2005 SFB vs. Illinois -- Notes & Quotes
4/3/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
N O T E S
Michigan now has 55 home runs this season with 11 different Wolverines hitting at least one and five different players connecting for at least six. Jessica Merchant and Samantha Findlay lead the way with 11 apiece.
Michigan has now homered in 34 of 37 games this season and in 16 straight games. Michigan has hit three total home runs in three of its last five games and 11 total bombs over its last five contests.
Stephanie Bercaw connected for one hit in each game of the doubleheader to extend her current Michigan-best and career-best hit streak to seven games.
Jennie Ritter now has eight double-digit strikeout performances this season after fanning 11 in game one. The junior has 499 for her career and needs just one more K to become only the third pitcher in Michigan history to reach 500 for her career.
Lorilyn Wilson's shutout in game two is her sixth of the season.
Nicole Motycka drove in a pair of runs in the game-one victory to give her eight multi-RBI games this season. That ties her for the team lead with Grace Leutele, Jessica Merchant and Samantha Finlday.
Samantha Findlay's seven-RBI effort is the most by a Wolverine this season and one shy of the school record set by Stefanie Volpe on April 20, 2002, at Northwestern.
Michigan's five-run fourth inning in game two gives the Wolverines a 35-1 advantage over their opponents in the fourth frame this season.
Nicole Motycka hit safely in all five games this week, going 11-17 (.647) with three home runs to up her season average to .404.
Michigan scored three runs in the first inning of game one today, making it 20 times this season the Wolverines have scored in the first frame. The first inning is still the Maize and Blue's most productive this season with 43 runs scored.
Michigan's 12-hit effort in game two was its 16th double-digit hit effort of the season.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Coach Carol Hutchins
On the home runs ... "Since the home run became such a big part of the college game recently, I have likened it to the three-point shot in basketball and you better have that in your arsenal. As far as the record goes, there is only one record this team wants to set and we can't set that one until the end of the season."
On the sweep overall ... "We kept a pretty good frame of mind even though we obviously did not play our best ball in the first game. We bounced back and had some good at-bats in the second game, but there are some things we need to square away. We committed four errors in the first game and had too many baserunning mistakes in both games."
On Samantha Findlay's power ... "She came to us like that. I'd like to say it's our coaching, but she is absolutely one of the strongest kids I have come across. We'd like to slow her swing down a little bit, which would drive up her average without really hurting her power. She's always going to have that power."
