April 13, 2009

Contact: Brian McCann

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Cleveland State junior Amanda Macenko, who won four games last week to set the CSU career record for wins, has been named the Horizon League Pitcher of the Week for a league-record tying 10th time in her career. The League office made the announcement on Monday.

The award is the third this season, all coming in the last four weeks, an allows Macenko to tie UIC's Samantha Iuli's league record of receiving the honor 10 times in a career.

The junior went 4-1 with a 0.82 ERA in five games last week, all against league opponents, going 2-0 against Detroit and 2-1 vs. Loyola. She threw 34 innings, allowing 6 runs (4 earned) on 20 hits, striking out 41 and walked 5.

"Amanda was really on her game last week," CSU head coach Angie Nicholson said. "She dominated Detroit in the two games she pitched and then came back to throw three very solid games over the weekend against Loyola.

"Although she may have had better numbers in a game this year, her performance in the last game against Loyola was perhaps her best. She was throwing her fifth game in three days and doing so in miserable weather. Still, she kept her focus and was able to lead us to a 2-1 win."

Macenko opened the week by earning wins in both ends of the doubleheader against Detroit, throwing 11 innings without allowing a run and striking out 22.

In the three-game series against Loyola, she lost a heart-breaking 3-2 decision in the series opener, but bounced back to pitch complete game wins in the second (5-2) and third (2-1) games.

The four wins during the week also allowed her to break Amy Kyler's school record for career victories. Macenko now has 70 career victories, topping the 67 set by Amy Kyler (1993-97).

Cleveland State hosts Eastern Michigan for a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 14 beginning at 3:00 p.m. at Viking Field.