March 29, 2007

GREEN BAY, Wis. - The two teams with the top records in the Horizon League square off against one another this weekend as the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay softball team opens league play at Cleveland State this weekend. The Phoenix and the Vikings will square off in a doubleheader beginning at noon Central time Saturday before wrapping up the three-game series with a solo game at 10 a.m. Sunday.

UW-Green Bay leads the all-time series with Cleveland State 22-20. The teams split four meetings last season with the Phoenix winning two of three during the regular season before the Vikings eliminated UW-Green Bay from the Horizon League tournament.

Cleveland State was tabbed for a fifth-place Horizon League finish this season in a preseason poll of the head coaches, while UW-Green Bay was picked to finish sixth.

The Phoenix (8-8) is coming off a 7-5 record at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Fla., March 11-17. After starting the season 2-6, UW-Green Bay has bounced back to win six of its last eight. Senior Andrea Kurzynske paces the Phoenix with a .357 batting average while freshman Katie Cooney has gotten the job done both at the plate and in the pitchers' circle. She enters the weekend with a .348 average and a team-high 11 RBI while posting a 3-1 record with a 2.52 ERA. Following a slow start, sophomore third baseman Mollie Kaebisch has come on strong recently, hitting .435 (10-23) over UW-Green Bay's last eight contests.

Cleveland State has jumped out to a league-best 15-4 record to open the season and is the lone Horizon League school with a winning record. The Vikings have used strong hitting and the solid pitching of freshman Amanda Macenko in getting off to the hot start. Five regular starters are hitting over .350, led by the .400 average of junior Whitney Willard, a first-team all-league selection a year ago. Macenko has admirably replaced Horizon League Pitcher of the Year Grace Luginbuhl, compiling an impressive 12-2 record with a 1.01 ERA in her first collegiate season.