Home Runs and Solid Pitching Propel Wolverines Past ULL

Sunday, March 2

Columbus, Ga.

10:00 AM

Michigan

17-2

Louisiana-Lafayette

10-3

Michigan

Louisiana-Lafayette

Home Runs and Solid Pitching Propel Wolverines Past ULL

3/2/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

Site: Columbus, Ga. (South Commons Stadium and Complex)
Score: #12 Michigan 9, #16 Louisiana Lafayette 0
Records: U-M (17-2), Louisiana Lafayette (10-3)
Next U-M Event: Friday, March 14 -- vs. Minnesota at Louisville Tournament (Louisville, Ky.), noon

Boxscore | Notes & Quotes

COLUMBUS, Ga. -- The No. 12-ranked University of Michigan softball team used big hits and solid pitching to wrap up the annual NFCA Leadoff Classic with a decisive 9-0 victory over No. 16 Louisiana Lafayette on Sunday morning (March 2) at the South Commons Stadium and Complex. The Wolverines knocked out three homers, including a third-inning grand slam by senior Samantha Findlay(Lockport, Ill./East HS), to complete the annual tournament with a perfect mark and their second straight team trophy.

U-M (17-2) registered nine hits --five for extra bases -- through the seven-inning contest. Sophomore Maggie Viefhaus(Eureka, Mo./Eureka HS) accounted for a third of the Wolverines' hits, batting 3-for-4 against the Cajuns with two doubles and a home run, while Findlay, just a day removed from tying the Wolverines' career home run record, took sole possession of it in dramatic fashion with her fifth-career grand slam. Freshman Dorian Shaw(Burke, Va./Robinson SS) recorded Michigan's first home run of the contest -- a game-winning solo shot in the second inning.

Freshman pitcher Jordan Taylor(Valencia, Calif./Valencia HS) claimed the tournament's Most Outstanding Pitcher award after posting a perfect 3-0 record over the weekend. Against ULL, Taylor gave up just two hits -- a career low for the U-M rookie -- and struck out nine, including four of the first six batters she faced, to claim the complete-game shutout. It was Taylor's third shutout of the season as she improved her record to 10-1.

Michigan had only put one runner on base before Shaw took the plate with two outs in the second. Facing a full count, the Wolverine freshman hooked a rocket over the fence in leftfield for her third homer of the season. Shaw's home run in the second frame would prove to be all that Michigan would need, but U-M added two more long balls in the subsequent inning as Findlay and Viefhaus went back-to-back with two outs late in the frame. Michigan benefited from a pair of walks and a ULL fielding error to load the bases before Findlay came to the plate. The U-M captain, down in the count, lifted a blast over the leftfield fence to bring home four runs, and Viefhaus followed suit in the next at-bat, sending a towering shot to the same location beyond leftfield.

Viefhaus launched a leadoff double to left center in her next plate appearance, in the fifth inning, and after a pair of quick outs, sprinted home when sophomore Roya St. Clair(Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS) knocked a base hit up the middle.

The Wolverines ended the game as strong as they had begun, manufacturing a pair of runs in the top of the seventh frame to match their largest margin of victory this season. Viefhaus again doubled to lead off the inning, taking the first pitch she saw deep into the leftfield. After the U-M third baseman advanced on a ground out and was joined on base by Shaw, who was struck by an inside pitch, junior Teddi Ewing(Olathe, Kan./East HS) hit a hard comebacker to the pitching circle to allow Viefhaus to race home. Shaw scored from third base in the following at-bat when a wild pitch rolled to the backstop.

Taylor, after giving up a leadoff base hit in the sixth, retired the last six Cajun batters she faced to close out the game for Michigan.

Michigan will take a two-week hiatus before heading to Louisville, Ky., for its annual appearance at the Louisville Tournament (March 14-16). U-M will open the event with a non-conference slate against Minnesota at Ulmer Stadium.

Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423