Grand Slam Sends Wolverines to Championship Game

Saturday, March 18

Tallahassee, Fla.

10:00 AM

Michigan

15-6-1

Massachusetts

7-16

Massachusetts

Michigan

3/18/2000 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Tallahassee, Fla.
Tournament: Tallahassee Democrat Florida State Invitational
Results: #14 Michigan 3, Massachusetts 0
  #14 Michigan 6, Florida State 1
Record: U-M (17-6)
Next U-M Game: Sunday, March 19 -- vs. Kansas at Florida State Invitational Championship Game (Tallahassee, Fla.), Noon

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A grand slam home run by University of Michigan freshman Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) propelled No. 14-ranked Wolverine softball team to the championship game of the Tallahassee Democrat Florida State Invitational.

Young's four-run shot helped the Wolverines (17-6) to a 6-1 semifinal victory over Florida State Saturday afternoon (March 18). Michigan opened the day with a 3-0 shutout of Massachusetts in the quarterfinals. U-M advances to play Kansas in Sunday's (March 19) championship game at noon. The Jayhawks beat Florida A&M 6-1 in the other semifinal game.

Michigan played catch-up with Florida State all afternoon, trailing the tournament host 1-0 after three innings. U-M tied the game in the fifth on Melissa Taylor's (Petersburg, Mich./Summerfield HS) two-out RBI single that scored Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS). Young's two-out grand slam capped a five-run seventh inning. All five Wolverine runs were unearned.

Pitcher Marie Barda (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South HS) retired eight Seminoles via strikeouts while allowing five hits and one walk to post her second win at the tournament and sixth of the season (6-3). The win gives Michigan a season-best seven-game win streak.

Kate Eiland (Fresno, Calif./Clovis West HS) tossed her first shutout of the season with a six-hit effort against Massachusetts in the quarterfinals. Eiland (2-1) got offensive assistance from Kollen and Young. Kollen, 3-of-3 for the game, started the game with a leadoff double and scored two batters later on Stefanie Volpe's (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS) RBI single. Young, 2-of-3 vs. UMass, singled to center field in the third to score Kollen and Taylor.

Maize 'n Blue Diamond Gems

The grand slam home run by Marissa Young in the Florida State game is her second career grand slam, coming less than a month after her Feb. 25 shot against Auburn at the South Florida/Gladstone's Tournament. Young becomes the first player in Michigan history to hit two grand slams in her career, and she has recorded the sixth and seventh grand slams in school history.

Michigan has played in the Florida State Invitational championship game three times in its four tournament trips (including 2000), winning the tournament in 1995. The Wolverines head into Sunday's championship game with an all-time 18-3 record at the Florida State Invitational.

The Wolverines go to 5-2 vs. Massachusetts with their second straight victory vs. the Minutewomen at the FSU Invitational. . . . Michigan improves to 6-1 all-time against Florida State. . . . The Wolverines' match-up with Kansas will be the first between the softball programs of the two universities.

Contact: Amy Carlton (734) 763-4423