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Bulldogs Prepare for 2006 Horizon League Tournament
May 9, 2006 TOURNAMENT TIME: The Bulldogs enter postseason play at the 2006 Horizon League Tournament. Butler, the eighth seed, opens action Thursday afternoon against top-seeded UIC in the double-elimination tournament. The Flames took two of three contests between the two teams during the 2006 regular season. Youngstown State serves as the 2006 host. Butler brings a record of 17-28-1 overall and 4-16 in conference play, while UIC is 24-31 (14-6). Live stats are available through Gametracker on www.butlersports.com. THE REST OF THE FIELD: After UIC (14-6 league record), the tournament field shapes up with Cleveland State (14-7), Detroit (13-7) and UW-Green Bay (10-10) in the top four spots. Loyola and tournament host Youngstown State join the Phoenix at 10-10. Wright State and Butler round out the 2006 combatants. "HYER-CHECK" OUT THESE NUMBERS: Sophomore first baseman Amy Hyerczyk has been one of the league's most consistent performers this season. Her .343 average ranks eighth in the circuit, while Hyerczyk's 14 doubles and four triples (tie) lead the Horizon League. Twenty-three of her 46 hits have been for extra bases, which ties Detroit's Kaleigh Rafter for league-best honors. The sophomore also ranks among the league leaders in slugging percentage (.619, second) and total bases (83, third) entering postseason play. Hyerczyk's average improves to .377 against league opponents. Hyerczyk's team-best five home runs and 24 RBIs (second on the squad) helped her to Horizon League "Player of the Week" honors on two occasions (March 26 and April 30). PICKING IT UP DOWN THE STRETCH: Sophomore Jenny Jacobs has been tearing it up against league opponents this season. Sixteen of Jacobs' team-best 26 RBIs came in Butler's 20 conference match-ups. Jacobs tied Amy Hyerczyk for the team-lead with five home runs; four of those in league play. Jacobs set a Butler single-season record with nine longballs in 2005.
AGAINST THE FLAMES: UIC took two of three contests against Butler in regular season action with the road team taking all three match-ups. For the Bulldogs, Amy Hyerczyk hit .556 (5-for-9) with three doubles against the Flames. Freshman Annie Dolan hit .333 with two home runs in the three games. Butler committed eight errors in its two losses to help the Flames to eight unearned runs. QUICK HITS: Ironically Amy Hyerczyk leads the team in both batting average (.343) and sacrifice bunts (eight)...Hyerczyk and Lindsay Schluge are the only Bulldogs to start all 46 games this season...freshmen Alex Boros and Annie Dolan have also appeared in all 46 games...newcomers Boros (four), Dolan (three) and Katie Bell (one) combined for eight of the team's 18 home runs...senior Meghan Howard hurled a no-hitter March 26 in a 4-0 win over IPFW. She earned Horizon League "Pitcher of the Week" honors March 28 for that effort, joining Jamie Wonderly, who picked up the accolade Feb. 26...junior Jill Meinhold leads the team with 15 walks, the only Bulldog to have more walks than strikeouts (11)...Butler is 4-2 in extra-inning contests. Complete 2006 Tournament Schedule
Thursday, May 11
Friday, May 12
Saturday, May 13 * - If necessary |
