Bulldogs Tie School Record For Wins

May 15, 2007

VICTORY MARK: Coach Jeanne Rayman, who helped Butler to a pair of winning softball records as a player (1987 & 1988), guided the Bulldogs to their first winning season since 1991 in her initial campaign as Butler's head coach. The Bulldogs, who split four games in the 2007 Horizon League Softball Championship, finished the season with a 26-24 overall record. The 26 wins matched the school single season record for victories in a season, set by Butler's 1982 squad (when the program competed in the IAIAW Division II), and established a new school record for most wins as an NCAA Division I program. Butler, picked last in a preseason poll of league coaches, posted a 7-8 record and a sixth place finish in the Horizon League.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP: A walk-off home run by Lia Gordon of Cleveland State in the bottom of the ninth inning ended Butler's bid for the 2007 Horizon League Tournament championship, but not before the Bulldogs out-lasted four other league squads. Butler opened the tournament with a 2-1 victory in 12 innings over #3 seed UW-Green Bay, before falling to eventual tournament champ Wright State, 7-2, in the second round. The Bulldogs came back with a 7-1 victory over Detroit in a tournament elimination game, but then dropped the 2-1 extra-inning decision to host Cleveland State. The final setback left the Bulldogs in fourth place in the eight-team tournament.

ALL-TOURNAMENT: Butler had two players earn All-Tournament recognition at the 2007 Horizon League Softball Championship in Cleveland, Ohio. Junior centerfielder Jenny Jacobs and junior pitcher Nikki Naffziger both were named to the 12-player All-Tournament team. Jacobs batted .467 (7-15) with five RBIs in Butler's four tournament games. She had four RBIs in Butler's 7-1 victory over Detroit. Naffziger was the starting pitcher in both of Butler's tournament wins. She pitched eight innings in Butler's opening game against UW-Green Bay and allowed just three hits and one unearned run. The Butler righthander then tossed a complete game and picked up the victory over Detroit, allowing just one run on six hits while striking out six Titans.

BULLDOG BITS: Junior Amy Hyerczyk wound up leading the Bulldogs in hitting in 2007 with a .375 batting average. She set a Butler single season record with 60 hits and she tied the school season record with 15 doubles. Hyerczyk had a team-high 83 total bases and a team-best .519 slugging percentage...Junior Jenny Jacobs broke the Butler single season record for runs batted in with 38 this season. The former school mark of 34 was set by Jamie Bradley in 2003. Jacobs ranked No. 1 in the Horizon League in RBIs at the conclusion of the league tournament, with only Wright State having games remaining. The Butler centerfielder also led the team in home runs with eight, missing her own school single season record by a single round-tripper. She boosted her Butler career home run record to 22...Jacobs and sophomore Lindsay Schluge both tied the Butler single season record by getting hit by a pitch five times in 2007! The record was originally set by Amanda Poast in 1999...Butler set a team season record with 25 home runs in 2007.