Young Shutout, Homer Propel Michigan to Big Ten Lead

Saturday, May 4

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

Michigan

42-9, 14-3

Michigan State

24-34, 4-14

Michigan State

Michigan

5/4/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The 11th-ranked University of Michigan softball team used a three-hit shutout and solo home run from junior Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) in front of 1,015 fans at Alumni Field this afternoon (Saturday, May 4) to win its eighth straight with a 1-0 win over Michigan State.

The win on Senior Day coupled with Penn State's 1-0 win over Ohio State (15-4 Big Ten) today moves the Wolverines (42-9, 14-3 Big Ten) into first place in the conference, and they can clinch their eighth Big Ten regular-season championship in 11 years with a win tomorrow at Michigan State (1 p.m.). A Big Ten regular-season title would give the Wolverines the host role for the Big Ten Tournament (May 9-11) for the second straight season.

Young

The Michigan State pitching combination of starter Becky Gray and reliever Jessica Beech made it very difficult for the Wolverines to move into the top spot in the Big Ten as the Spartan hurlers staved off several Michigan threats throughout the day.

After Michigan put two runners on in both the second and third innings without pushing a run across, Young took matters into her own hands in the bottom of the fourth, sending a leadoff line drive over the fence in leftfield for her fifth home run of the season. The Wolverines threatened to break the game open in the fourth after Melinda Moulden (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley HS) and Jessica Merchant (Wayland, Mich./Wayland HS) followed Young's home run with a single and walk, respectively, forcing Michigan State coach Jacquie Joseph to bring Jessica Beech out of the bullpen. After a sacrifice by Lisa Mack (Saline, Mich./Saline HS), Beech forced Courtney Betley (Corona, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS) to ground back to the pitcher and Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS) to fly to leftfield, stranding runners on second and third.

Because of seven stranded runners through the first four innings, the Wolverines clung to just a 1-0 lead heading into the fifth inning. Michigan's 1-0 lead was holding up because Young was her usual dominant self on the mound, allowing just three infield singles all game while striking out eight. Michigan State's best opportunity against Young came in the fourth when a walk, wild pitch, groundout and intentional walk left Spartan runners on the corners with two outs. Just as she did all day, however, Young came up with the big strikeout to end the threat.

Although Young was on top of her game, Michigan State put a runner in scoring position in the fifth and sixth innings, but Young took care of business herself with an unassisted putout to end the fifth and struck out the final two hitters of the sixth with the tying run on second.

Michigan, meanwhile, was not able to give Young more of a cushion despite posing another serious threat in the fifth inning. Meghan Doe (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS) led off the fifth with a single and Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS) drew her third walk of the game. Although Monica Schock (Rialto, Calif./Eisenhower HS) could not move up the runners, they executed a double steal to put runners on second and third with just one out. Although Young and Moulden are both scoring runners from third with less than one out at a better than .500 rate, they both went down on strikes to end the inning.

Young, however, made sure Michigan's failures with runners in scoring position did not come back to haunt them with a scoreless seventh for her 23rd win of the season.

The Wolverines close out their regular season tomorrow (Sunday, May 5, 1 p.m.) against Michigan State at Old College Field in East Lansing, Mich.

N O T E S

Although Stefanie Volpe's nine-game hit streak came to an end because she drew walks in all three at-bats this afternoon, she did extend her string of consecutive games reaching base to 22.

Marissa Young's home run in the fourth was her fifth of the season and upped Michigan's school-record season total to 33. The Wolverines have now hit at least one home run in seven of their last eight games. Michigan is 23-1 this season when it hits a home run.

Today's crowd of 1,015 is the best of the season at Alumni Field and the second-best regular-season crowd ever behind the 1,187 fans who watched Michigan clinch the 2001 Big Ten regular-season championship with a 2-1, eight-inning win over Michigan State on May 6, 2001.

Q U O T E S

U-M Head Coach Carol Hutchins
On the game overall ... "Well, Marissa Young came up huge for us today and we really needed her to because we did not hit the ball like we are capable of. You have to give Michigan's State's pitchers a lot of credit. They kept us off balance and forced us to swing at pitches we did not want to swing at. At the same time, I felt we were a little tight at the plate and it showed, especially with runners in scoring position."

On Michigan's defense ... "In addition to Marissa, I thought our defense was the main reason we won today. We made great plays off the bat and we threw a couple of runners out trying to steal, so it was an all-around defensive effort and we needed it."

On playing at home ... "I love playing at home and we had another great crowd today. It is a great atmosphere, but it's even better when you hit the ball and the crowd really gets into the game."

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423