Michigan
Michigan State
Michigan Sweeps MSU, Remains in Big Ten Title Hunt
5/1/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Scores: #1 Michigan 8, Michigan State 0 (5 innings); #1 Michigan 9, Michigan State 1 (5 innings)
Records: U-M (48-4, 13-2 Big Ten), MSU (21-27-1, 7-9 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game: Wednesday, May 4 -- DH vs. Western Michigan (Alumni Field), 4:00 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 1-ranked University of Michigan softball team did not look like a team coming off an eight-day layoff today (Sunday, May 1) as the Maize and Blue swept a doubleheader from Michigan State, winning 8-0 and 9-1 in front of 1,903 fans, the largest crowd in program history.
More importantly, the Wolverines (48-4, 13-2 Big Ten) moved within 1.5 games of first-place and idle Northwestern (15-1 Big Ten) to set up a showdown for the Big Ten title next weekend when both teams close their conference schedule with single games at Alumni Field in Ann Arbor on Saturday (May 7, 6 p.m.) and Sunday (May 8, 1 p.m.).
The victory also gave Michigan coach Carol Hutchins her 900th career victory in the Maize and Blue. Hutchins reached the 900 career-win plateau earlier this season that included her 23-win season at Ferris State back in 1982.
The Wolverines pounded out an efficient 17 runs on 18 hits in 10 innings with a balanced attack throughout the lineup. Junior leadoff hitter Tiffany Haas (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) set the pace with a 5-7 effort that included a home run, her team-leading 14th and 15th doubles of the season as well as three runs scored and two RBI. Fellow junior Stephanie Bercaw (Wooster, Ohio/Hillsdale HS) represented the bottom third of the Michigan order with four RBI on a home run and a double from the No. 7 spot.
All the offense was more than enough for junior Jennie Ritter (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS), who went the distance in both games, striking out nine and walking none in game one and allowing one run on four hits in the nightcap. She struck out 16 without issuing a free pass in the doubleheader.
Showing no signs of rust, the Wolverines scored two in the top of the first in game one after Haas and Alessandra Giampaolo (Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic HS) led off with doubles. The top two hitters in the Michigan order are 1-2 on the team with 15 and 13 doubles, respectively. It was the 27th time Michigan has scored in the first inning this season and the Wolverines are 26-1 when doing so.
The sticks were not the only part of the Michigan game clicking early as Ritter struck out two in each of the first four innings and did not allow a runner until a two-out single in the third. Michigan went to the long ball to stretch out its lead as Haas hit a solo shot in the third and then Bercaw and Becky Marx (St. Joseph, Mich./Stevensville-Lakeshore HS) went long on back-to-back swings in the fourth, including a two-run bomb over the scoreboard in leftfield from Bercaw. Michigan did not leave a runner on base until Grace Leutele (Sierra Vista, Ariz./Buena HS) ended the opener early with a two-run, bases-loaded single for an 8-0 win in five innings.
Game two took on much the same script, although Ritter was not as sharp early before finding her rhythm later in the game. She was again afforded an early cushion after Bercaw's two-run double in the second. The Spartans showed their first real life at the plate in the bottom of the second when they sandwiched two singles around a wild pitch for their first run of the afternoon. A quick chat in the circle with coach Carol Hutchins seemed just the remedy as Ritter set down the next two on strikes and was never again really threatened.
Michigan broke it open in the third and guess who sparked the six-run rally Haas connected for her team-leading 15th double to lead things off. Nicole Motycka (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney HS) shook off an 0-3 effort in game one, which snapped a nine-game hitting streak, to drive in a pair with a single and Marx added a two-run double. Haas finished what she started in the third with a run-scoring single for an 8-1 Wolverine lead.
It seems no Michigan game is complete without some long ball talk and Jessica Merchant (Wayland, Mich./Wayland HS) provided the fireworks in the fourth as a solo shot moved her into a tie for the team lead with 17. While Ritter had eight of her nine strikeouts through the first four innings of game one, it was just the opposite in game two as she struck out five over the final three frames for her 24th win of the season against only one defeat.
Michigan returns to action at Alumni Field on Wednesday (May 4, 4 p.m.) with a doubleheader vs. Western Michigan.
N O T E S
Carol Hutchins' 900 wins at Michigan have included seven seasons of 50-plus wins. Now in her 21st season at the helm in Ann Arbor, Hutchins has averaged 50 wins per season in her last 10 campaigns (1995-2004) and has averaged 42.9 over her first 20 seasons. She is just two wins shy of the eighth 50-win season of her career.
The Wolverines hit three home runs in game one and another in game two to up their school-record total to 81. Michigan has homered in 46 of 52 games this season has hit at least three home runs in a game on nine occasions.
Jessica Merchant moved back into a tie with Samantha Findlay for the single-season school record for home runs with her 17th.
Tiffany Haas' three-hit effort in the nightcap is her team-leading sixth three-hit game of the season. Haas leads the Wolverines with 24 multi-hit games and leads the Maize and Blue in hitting (.410).
Becky Marx now owns the current Michigan-best hit streak with a five-game string.
Bekcy Marx connected for her fifth home run of the season, giving the Wolverines seven different players with at least five bombs this season.
Today's attendance of 1,903 easily surpassed the previous mark of 1,487 which was set vs. Michigan State on May 4, 2003.
Jennie Ritter's shutout in the opener is the 25th this season by a Wolverine hurler, which is the second-best total in school history behind the 27 times Michigan pitchers blanked opponents last season.
Jessica Merchant's infield single in game one gave the senior co-captain 200 hits for her All-America career.
Jennie Ritter's game-one shutout is the 21st of her career, which matches Marie Barda (1998-2001) for seventh on the U-M career list.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
On the effort at the plate ... "We wanted to come out aggressive and I did not want to see anybody watching a called third strike. I like our enthusiasm from the beginning and thought we did a good job of executing the game plan. As a team we attacked the ball at the plate and we were ready to play."
On Stephanie Bercaw ... "She has been getting better and better, and to get that type of production out of the No. 7 spot in the order is huge."
On Jennie Ritter ... "This is as healthy as she has been in her career and it's showing right now because she is improving as the season goes along. She's having a great year and we need her to continue to step up down the stretch."
Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423
