Michigan
1-1
UC Santa Barbara
5-4
Ritter Fans 13, Michigan Uses Long Ball to Beat UCSB
2/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- The eighth-ranked University of Michigan softball team earned its first win of the season, dropping UC Santa Barbara 7-2 behind a dominant 13-strikeout performance from Jennie Ritter (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) late Saturday night (Feb. 12) at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic. The win evened Michigan's record at 1-1 at the season-opening tournament.
Just as Baylor jumped on Michigan with four runs in the top of the first in the Wolverines' 7-6 season-opening loss to the Bears, the Wolverines scored four in the top of the first vs. the Gauchos. Grace Leutele (Sierra Vista, Ariz./Buena HS) connected for a three-run home run as part of that four-run first for the Maize and Blue.
Leutele's first bomb of the season was all Ritter would need as the junior posted the second-highest single-game strikeout total of her career. She set down 15 Eastern Michigan hitters via the strikeout on April 14 of last season.
UC Santa Barbara got on the board with a run in the bottom of the second, but Michigan answered with two more in its half of the third. Freshman Samantha Findlay (Lockport, Ill./East HS), who homered in her first game as a Wolverine vs. Baylor, added an RBI double in the frame. After the Gauchos added a second run in the sixth, Michigan catcher Tiffany Worthy (Yorba Linda, Calif./Lutheran HS) connected for her first home run of the season to close out the scoring in the top of the seventh. Worthy's long ball capped a 3-4 effort with three RBI for the sophomore.
Michigan closes out action at the Desert Classic Sunday vs. Utah (8:30 a.m. PST) and Oregon (10:30 a.m. PST).
| Score by Innings | | 1 | 2 | 3 | | 4 | 5 | 6 | | 7 | | R | H | E |
| Michigan | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 1 | ||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
Michigan -- Ritter, Worthy. UCSB -- Sommer, Hensler. HR -- Michigan, Leutele (1), Worthy (1). 2B -- Michigan, Findlay, Haas.
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ritter, Jennie (1-0)
L: Lindsey Sommer (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Haas, Tiffany 1 ; Findlay, Samantha 1
HR: Leutele, Grace 1 ; Worthy, Tiffany 1
RBI: Findlay, Samantha 1 ; Leutele, Grace 3 ; Worthy, Tiffany 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Giampaolo, Alessandra 1 ; Findlay, Samantha 2 ; Motycka, Nicole 2 ; Leutele, Grace 1 ; Worthy, Tiffany 1
CS: Leutele, Grace 1
Batting:
2B: Lindsey Herrin 1
3B: Jennifer Davis 1
RBI: Jennifer Davis 1 ; Shelby Hensler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Alexandra Kinney 1 ; Jennifer Davis 1
