Owls Shock No. 5 Wolverines in NCAA First Round

Thursday, May 20

Ann Arbor, Mich.

4:00 PM

Michigan

51-12-1

Florida Atlantic

48-18

Florida Atlantic

Michigan

5/20/1999 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

By: Amy Carlton

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Event: NCAA Regional 6 Softball Championship (Game 1)
Result: Florida Atlantic 2, Michigan 0
Records: U-M (51-12-1); FAU (48-18)
Next U-M Game: Friday, May 21 -- vs. Notre Dame, 11 a.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Ninya Ybarra's solo home run highlighted a two-run third inning as the sixth-seeded Florida Atlantic Owls upset host and No. 1 seed University of Michigan 2-0 on Thursday (May 20) in NCAA Softball Regional 6 first-day action at Alumni Field. Florida Atlantic (48-18) advances to the 1:30 p.m. game Friday (May 21) to face Central Michigan, which dropped a 2-1 decision to Arizona State in nine innings. Michigan will play in the 11 a.m. game against Notre Dame, which lost 2-0 to Nebraska.

Freshman pitcher Nicole Myers was the star of the game for the Owls, pitching a complete-game shutout, her fifth shutout of the season. Myers scattered four hits and one walk while striking out four. Her performance marked the first time Michigan was shut out since Washington in the first game of the season. Myers' counterpart, Marie Barda (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South HS), pitched well for Michigan, letting up only four hits, one walk and one earned run while pitching all seven innings.

Florida Atlantic did its damage in the third inning. Ybarra opened the scoring with her second home run of the season, a shot into the leftfield bullpen. Kelly Nicosia followed with a single and scored on a pair of Wolverine throwing errors on Suzanne Flege's sacrifice bunt.

Michigan only threatened to score in two innings. With two outs in the second inning, Melissa Gentile (O'Fallon, Mo./Wentzville HS) walked and Rebecca Tune (Aloha, Ore./Jesuit HS) singled, but Myers was able to strike out the next Wolverine batter to end the threat. In the seventh inning, Michigan got a leadoff double by Pam Kosanke (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS), but Myers retired the next three batters to secure the victory.

Quotes

Florida Atlantic Head Coach Joan Joyce
On the game overall ... "The key for us was that we played fairly relaxed. I felt we could have hit the ball a little bit better, but overall we were comfortable playing in our first NCAA Regional against Michigan because we have played them in the past and we were familiar with them."

On Florida Atlantic's defense ... "Our defense was excellent. When you play a team like Michigan or any game at this level, you cannot make mistakes defensively and the fact we played error-free softball means we played well in that area."

FAU Pitcher Nicole Myers
On her performance ... "Michigan is a really good hitting team so I knew they were not going to strike out a lot. Because of that, I just tried to move the ball around, throw strikes and let my defense do the rest."

Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
On the game overall ... "Florida Atlantic played excellent softball today and made plays when they had to make them. They also made their own breaks, while we did not make any breaks for ourselves."

On Michigan's performance ... "We did not play very composed and we tightened up after they hit the home run to take the lead. Playing tight and without composure are not characteristics of Michigan softball."

U-M Shortstop Rebecca Tune
On Michigan's performance at the plate ... "We were not as patient at the plate as we need to be to score runs. However, as a hitter you hate to let good pitches go by, so at the same time you do not want to lose your aggressiveness while trying to be patient."

U-M First Baseman Traci Conrad
On the pitching of Nicole Myers ... "She is a good pitcher yet she did not do anything different or anything we have not seen before. I think swinging at some bad pitches definitely hurt us at the plate."

Notes

• This is Florida Atlantic's first-ever win at an NCAA Regional as well as its first trip to an NCAA Regional.

• Florida Atlantic's win over Michigan was its first after Michigan won their first two meetings, including a 4-1 win earlier this season (April 1) at the Speedline Classic in Tampa, Fla.

• This is Michigan's first opening-round NCAA Regional loss since 1992.

• Michigan was shut out for only the second time this season and for the first time since its season opener Feb. 19 vs. Washington (8-0) at Gainesville, Fla.

• FAU freshman Ninya Ybarra's home run was only her second of the season.