Ritter Mows Down Demons, Leads Wolverines to WCWS Win

Thursday, June 2

Oklahoma City, Okla.

6:30 PM CT

Michigan

61-5

DePaul

45-20

DePaul

Michigan

Jennie Ritter

Ritter Mows Down Demons, Leads Wolverines to WCWS Win

6/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

By: Rich Marion

Site: Oklahoma City, Okla. (Hall of Fame Stadium)
Event: Women's College World Series
Score: #1 Michigan 3, DePaul 0
Records: U-M (61-5), DePaul (45-20)
Next U-M Event: Friday, June 3 -- vs. Texas at Women's College World Series (Oklahoma City, Okla.), 9:30 p.m. CDT

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- The No. 1-ranked University of Michigan softball team advanced to the second round of the Women's College World Series with a 3-0 shutout victory over unseeded DePaul on Thursday (June 2). A night after celebrating her 21st birthday, junior pitcher Jennie Ritter (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) ignited Michigan to its first win in the WCWS since 1998. Ritter earned the shutout, fanning 12 batters and allowing just five baserunners.

The Wolverines wasted no time getting on the board. The proverbial two-out team jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead thanks to an offensive jumpstart from the bat of designated player Nicole Motycka (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney HS). Motycka blooped a single to short rightfield that squirted past DePaul rightfielder Dana Kenny, pushing centerfielder Alessandra Giampaolo (Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic HS) and shortstop Jessica Merchant (Wayland, Mich./Wayland HS) across the dish.

Ritter worked her way out of the only jam she would face in the top of the third. With runners at the corners and one down, Ritter got a grounder from Kenney, which she tossed to Becky Marx (St. Joseph, Mich./Lakeshore HS) to tag the runner at the plate. The next batter delivered an infield single before Ritter punched out Sandy Vojik to end the bases-loaded rally.

Following the stifled rally, Ritter shut down the Blue Demons, striking out the side in the fourth and setting down the side in order in the fifth. Ritter did not allow a hit past the third inning as she cruised to her 34th win of the season.

Michigan's offense continued to roll in the fourth, chasing DePaul starter Tracie Adix after Rebekah Milian (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc HS) and Marx reached base. Pinch runner Michelle Weatherdon (Marquette, Mich./Senior HS), who moved to third on a wild pitch from Blue Demon reliever Megan Huitnik, crossed the plate on a Tiffany Haas (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill HS) sacrifice fly to extend to Wolverines' lead to 3-0.

That would be all the Michigan offense could squeeze out of Huitnik, who held the Wolverines to a single hit in the final two innings.

Michigan (61-5) will take on No. 4 seed Texas, a 3-0 winner over No. 12 seed Alabama, in Game 6 of the WCWS tomorrow (June 3) at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Okla. First pitch is scheduled for 9 p.m. CDT, and the game will be televised live on ESPN2.

N O T E S

• Jessica Merchant set a new U-M single-season record for runs in a season (65) when she scored in the second inning.

• Tiffany Haas moved into a tie for third place on Michigan's single-season hits chart. Her 87th hit ties her with Traci Conrad (1999) and Catherine Davie (1999), two off the school record shared by Sara Griffin (1995) and Kelsey Kollen (1999).

• Jennie Ritter notched her 15th blanking of the season and 25th of her career, moving her into a tie for sixth on the U-M career list (Andrea Nelson, 1988-91) and tying her for the second-best single-season mark (Sara Griffin, 1998).

• Despite reaching base on an error, Rebekah Milian saw her career-high hitting streak snapped at six games. She had registered a hit in each of the Wolverines' previous six NCAA Tournament games.

• Jennie Ritter needs one more win to move into a tie for sixth (Marie Barda, 1998-2001) on the U-M all-time list. She needs three more in the win column to catch current teammate Nicole Motycka (66).

• Tonight's 12-strikeout performance was the fourth time Jennie Ritter has registered double-digit punch-outs in her six NCAA Tournament starts.

• Jennie Ritter's 12-K performance also earned her membership in the exclusive 700-strikeout club. Ritter (706) joins Marissa Young (927, 2000-03) as the only two Michigan members.

• With tonight's win, Michigan improves its all-time record against DePaul to 7-4.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
Opening statement ... "We won. It was a great game. DePaul was never off their game. They always come at you. You know [DePaul coach Eugene Lenti's] kids are always going to play to the end. Our kids just played good, solid softball. Jennie Ritter did a great job, especially getting out of the third inning -- that got a little hairy there. I was confident we would get out of it. Our kids were ready to play and had a lot of poise. They did a great job."

On the team's first WCWS win since 1998... "We won and we came here to win. We're trying to win this tournament. It's the only tournament we care about."

U-M Senior Designated Player Nicole Motycka
On the difference between this year's team and previous WCWS teams ... "I don't think we felt the pressure that we've felt in the past. That's what made the difference."

On the momentum Michigan is riding ... "That always helps, having continued success. I think it goes back to that we believe in each other so much. We know that if we don't get it done, somebody's going to do it. So you just kind of leave it all on the field. It's trust in each other."

U-M Junior Pitcher Jennie Ritter
On the third-inning mound conference with coach Carol Hutchins ... "She told us to play good softball. We went out there and we shut them down."