Michigan Rallies Past Gophers for 10th Straight Victory

Saturday, April 13

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

Michigan

31-7, 7-1

Minnesota

26-15, 3-5

Michigan

Minnesota

Michigan Rallies Past Gophers for 10th Straight Victory

4/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The 12th-ranked University of Michigan softball team rallied from a 3-0 deficit with four runs in the fifth and one in the seventh to earn a 5-3 win over Minnesota this afternoon (Saturday, April 13) at Alumni Field. Michigan, which entered the day's action in a three-way tie for first in the Big Ten with No. 19 Iowa and Northwestern, fell behind 3-0 before ace Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) came out of the bullpen to hold Minnesota scoreless over the final five innings.

Young

Young's work out of the bullpen gave the Michigan offense time to get things turned around. Leadoff hitter Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS) showed the way, going 3-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS) and Monica Schock (Rialto, Calif./Eisenhower HS) both drove in a pair of runs. The Wolverines (31-7, 7-1 Big Ten) have now won 10th straight overall and seven in a row in the Big Ten.

After a 1-2-3 first inning for Michigan starter Nicole Motycka (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney HS), Minnesota stirred things up in the second. A leadoff walk started the trouble, and after a stolen base and sacrifice, Minnesota designated player Angie Recknor drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single to leftfield. Golden Gopher shortstop Erin Wallace then pinch ran for Recknor and stole second before being sacrificed to third. With two outs, a Michigan passed ball sent Wallace dashing for the plate and she beat a close play for a 2-0 Minnesota lead. The Minnesota threat continued with two outs after two more singles, but a Motycka strikeout ended the inning.

Minnesota increased its advantage to 3-0 with an RBI-single run in the third, but things could have been much worse. Again Motycka found herself in trouble with a leadoff walk and then an illegal pitch -- which moved the runner up to second -- before an RBI double to right-center. Down three runs with nobody out in the third and staring at Minnesota's 4-5-6 hitters in the order, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins put the ball in Young's hands. Initially, Young looked out of sync, walking the first two hitters she faced, but with the bases loaded and still nobody out, she beared down to get a strikeout, force out at home and another strikeout to keep the Wolverines in the game.

Those three outs as well as Young's striking out the side in the fourth seemed to shift the momentum to Michigan, setting the stage for Michigan's big four-run fifth. Michigan's only real threat against Minnesota ace Piper Marten, who entered this week's action leading the Big Ten in strikeouts, came in the first, but Meghan Doe (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS) was gunned down at the plate trying to score from second on a single to leftfield from Schock.

Freshman shortstop Jessica Merchant (Wayland, Mich./Wayland HS), who delivered the big blow in Friday's 11-1 Michigan win with a three-run home run, led off the fifth inning with a single up the middle. Rightfielder Mary Conner (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Canton HS) followed with a perfect bunt that turned into a single and sent Merchant all the way around to third after an errant throw from Minnesota's third baseman.

With runners on the corners and nobody out, Marten now prepared for her third trip through the Michigan lineup with Kollen due up next. Kollen singled in a run and after a Doe strikeout, Volpe doubled over the leftfielder's head to cut the deficit to 3-2, leaving her and Kollen sitting on second and third, respectively, with one out. That's when Schock upped her team-best RBI total to 31 with a two-run single up the middle, with Volpe's slide barely beating the throw from centerfield. A Young groundout ended the inning but not before Michigan had turned a 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 lead.

Young took over from there, allowing just one baserunner, which she stranded with a two-out strikeout in the bottom of the fifth, over her final three innings of work. Michigan added an insurance run in the seventh on singles from Kollen and Doe, which set up a sacrifice fly from Volpe. Young then set down the Golden Gophers 1-2-3 in the seventh for her 18th win of the season.

Michigan closes out its weekend with a doubleheader tomorrow (Sunday, April 14, noon) against Wisconsin at Alumni Field. Live audio of tomorrow's doubleheader is will be available over the Internet at MGoBlue.com.

N O T E S

The Alumni Field crowd of 861 represents a season high for a Michigan home game.

The fifth inning has been Michigan's inning all season, with the Wolverines' outscoring their opponents 46-10 in that frame after today. The inning in which Michigan has scored its next highest amount of runs this season is the third with 32.

Stefanie Volpe's RBI double in the fifth extended her current team-best hit streak to six games, which matches her best string of the season.

Marissa Young's five innings of shutout relief today was her fourth straight appearance without allowing an earned run. Young has tossed 24.1 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run. The last earned run she allowed was a two-out home run in the fourth inning of her win at Indiana on April 5.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
On the game overall ... "What can I say They did it again today. I am not doing anything. This team is doing everything. Even when we went down 3-0 early they never gave up, not even one at-bat and that was the key. They never stopped believing and I felt once we went through the order the first time we would be better. Piper Marten is a top-notch pitcher and our kids made the adjustment after they saw her the first time. The double by (Stefanie) Volpe is a great example because she usually does not swing at the first pitch, but she made the adjustment and got the job done."

On going with Marissa Young so early ... "That is a tough call because I would hate for us not to get back in the game on offense and waste four or five innings of work from Marissa, but I felt we were still in the game, so I went with her. When I made the change I told her I thought we were still going to win this thing and she did the job by keeping us in it."

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423