney Spidell was equally as impressive in three outings last week. The Strasburg, Ohio gave up just three earned runs in 18.1 innings en route to posting a 2-1 record. On Saturday at Wright State, she tossed her first shutout of the season, holding the Raiders to just four hits. The spotless performance extended her scoreless streak to 13 innings.

Deja Vu All Over Again: When Cleveland State and Wright State squared off for 14 innings last Friday, it was not big surprise, seeing as it was almost exactly a year since one of the more bizarre doubleheaders in school history. It's not often a team can make a NCAA-record 14 errors and strikeout 21 times and still have a chance to win. Yet that's exactly what CSU did in an 18-inning 11-10 loss to WSU to open Horizon League play last year. Seven Vikings committed at least one error and everyone who batted more than once struck out at least once (with the exception of Michelle Nicholas). The Raiders knotted the score at 7-7 with four runs in the seventh, the last being unearned, to send the game into extra innings. Both teams scored lone runs in the 10th and pair in the 16th, before WSU won it in the 18th on - you guessed it - an unearned run. The game lasted 5 hours, 49 minutes and seven of the Raiders' runs were of the unearned variety. The Vikings claimed the nightcap in under two hours, plating the game's only run courtesy of a WSU error in the top of the first.

Graves Takes Advantage Of ABs: Sophomore centerfielder/designated player Shannon Graves is second on the team with a .279 average - quite impressive for someone who went without an at-bat last season. She has played in 27 of 28 games, including 23 starts, and has 19 hits in 68 at-bats with seven runs scored. Last weekend at Wright State, she went 4-for-8 and scored three times. As a freshman, she appeared in 29 contests, mostly as a pinch runner.

Grand Larceny: After getting off to a relatively slow start on the basepaths, Cleveland State returned to form last week, going 16-for-19 en route to winning five of seven games. The Vikings have 37 thefts on the season, well ahead of second-place Illinois-Chicago (20). Once again, CSU dominates the league leaders, with senior Michelle Beightol (15) and sophomores Shannon Graves (7) and Grace Luginbuhl (6), ranking 1-2-3. Last year, the Vikings stole a school record 114 bases, ranking seventh in the nation with 2.11 per game. Individually, Beightol swiped 27 bases, more than every other team but Loyola (32) and Wright State (30). Beightol and Luginbuhl ranked 25th and 28th nationally in stolen bases per game.

Schlenkerman Suffers Bad Break: Senior center fielder Jessica Schlenkerman is out of the starting lineup indefinitely after dislocating and breaking the pinky on her right hand on on April 3 against Butler. With one out in the top of the fifth inning, she made a diving attempt at a fly ball and landed awkwardly on her throwing hand. The Lakewood, Ohio native was able to pinch run over the weekend at Wright State, scoring a pair of runs.

L-O-B Spells Loss: Cleveland State's old nemesis reared its ugly head in the first game against Butler on April 3 as the Vikings left 11 runners on base in a 5-3 loss. In the Rebel Spring Games, CSU hit a respectable .267 but went just 5-7, including four one-run losses, after leaving 79 runners on base. CSU hit .310 with the bases empty but just .235 with runners in scoring position. The Vikings left 19 runners on base in losing to Fordham (2-1 in nine innings) and Iona (4-2, but only one run was earned) on March 17.

Overtime Heroics: In the second game of the March 27 doubleheader at Loyola, Cleveland State junior Kortney Spidell and Rambler starter Mia Pangere traded zeros for the first seven innings before Loyola cashed in a leadoff double in the top of the eighth to take a 1-0 lead. It appeared as though that would be the final score, until sophomore second baseman Kaitlin Guyette launched her first career home run with two outs and two strikes to extend the game. The Ramblers nearly put the game away in the ninth, but senior center fielder Jessica Schlenkerman made a spectacular diving catch with two outs and a pair of runners on. CSU took advantage of the defensive gem when junior catcher Jackie Cornelius blasted her second home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the inning.

Team Celebrates 25th Anniversary: The 2004 season marks the 25th anniversary of softball at Cleveland State. The 1979 squad kicked things off with a 16-game schedule that featured 14 slow pitch contests. The 1997 team went 36-11, won the Horizon League Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament - the last squad in any sport at CSU to do so. The May 2 against Illinois-Chicago will be a special day for the softball program, as it is both Senior Day and Alumni Day. Following the game, there will be a photo opportunity for the alumni as well as a dinner in the Viking Loge at the CSU Convocation Center.

Academic Excellence: The Cleveland State softball team excelled not only on the field last year, but in the classroom as well. The Vikings were ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-Academic Division I top 20 for the 2002-03 school year. CSU came in 18th with a team GPA of 3.289, led by Lindsay Gervais, who was valedictorian of the Class of 2003 with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Indiana State topped all Division I schools with a 3.466. Fellow Horizon League members Detroit (5th) and Wright State (19th) also joined the Vikings in the Top 20. This marks the 11th consecutive year that CSU has been ranked in the top 20. The Vikings were eighth nationally in 2001-02 with a 3.317.

Beightol All Over Career Hitting Charts: Senior outfielder Michelle Beightol's name appears in nearly every career offensive top 10 list at Cleveland State. Her 13 triples rank first in school annals, in addition to standing second in home runs (12) and stolen bases (69). She also is among the leaders in batting average (6th - .310), runs (3rd - 88), RBI (4th - 63), hits (4th - 161) and games played (7th - 179).

Spidell Climbs Career Pitching Lists: Only a junior, Kortney Spidell's name is already a fixture on the Viking career charts. She ranks eighth in appearances (58), tied for eighth in wins (18) and ninth with 259.0 innings pitched. In addition, her .450 winning percentage (18-22) is sixth among pitchers with 20 or more decisions.

Vikings Picked Fourth: CSU was picked to finish fourth in the Horizon League preseason poll. The Vikings received 29 points in a vote conducted among the leagues' eight head coaches. UIC garnered the top spot in the poll with 46 points, followed closely behind by YSU (42) and Loyola (41). Defending tournament champion Wright State claimed the fifth position with 21 points. Detroit (19), Butler (18), and UW-Green Bay (8) rounded out the poll. CSU, which finished 23-30-1 and 6-11 in the league in 2003, advanced to the conference championship game as the sixth seed.

About The Staff: Jones' coaching staff is rounded out by Amy Kyler and Susan Smalley. In her third year as an assistant with her alma mater, Kyler owns every career pitching record at Cleveland State, including wins (67), ERA (1.35) and strikeouts (909). She tied the NCAA record for strikeouts with 26 against Illinois-Chicago in the 1997 conference championship semifinals, while her career total ranks 29th all-time. A member of the Women's Professional Softball League, she competed in the 2001 all-star game and has a perfect game and a no-hitter to her credit. Smalley joins the staff this season and will assist with the infielders while serving as the bench coach. She played infield for two seasons at California University in Pennsylvania.

Up Next: Cleveland State caps off its eight-game homestand with a doubleheader against St. Francis next Wednesday. The Vikings then open up seven consecutive on the road with two at Niagara the next day. CSU closes out the week by travelling to UW-Green Bay for a three-game set.