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May 12, 2008
Contact: Brian McCann
Men's Golf Heads To NCAA Regional. . . With classes and final exams for the spring semester at Cleveland State completed, the athletic schedule features just two teams in action. The men's golf team, which won the Horizon League Championship two weeks ago, will take part in the NCAA Central Regional at Ohio State this week. The Vikings will play a practice round on Wednesday (May 14) with tournament play beginning on Thursday (May 15) and running through Saturday (May 17) with single rounds being played at OSU's Scarlet Course. The baseball team will conclude its 2008 regular season by playing five games this week. CSU will play single games at home against Duquesne on Tuesday (May 13) and Pittsburgh (May 14). Action begins each day at 5:00 p.m. at Pipe Yard Stadium in Lorain. CSU will then close its league schedule with a three-game series at Butler over the weekend with the teams playing a single game on Friday (May 17) and a doubleheader on Saturday (May 17). Men's Golf Heads To NCAA Central Regional At Ohio State. . . For the second time in three seasons, the Cleveland State men's golf team will be a participant in the NCAA Central Regional Championship as the Vikings earned the 25th seed in the tournament that will be played in Columbus, Ohio. Ohio State will serve as the host school with the event being played from Thursday through Saturday (May 15-17) on the par-71, 7,419-yard Scarlet Course. "This is a very exciting time for the men's golf program," Horizon League Coach of the Year Steve Weir said. "We are thrilled to be able to stay close to home and have the support of family, friends, staff and administrators and even our women's golf team. We are honored to be part of this extremely talented field and are going to do our best to represent Cleveland State well." Two seasons ago, CSU finished 25th in the NCAA Central Regional which the Vikings hosted at Sand Ridge G.C. The Vikings earned the Horizon League's automatic bid to the NCAA Central Regional by virtue of claiming the league championship on April 29. CSU defeated runner-up Detroit by one shot as the Vikings received a par on the final hole by freshman Kent Monas, while Detroit's golfer made bogey. Junior Jake Scott earned medalist honors by two shots, carding rounds of 73-70-71 (214). Monas was three shots back in third place as the duo was named to the all-tournament team. Scott and senior Doug Barber were both selected to the All-Horizon League first team. Baseball Closes Regular Season With Five Games. . . The Cleveland State baseball team (20-25, 9-11 HL) concludes the regular season with five games this week, including a pair of mid-week games at home. The Vikings will host Duquesne on Tuesday (May 13) at 5:00 p.m. and will conclude its home schedule with a 5:00 p.m. contest against Pittsburgh on Wednesday (May 14). CSU then hits the road to finish the regular season with a three-game series at Butler on Friday and Saturday (May 16-17). "We had a chance to get into second place over the weekend, but couldn't get it done," head coach Kevin Kocks said. "We can still finish third, but we will need to play within our system this week. We have worked hard all season long to finish near the top of the league standings and get a good seed in the conference tournament and this weekend will go a long way in determining if that happens." CSU enters the week in fourth place in the Horizon League (9-11; .450), just percentage points ahead of fifth place Valparaiso (8-10; .444) and sixth place Milwaukee (10-13; .434). Youngstown State is in third place with an 11-11 mark as Wright State (16-6) holds a two-game lead over second place UIC (14-6). CSU did not play any mid-week games last week due to final exams. The Vikings traveled to Wright State on Saturday (May 10) and dropped both ends of a doubleheader before losing two games at UIC on Sunday (May 11). The Vikings hit just .233 as a team with 11 runs in the four games, but Alex Kerins was a bright spot at the plate. He batted .438 (7-16) with three runs, one double and one RBI. Dylan Henry had a good outing on the mound in the final game against UIC, giving up two earned runs in seven innings of work. Men's Tennis Falls To Ohio State In NCAA Championships. . . The Viking men's tennis team had its record-setting season come to a close when CSU fell to Ohio State, 4-0, in an opening round contest in the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship. "We competed well against Ohio State, but we just didn't get out to a fast start like we wanted," head coach Brian Etzkin said. "Still, it was a monumental year for our program and we can't let one match spoil the whole season. We are proud of our accomplishments and are looking forward to get to the tournament again next year with better results." Sophomore Phil Orno, the Horizon League Player of the Year, was trailing his singles match against 16th-ranked Bryan Koniecko when it was suspended. He ends the year with a 19-2 record at No. 1 singles, including a 19-match win streak that he will carry over to the fall season. Classmate Ryan Hamning, who also garnered a spot on the all-league first team, dropped his match in straight sets to finish the season with an 18-14 record at No. 2 singles, while freshman Robert Fox, a second team All-Horizon League choice, finished the season with a 25-7 mark at No. 5 singles. CSU loses just one player next year, senior Brad Groleski who played his entire senior campaign with a back injury that forced him to compete mostly at No. 4 singles, several spots below where he normally played when healthy. Softball Finishes Second At Horizon League Tourney. . . The 2008 season came to a close for the Viking softball team last week when CSU finished second in the Horizon League Championship for the third time in the last four years. Cleveland State went 2-2 in the tourney, losing both games to eventual champion Wright State, including a 2-0 setback in the title game on Saturday (May 10). "I'm very proud of this team and the way it played this year," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "Although we fell short of our ultimate goal of winning the conference tourney and going to the NCAA's, we did claim the regular season title for the first time ever, won 30 games for the third straight year and set some standards for this program." The Vikings walked away from the pretourney banquet last week with the lion's share of the awards. Sophomore Amanda Macenko was named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year while Nicholson was tabbed as the league co-coach of the year. Macenko and junior shortstop Christa Coppus were each named to the all-league first team with junior Danielle Young and senior Whitney Willard being named to the second team and Amy Powell and Katelyn Ciminelli being tabbed for the all-newcomer team. Macenko, Ciminelli, Amanda Houchin and Jessica Burt were each named to the Horizon League All-Tournament team. Macenko finished the season with a 26-14 record and a 1.44 ERA to tie her own school record for wins in a season while Coppus claimed the batting title for the second straight season, hitting .361 (53-147) with a team-high 26 RBI. Willard, the lone senior on the squad, hit .297 (51-172), leading the team in stolen bases (21) and runs scored (31). Viking High Fives Christina Stoffer: After batting just three times and playing in eight games during the regular season, she saw action in both softball tourney games on Saturday, going two-for-four with a double, triple and two RBI. Alex Kerins: The baseball senior drove in his 50th run of the season over the weekend, becoming just the fourth player in CSU history to reach the milestone. Whitney Willard: The lone senior on the softball team finished her Viking career by being named to the All-Horizon League team for a third time in four seniors. Only a concussion suffered late last year kept her from making it all four years. The Schedule Ahead For The Vikings May 13 (Tuesday) May 14 (Wednesday) Men's Golf at NCAA Central Region (Practice) May 15 (Thursday) May 16 (Friday) Men's Golf at NCAA Central Region May 17 (Saturday) Men's Golf at NCAA Central Region
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