Streaks End as Wolverines Split with Chippewas

Wednesday, April 14

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

Michigan

37-6-1

Central Michigan

23-8

Central Michigan

Michigan

4/14/1999 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Amy Carlton

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Result: Central Michigan 7, #6 Michigan 4; #6 Michigan 6, Central Michigan 3
Records: Michigan (38-6-1); CMU (23-9)
Next U-M Games: Saturday, April 17 -- DH at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.), 1 p.m. CDT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team saw a pair of streaks come to an end Wednesday (April 14) when visiting Central Michigan University split a non-conference doubleheader with the Wolverines. CMU won the opener 7-4 while Michigan came back for a 6-3 nightcap victory. The first-game loss snapped Michigan's 33-game unbeaten (32-0-1) and 26-game Alumni Field regular-season win streaks. It also snapped a 16-game winning streak for U-M.

The No. 6-ranked Wolverines go to 38-6-1 while Central Michigan, which avenged an 8-0 March 28 loss to U-M, is 23-9. The two teams resume their conference schedules this weekend, Michigan traveling to Northwestern University for a three-game Big Ten Conference weekend series (April 17-18) and CMU making a Northern Illinois (Friday) to Western Michigan (Saturday) Mid-American Conference swing.

Michigan's 3-0, fourth-inning lead in the opener was erased by Central Michigan in the fifth. The Chippewas tied the game on Hope Robertshaw's three-run double to centerfield, then scored the game-winning run one batter later when Eli Barnes doubled into right-center. CMU scored one run in the sixth and two in the seventh before giving up a single run to the Wolverines in the bottom of the seventh.

The Wolverines scattered seven hits, including a double and single by shortstop Rebecca Tune (Aloha, Ore./Jesuit HS). Leftfielder Catherine Davie (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) hit a solo home run in the third inning to score Michigan's first run.

Central Michigan pitcher Tina Kinney went the distance, striking out seven Michigan batters in her fifth season win (5-3). Kate Eiland (Fresno, Calif./Clovis West HS) took the Michigan loss (11-3), giving up seven hits and a pair of walks.

Davie came up big in the second game, finishing 3-for-4 at the plate and scoring two runs, including the game-winning run on a Tammy Mika (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) leftfield single in the fifth inning. Central Michigan held a 2-1 lead through the top of the fifth before Michigan scored three times in the bottom of that inning and twice in the sixth to go ahead 6-2.

The Wolverine bats produced 12 hits, with Davie's offensive show supported by Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Mater Dei HS), Pam Kosanke (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS) and Mika, who had two hits each. Sophomore Marie Barda (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South HS) went the distance for U-M, giving up eight hits and two walks while improving to 16-1 for the season. The win is Barda's third straight vs. Central Michigan. Anne Foster (10-5) was the loser, dropping her second straight game to the Wolverines.

Maize 'n Blue Diamond Gems

• Central Michigan is making it a habit to halt Michigan win streaks. In 1997, the two teams split their season doubleheader, with CMU taking the second game and stopping a 28-game Wolverine win streak at Alumni Field. . . . The two teams have split regular-season doubleheaders four times in the 1990s (1992, '94, '97, '99).