Three-Run Gentile Home Run Keys Whitewash of Iowa

Sunday, April 25

Iowa City, Iowa

1:00 PM CT

Michigan

45-7-1, 17-1

Iowa

33-20-1, 7-7

Michigan

Iowa

4/25/1999 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

By: Amy Carlton

Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Hawkeye Softball Complex)
Results: #6 Michigan 7, #23 Iowa 0
Records: U-M (45-7-1, 17-1 Big Ten); Iowa (33-20-1, 7-7 Big Ten)
Next U-M Games: Saturday, May 1 -- vs. Wisconsin (Alumni Field), 1 p.m. DH

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- A three-run second-inning home run by Melissa Gentile (O'Fallon, Mo./Wentzville HS) ignited No. 6-ranked University of Michigan to a 7-0 road shutout of No. 23 University of Iowa in Big Ten Conference softball action Sunday (April 25).

The win gave Michigan (45-7-1, 17-1 Big Ten) its seventh conference series victory of the 1999 season and helped solidify the Wolverines' chances of repeating as the league's season champion. Iowa (33-20-1, 7-7 Big Ten) lost its second consecutive season series to Michigan.

In the second inning, Michigan capitalized on back-to-back Hawkeye errors which put pinch runner Chrissy Garza (Southgate, Mich./Southgate Anderson HS) and Pam Kosanke (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS) on base for Gentile's 20th career home run. After stranding a pair of Iowa runners in the bottom of the second, Michigan came back to score a pair of runs on Tammy Mika's (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) leftfield single in the third. The Wolverines added two runs in the sixth when Melissa Taylor (Deerfield, Mich./Summerfield HS) doubled to centerfield to complete a 2-for-3 day at the plate.

Sophomore Marie Barda (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South HS), tagged for eight hits and three runs in Saturday's series opener, held the Hawkeyes in check Sunday, giving up three hits and one walk. Barda (19-1) got help from the Michigan defense that allowed Iowa to reach third base just once and three times retired the Hawkeye side in order. Kelly Zeilstra (14-10) took the loss for Iowa.

Maize 'n Blue Diamond Gems

• Marie Barda tallied her team-leading seventh shutout of the season with the 7-0 victory vs. the Hawkeyes. The shutout was also her first career decision against Iowa. . . . Barda's 19 wins in the circle puts her in a ninth-place tie with Kelly Kovach (1992) and Jenny Allard (1989) on the Michigan single-season wins list. She currently carries the Wolverines' single-season best winning percentage (.950) bettering Theresa Gardocki's .929 (13-1) mark in the 1979 season.

• Catherine Davie (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) is six runs scored shy of breaking Michigan's season runs record held by fellow senior Traci Conrad (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way HS). Conrad scored a school-record 58 runs last season, while Davie finished the Iowa series in a third-place tie with 53 runs.

• Michigan improved its season record vs. nationally ranked teams to 13-4-1 with Sunday's 7-0 win vs. No. 23 Iowa. . . . Over the three-game series, 12 of the 26 complete innings were played with a tie score. . . . Iowa still leads the all-time softball series vs. Michigan 45-32-1, but the Wolverines hold a 3-1-1 record against the Hawkeyes in the 1999 season. . . . The Wolverines close the 1999 regular season with a pair of three-game home weekend Big Ten series, beginning with May 1-2 dates vs. Wisconsin.