May 15, 2009
Contact: Greg Murphy
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- Cleveland State freshman baseball player Nate Dick and senior softball player Amanda Houchin have been named U.S. Army Horizon League Scholar-Athletes of the Week for the week ending May 10. League commissioner Jonathan B. LeCrone made the announcement on Thursday (May 14) afternoon.
Dick, a native of Lakewood, Ohio, made just the third start of his career last week, working seven strong innings to lead the Vikings to an 11-1 victory over regular season champion UIC. He gave up the one run on seven hits and struck out two. For the season, Dick is 4-1 with a team-low 2.42 earned-run average.
In the classroom, Dick carries a 3.59 grade-point average as a computer engineering major.
Houchin, a senior third baseman from Lima, Ohio, helped lead the Vikings to their first Horizon League championship since 1997 last week, hitting .471 (8-for-17) with four home runs, nine runs-batted-in and five runs scored in the tournament. Houchin, who earned a spot on the all-tournament team, also claimed the Batting Champion Award as the top hitter in the championship. Entering the NCAA Softball Championship, she is batting .352 with 10 home runs and 35 RBI.
A psychology and criminology major, Houchin owns a 3.47 grade-point average at Cleveland State.
The Viking baseball team will conclude the regular season with a three-game series at Wright State on Friday and Saturday, May 15-16. Friday's single game will begin at 6:00 p.m. with Saturday's doubleheader slated for 1:00 p.m.
The CSU softball squad will begin play in the NCAA Championship on Friday, May 15, with a first round regional game against Notre Dame at 4:30 p.m. in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Horizon League instituted the U.S. Army Scholar-Athlete of the Week awards as a way to recognize outstanding academic and athletic achievement by its student-athletes. To be eligible for the honor, a student-athlete must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.20 or better (on a 4.00 scale), have completed at least one year at the member institution, passed 24 semester or 36 quarter hours and perform well during the week's competition. Winners are selected by a group of League faculty athletic representatives, from nominations provided by sports information directors.