Lauren does it again!

[Homer Hawks Site Administrator]

Butler's McNulty Tabbed Player of the Week; Cleveland State's Sito Picks Up Pitcher of the Week Honors

Release Horizon League · April 18, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS – Butler junior left fielder Lauren McNulty (Downers Grove, Ill.) has been tabbed the Horizon League Player of the Week, while Cleveland State sophomore Tess Sito (Elyria, Ohio) has been selected the League Pitcher of the Week, for the week beginning April 11. The accolade is the first of the season for McNulty and the third pitching honor for Sito in 2011.

Butler went 5-1 last week, claiming a midweek Horizon League series from Valparaiso, 2-1, before sweeping Green Bay in three games over the weekend. The Bulldogs moved into first place in the League with an 11-3 mark with to a League-best 11-3 with nine contests remaining.

Cleveland State split four games last week, dropping a doubleheader at Niagara before sweeping Loyola in League play. Sito appeared on the rubber in all four contests for the Vikings.

McNulty went 7-for-15 on the week, crossing home plate three times and driving in four. The junior saved her best for the last game of the week, drilling a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning to lift Butler to a 5-4 win and the series sweep. With a 3-for-3 effort in the final game, McNutly capped a week in which she hit safely in five of the six games. The left fielder added the game-winning RBI in the Bulldogs’ 2-0 victory against Valparaiso on Tuesday.

Sito was nearly perfect over the weekend, striking out 23 in 17 innings of work, walking just two batters as she carried Cleveland State to two 1-0 victories against Loyola. In the opening win of the doubleheader, Sito struck out a career-high 15 Ramblers, giving up just two hits. In the nightcap, the sophomore came back with eight more strikeouts, carrying a no-hitter into the 10th inning of the eventual victory. On the week, Sito went 2-1 with a 1.21 ERA, totaling 39 strikeouts in 29 innings.

Butler hits the road for a midweek doubleheader at Miami University on Tuesday, April 19, before returning to the Butler Softball Field for its last home games of the season. The Bulldogs host Horizon League foe Youngstown State in a three-game set starting with a doubleheader on Friday, April 22. Cleveland State is on the road all week, traveling to a doubleheader at Kent State on Wednesday, April 20, before heading to Chicago for a three-game League series with UIC starting on Friday.

Tags: Butler - Softball · Cleveland State - Softball

[Homer Hawks Site Administrator]

Five Ramblers Earn Softball All-Horizon League Honors
Brittany Gardner named Newcomer of the Year and Missy Beseres earns Coach of the Year accolades


May 10, 2011


CHICAGO - Five Loyola University Chicago softball players capped a championship season by earning All-Horizon League honors, which were announced today. Three Ramblers were named to the All-League First Team and two others earned Second Team recognition, while first-year head coach Missy Beseres was named Coach of the Year after leading Loyola to the Horizon League regular-season championship.

A trio of Ramblers - Brooke Andresen (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South), Lauren Arceneaux (Algonquin, Ill./Jacobs) and Brittany Gardner (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) - were tabbed First Team All-Horizon League, marking the most first-team selections since four Loyola players were so honored in 2007. Andresen, a sophomore second baseman, earned First Team All-League accolades for the second time in as many seasons and batted .338 (26 for 77) with four doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI and four stolen bases in Horizon League play this spring.

Arceneaux, who earned first-team honors for the first time in her career, posted a .311 (23 for 74) batting average and scored 16 runs. The junior also racked up two doubles, a triple, three homers, 12 RBI and nine steals, while leading the team from the shortstop position. Meanwhile, Gardner put together one of the best seasons ever by a pitcher in Loyola history, tying a school-record for wins by a freshman with 14. In addition, her 182 total strikeouts rank third on the Loyola single-season chart. The lefthander was impressive in League action, going 8-4 with a 1.88 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 89.1 innings, while allowing only 53 hits and a .170 opponents' batting average.

Tess Sito (Cleveland State), Erin Falkenberry (Butler), Coryn Schmit (UIC), Jordan Rutkowski (Valparaiso), Sara Strickland (Valparaiso), Louie Haney (Wright State), Jordan Ingalls (Youngstown State), Lauren McNulty (Butler), Carly DeMarco (UIC), Alli Rivera (Green Bay) and Jenny Esparza (Butler) were also named First Team All-Horizon League.

Freshmen Olivia Bell (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South) and Keali Engelkens (Milledgeville, Ill./Milledgeville) represented Loyola on the All-Horizon League Second Team. Bell burst onto the scene this year and came into her own in Horizon League play, batting .318 (14 for 44) with a team-best 13 RBI. She also tied for the team lead with four home runs and four doubles in conference contests.

Engelkens led all League pitchers with a 0.90 ERA in circuit play, and she also compiled a 6-2 record, along with two saves and 42 strikeouts in 54.2 innings. League foes hit a paltry .149 against her.

Bell and Engelkens were joined on the second team by Mollie Berry (Wright State), Dara Toman (Cleveland State), China Frost (Wright State), Sadie Conner (Valparaiso), Natalie Hernandez (UIC), Justine Shilt (Wright State), Erin Jackson (Butler), KC Boldt (Valparaiso), Chelsea Archer (Wright State), Kim Klonowski (Youngstown State) and Alex Lagesse (Valparaiso).

Gardner was only the second player in school history, and the first since Ellen Antonacci in 1995, to be named Newcomer of the Year. Teammates Bell and Engelkens also collected All-Newcomer status, along with Shannon Butts (Green Bay), Natalie Hernandez (UIC), Amanda Wisniewski (Valparaiso), Chelsea Archer (Wright State), Sara Cupp (Detroit), Angie Doerffler (Valparaiso) and Kacie Rapshus (Wright State).

Beseres was named Horizon League Coach of the Year after taking a squad that was picked to finish sixth and turning it into a championship club. With 26 wins in her first year at the helm of the Loyola program, Beseres has recorded the second-most victories by a first-year Rambler coach.

Tess Sito of Cleveland State earned Horizon League Player of the Year accolades for the second straight season and Jenny Esparza picked up Pitcher of the Year recognition.

Loyola, which is the No. 1 seed, opens play at the Horizon League Championship at Loyola Softball Park at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 12, when it will face the winner of the No. 4 Cleveland State versus No. 5 UIC contest.