Michigan
34-11-1, 11-4
Northwestern
20-19, 8-4
Wildcats Complete Sweep of U-M with Perfect Effort
4/23/2000 12:00:00 AM | Softball
The loss -- Michigan's worst in conference play since dropping a 12-0 game at Indiana on April 6, 1986 -- drops the Wolverines (34-11-1, 11-4 Big Ten) to second place in the Big Ten behind Iowa (34-10, 10-2 Big Ten). Northwestern improves to 20-19, 8-4 Big Ten, maintaining the fourth spot in the standings.
Schwendimann (11-9) silenced the Michigan bats with four strikeouts and relied on errorless play by her defense to keep all 15 Wolverines faced off the bases. It is the second no-hitter thrown against U-M this season, and the first in conference play since Northwestern's Nanci Clement no-hit the Wolverines 2-0 on April 29, 1988.
On the offensive side, Northwestern scored two runs in the first inning on Brooke Siebel's left centerfield double. NU added a run in the third, followed by three in the fourth to go ahead 6-0. The Wildcats put the game away in the fifth, shelling Michigan reliever Jamie Gillies (Saugus, Calif./Saugus HS) for six runs on seven hits, including a two-out grand slam home run by Erin Jancic, whose solo homer beat U-M 1-0 on Saturday.
Wolverine starter Marie Barda (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South HS) allowed five hits and three runs in the losing effort (13-5).
Michigan takes a break from Big Ten play with three home non-conference doubleheaders, beginning with Thursday's (April 27) 3 p.m. twinbill vs. Indiana State.
Maize 'n Blue Diamond Gems
The 12 runs surrendered to Northwestern are the most since a 15-4 loss (6 innings) at Iowa on April 6, 1997.
Michigan opened the four-game Big Ten weekend with a 5-0 win at Iowa, then dropped its next three games by shutouts. It is the first time the Wolverines have posted three straight shutout losses since losing all four games of their 1990 series at Iowa by shutout.
After ripping Ohio State and Penn State pitching for a combined 41 hits last weekend (April 14-16), Michigan bats went silent, producing just 14 hits in the Iowa-Northwestern road games (April 21-23). Eleven of the Wolverines' 14 hits came in the 5-0 weekend-opening victory against Iowa.
Northwestern ended Michigan's six-game series win streak with its back-to-back wins Saturday and Sunday. The Wolverines still own a commanding 50-22 advantage vs. the Wildcats.
Contact: Amy Carlton (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lauren Schwendimann (11-9)
L: Barda, Marie (13-5)
Batting:
2B: Mikie Chambers 1 ; Brooke Siebel 2 ; Alyson Schulz 1
HR: Erin Jancic 1
RBI: Mikie Chambers 2 ; Erin Jancic 4 ; Brooke Siebel 2 ; Cindy Muran 1
SH: Erin Jancic 1 ; Tami Jones 1 ; Rane Gunderson 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Brett Nakabayashi 3 ; Mikie Chambers 2 ; Erin Jancic 1 ; Brooke Siebel 1 ; Tami Jones 1 ; Jenn Shull 1 ; Alyson Schulz 1 ; Cindy Muran 1 ; Brittany Nelson 1
SB: Brett Nakabayashi 1 ; Alyson Schulz 1 ; Brittany Nelson 1
