Young's Three-Hitter Nets Michigan Tournament Title

Saturday, May 11

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:30 PM

Michigan

46-9

Ohio State

53-12

Michigan

Ohio State

5/11/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In a game between the Big Ten's top two softball teams, with the conference tournament title on the line as well as the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, No. 1 seed Michigan and No. 2 seed Ohio State did not disappoint. Michigan scored two runs in the top of the first on a two-out single by Melinda Moulden (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley HS) and Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) made that stand up in a 2-1 Wolverine win, holding off several Buckeye threats throughout a game that was played in front of over 1,000 fans at U-M's Alumni Field.

Moulden

Moulden's game-winning RBI was set up with singles by Meghan Doe (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS) and Monica Schock (Rialto, Calif./Eisenhower HS), who stole second before Young walked to load the bases. Moulden and Young moved to second and third, respectively, after the throw to the plate, but were stranded there.

As one would expect in a title contest pitting the top two seeds, Ohio State answered right back against Young in the bottom of the first. The Buckeyes were the home team in the championship game by virtue of the fact they had been home fewer times than the Wolverines during the tournament. Jennifer Link stood on second base with two outs after reaching on a fielder's choice and moving to second on a sacrifice by Wendy Allen. Buckeye cleanup hitter Stacy Roth then delivered a run-scoring single up the middle and moved to second on the throw to the plate. After an intentional walk to Kristine Himes, Ohio State threatened to do even more damage, but Young forced Breana Pozzi to pop up for the final out.

Despite the 2-1 Michigan lead, Ohio State seemed to have momentum, and thanks to a Michigan error and another Anna Smith single the Buckeyes put two more runners on with two outs in the second. Link stood at the plate with the heart of the Ohio State order waiting on deck, but Young fought back to set her down looking.

That at-bat seemed to change the face of the game as Young really settled in and did not allow another hit until two were out in the seventh. The Michigan offense made a bid to expand its lead in the third, with Moulden reaching on a leadoff single after a lengthy battle with Ohio State hurler Allen. Moulden was sacrificed to second and then tried to score on a two-out single by Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS), but Buckeye leftfielder Chrissy Fowler gunned her down at the plate for the final out of the inning.

Young was cruising along after setting down the Buckeyes in order in the both the third and fourth and stranding Smith at second in the fifth after she reached on an error. However, Young's strikeout of Stacy Roth to open the sixth turned bad when the pitch scooted by catcher Schock and allowed Roth to reach first. A Himes strikeout and Pozzi sacrifice ensued, leaving the tying run on second with two outs in the fifth and the Big Ten Player of the Year (Allen) facing the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year (Young). Allen took Young deep into the count before lining out to shortstop to end the inning.

While Young was holding her lead for Michigan, Allen was also finding a groove and keeping Ohio State one swing from tying the game. With Michigan unable to mount a serious threat after the fourth inning, it was up to Young to close the door in the seventh. Ohio State's first two hitters went down on a groundout and popout, but again it was Smith -- who entered the tournament No. 2 in the nation in hitting (.519) -- stirring things up for the Buckeyes with a single. Again Young faced the prospect of dealing with the middle of Ohio State's lineup with the tying run on base and again she came up with the big strikeout, setting down Link for the second time in the game to give Michigan its sixth Big Ten Tournament crown.

Michigan and Ohio State both now await their NCAA Tournament fate, which will be decided with the NCAA selection show tomorrow (Sunday, May 12, 9 p.m.) on ESPNews.

N O T E S

Michigan has won both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles in the same season for the fifth time and first since 1998.

Ohio State's pitching staff set the school strikeout record when Wendy Allen caught Lisa Mack looking in the second. The Buckeyes surpassed the old mark of 443 that was set in 2001.

Ohio State was playing in its first Big Ten Tournament championship game.

Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS) reached on a single in the fifth to extend her streak of consecutive games reaching base to 26.

Today's championship game will air tomorrow (Sunday, May 12, noon CDT) on Fox Sports Chicago.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
On the win ... "What can I say, it was just a great softball game with two excellent teams battling it out in a one-run game. I told my seniors this week that they had won the Big Ten regular-season championship and they had won the Big Ten Tournament title, but never both in the same season, and that group of seniors deserves all the credit. They are what this team is about."

On her meeting with Marissa Young early in the game ... "I know Ohio State is a great hitting club, but I felt she was nibbling too much and needed to go after them a little better. They are a tough lineup to face, but Marissa has good stuff and I wanted her to trust it more."

On what it means to the win the tournament ... "It is a great feeling because this was the toughest Big Ten Tournament we have ever had to win. Our league is from top to bottom tougher than it has ever been and this week showed that. To get through and win a tournament with this many good teams is something to be proud of and I could not be any more proud of this team."

Ohio State Head Coach Linda Kalafatis
On the game overall ... "I thought we played outstanding on defense and they were able to squeeze a couple of hits in there early that were really the difference in the game. I thought Marissa (Young) got stronger as the game wore on. It is safe to say she was not on her game early on, but she did a nice job of stepping up as the game went on like a leader should. Another area I thought was huge was that we did not do a good job of moving runners up when we had our chances and that hurt us."

On OSU pitcher Wendy Allen ... "I thought she pitched really well, but a couple of bleeders dropped in early in the game. You also have to give Michigan credit because they put runners on and got the rally started, but I thought after that Wendy bounced back to pitch well."

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423