Michigan
Notre Dame
U-M Triumphs Over No. 25 Irish to Clinch Regional Crown
5/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Softball Complex)
Score: #7 Michigan 4, #25 Notre Dame 0
Records: U-M (44-10), Notre Dame(42-17)
Next U-M Event: Friday, May 22-- vs. Baylor in NCAA Super Regional (Wilpon Softball Complex), 8 p.m.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- For the second time in as many days, the No. 7-ranked University of Michigan softball team exploded in the late innings against 25th-ranked Notre Dame, clinching its sixth consecutive NCAA Regional crown with a 4-0 victory on Sunday (May 17) in front of 1,344 fans at the Wilpon Softball Complex, home of Alumni Field.
In a rematch of the 2007 event, the Wolverines (44-10) will host Baylor, the winner of the Region 12 championship series, in a best-of-three NCAA Super Regional on Friday and Saturday, May 22-23. The teams will play at 8 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Saturday, with the third game to follow Saturday if necessary. All three games will be televised by ESPN and carried on ESPN360.com.
The Wolverines broke open the scoreless tie in the top of the sixth, using a pair of hits to gain the only advantage they needed. Starting the inning at the top of the order, freshman outfielder Bree Evans (Bloomington, Calif./Rialto HS), who highlighted U-M's offense with a 3-for-4 effort from the plate, roped a single down the leftfield line. The Wolverine rookie advanced on a sacrifice bunt and subsequent groundout before coming home for the go-ahead run on junior catcher Roya St. Clair's (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS) chipped liner into shallow rightfield.
Junior LHP Nikki Nemitz (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Regina HS) kicked off a three-run seventh for the Wolverines, taking the inning's second pitch and ringing it off the rightfield foul post for her eighth home run of the season and U-M's fifth of the regional competition. Two outs later, senior shortstop Teddi Ewing (Olathe, Kan./East HS) reached on a looper to shallow left and, after stealing second, raced home when Evans took the 0-2 pitch deep to the warning track in centerfield for an RBI double. The Wolverine rookie scored herself in the next at-bat, beating out the throw to home plate after junior rightfielder Angela Findlay's (Lockport, Ill./East HS) liner into shallow left.
Nemitz earned the victory from the circle -- her 14th in a row -- with a four-strikeout, three-hit performance through 5.1 innings. Sophomore RHP Jordan Taylor (Valencia, Calif./Valencia HS) entered the game with one out and one on in the sixth, allowing two hits and a walk while fanning five of the eight batters she faced for her second save of the weekend and fourth of the season.
Infield defense ruled the game's early innings as Michigan grounded out in six straight at-bats between the second and fourth frames before turning a spectacular double play in the bottom half of the latter. With the U-M infield playing in and an Irish baserunner on first after a leadoff liner into centerfield, sophomore first baseman Dorian Shaw (Burke, Va./Robinson SS) fielded a bunt cleanly off the hop and turned to earn the force out at second. Ewing fired the ball back to first base, where freshman second baseman Stephanie Kirkpatrick (Plainfield, Ill./Central HS) completed the play to get the batter.
After recording just two hits through the opening four frames, the Irish put baserunners in scoring position to threaten in each of the final three innings. Notre Dame rightfielder Dani Miller led off the fifth inning -- still scoreless at that point -- with a rocket to deep centerfield that smacked off the top of the fence for a standup double. Miller moved to third on a subsequent sac bunt, putting the go-ahead run just 60 feet away with one out, but Evans kept her at bay in the next at-bat, corralling a shallow fly ball and quickly firing it home to hold the Irish runner on third. Nemitz got herself out of the jam with a four-pitch strikeout to end the inning.
Notre Dame used a pair of walks and a base hit to load the bases with two outs in the sixth. Taylor entered the game after the first walk, earning a quick strikeout before putting two more on base with the single to center and walk before, just like Nemitz in the previous frame, removing herself from the jam with a strikeout on four pitches.
The Wolverine hurler added three more strikeouts in the seventh, allowing one runner to reach on a wild pitch and another on a base hit. With two runners on, Irish designated player Beth Northway grounded out to shortstop to wrap the game.
Tickets for the NCAA Super Regional will go on sale through the U-M Athletic Ticket Office on Tuesday (May 19) at 8:30 a.m. Admission for each day of the event is $10 for reserved grandstand chairback seating, $9 for reserved grandstand bleacher seats, $7 for outfield bleachers and $5 for students and seniors. All tickets must be picked up in person. Ticket will call on game days will be located near the Wilpon Complex scoreboard at the entrance gate near the U-M Indoor Track Building.
