U-M Big Ten Win Streak Halted with Split at Iowa

Saturday, April 24

Iowa City, Iowa

1:00 PM CT

Michigan

44-6-1, 16-0

Iowa

32-19-1, 6-6

Michigan

Iowa

4/24/1999 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Amy Carlton

Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye Softball Complex)
Results: #6 Michigan 5, #23 Iowa 3 (12 innings); #23 Iowa 2, #6 Michigan 1
Records: U-M (44-7-1, 16-1 Big Ten); Iowa (33-19-1, 7-6 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game: Sunday, April 25 -- at Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa), 1 p.m. CDT

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan softball team saw its 26-game Big Ten Conference regular-season win streak halted via a doubleheader split at No. 23 University of Iowa Saturday (April 24). The Wolverines outlasted Iowa for a 5-3, 12-inning victory in the opener, then dropped the nightcap 2-1. The teams complete the three-game weekend series with a 1 p.m. CDT single game on Sunday (April 25).

Freshman Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS) keyed the Wolverines' opening-game victory, singling in Catherine Davie (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) for Michigan's first run and dropping a two-run single into centerfield for the game-winning runs in the 12th inning. Volpe completed the doubleheader with five hits, including a 3-for-5 performance in game one.

Wolverine pitcher Jamie Gillies (Saugus, Calif./Saugus HS) continued her mastery of the Hawkeyes, posting her fifth career win vs. Iowa in game one, before taking the loss in game two. The junior (15-3) entered both games in relief, allowing three hits and three walks over the final seven and one-third innings of the opener. In the nightcap, Gillies entered with one away in the sixth, giving up two hits in one and two-thirds innings of work.

Michigan led 2-0 after four innings in the first game but saw Iowa take a 3-2 lead after scattering five hits in the fifth. Pam Kosanke's (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS) leftfield double scored pinch-runner Mary Conner (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion HS) to tie the score, 3-3, in the top of the sixth. Davie, who scored a pair of runs, was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two stolen bases in the three-hour, 25-minute marathon.

Each team scored a run in its half of the first inning of the nightcap, then withstood scoring chances by the opposition over the next five innings before Iowa's Liz Dennis singled to centerfield to sent Melissa Stuber home from third base for the game-winning run in the top of the seventh. Michigan had several scoring chances in game two, stranding 11 runners and finishing two innings, including the seventh, with the bases loaded.

Maize 'n Blue Diamond Gems

• Iowa held the Wolverines' top two hitters -- Catherine Davie and Traci Conrad (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way HS) -- to four hits. Davie was 3-for-8 and Conrad 1-for-4 in the two games. . . . Conrad's lone hit was double in the opening game which tied her with Davie for second place on the Wolverines' career doubles list at 56.

• Jamie Gillies improved her career record to 5-1 vs. Iowa, winning her first five decisions against the Hawkeyes.

• Michigan set the Wolverine softball record for consecutive regular-season Big Ten wins (26) with its 5-3 win in the day's first game.

• Michigan improved its season record vs. nationally ranked teams to 12-4-1 with the split against No. 23 Iowa. . . . The 12-inning first game is the second consecutive extra-inning contest between the two Big Ten teams. Michigan and Iowa played to an eight-inning, 2-2 tie March 21 in the championship game of the Sacramento State Capital Classic. . . . The Wolverines and Hawkeyes have settled games in extra innings 14 times in the 76-game series. Saturday's 12-inning affair ties for the third-longest contest between the two teams.