Wolverines Advance, Knock Flames Out of Regional

Saturday, May 20

Ann Arbor, Mich.

12:30 PM

Michigan

45-15-1

Illinois-Chicago

52-25

Illinois-Chicago

Michigan

5/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan centerfielder Chrissy Garza (Southgate, Mich./Southgate Anderson HS) used the game's only extra-base hit to drive in a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Wolverines a 3-1 victory over the University of Illinois-Chicago on Saturday (May 20) in front of 1,029 fans, the fifth largest crowd in the history of Alumni Field. The win advances the Wolverines to the final day of the NCAA Regional 8 Softball Championship and eliminates the Flames. Michigan will face DePaul tomorrow (May 21) at 1 p.m.

U-M freshman Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) tossed her second complete game in two days to pick up her 18th win of the season. Young retired the first seven batters before allowing the first of just three hits on the day. In seven innings of work, she struck out seven and walked just one batter. Illinois-Chicago pitcher Samantha Iuli (25-10), who pitched a perfect game against Central Michigan on Friday, allowed four hits and struck out six batters in her final collegiate game.

With the game tied 1-1 with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning, Rebecca Tune (Aloha, Ore./Jesuit HS) was hit in the leg by a pitch. Michigan's next batter, Melinda Moulden (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley HS), laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached first on a misplayed throw from catcher Gina Arnold. Tune advanced to third on the error, and Moulden stole second to put runners in scoring position. On the ensuing at bat, Garza hit a shot to deep leftfield for a double, driving in both runners. The Wolverines put another runner on base but consecutive outs ended the inning with the score at 3-1.

Michigan scored its other run in the bottom of the first inning when third baseman Pam Kosanke (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS) drove in Melissa Taylor (Petersburg, Mich./Summerfield HS) with a single to rightfield. The Flames returned the favor in the top of the third when Emily Hallman scored on a single to center by Edel Leyden.

For the second time in two weeks, Michigan enters the final day of a tournament needing two wins to take the title. The Wolverines will face DePaul at 1 p.m. Sunday needing to beat the Blue Demons twice to earn a trip to the Women's College World Series. On May 13 Michigan defeated Penn State and Iowa by 2-0 scores to win the Big Ten Conference Tournament in Iowa City, Iowa.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
On the game ... "It was a good softball game. We played well and played good defense. Marissa (Young) gave up just three hits and UIC is always a really solid hitting team. Samantha Iuli has been one of the best pitchers in this part of the country for years and my hat's off to them. I think they (UIC) are a really good ballclub and we played well to beat them. We had some timely hits, which is most important at this time of the year, and Chrissy Garza's was obviously big. Pam Kosanke's single to right was also big in the first inning. And that's the name of the game -- it was just good, solid softball by Michigan."

On Chrissy Garza's fourth-inning at-bat ... "They did play her in, which is really what you need to do there. They wanted to shoot us down at the plate. But Garza had a really good at-bat -- she hung in there and laid off the up pitch that they called for a ball. That was really key. Then she had a good piece of the ball."

Michigan Centerfielder Chrissy Garza
On the game-winning hit ... "The pitch was up and in. I think if I would have laid off it, it would have been a ball, but I was too anxious to get the hit, so I swung at it anyway. Hutch (head coach Carol Hutchins) is big on saying even if the pitch is a ball, you can get a good hit out of it as long as you swing hard. I think my adrenaline was pumping so much that I did swing really hard and got a good piece of the ball."

On the Alumni Field atmosphere ... "I love the atmosphere, and I think that was one of the things that most excited me about playing at home. I love the way people come out here. We have a lot of support in Ann Arbor, not only from people who know players on our team, but from people who just follow Michigan softball. We love the way they are all around our field and everyone's always cheering."

Michigan Pitcher Marissa Young
On her performance ... "I felt that I got stronger as the game went along. I used my changeup a lot today and that was a good key for me." Illinois-Chicago Head Coach Mike McGovern
On the game ... "We made a couple mistakes that opened the door and Michigan kept us off-balance, and we were swinging at some bad pitches. The sacrifice bunt (by Melinda Moulden) in the fourth inning that we threw away for an error was a crucial mistake, as well as my pitch selection. The double (by Michigan's Chrissy Garza) was my call, and it wasn't a very good pitch selection at that time."

On playing Chrissy Garza shallow in the outfield during the fourth inning ... "When you have a runner on third in that situation, you don't want a bloop single to drop in -- you're looking for a strikeout in that situation to get two outs so you can play the next batter honest. The pitch didn't work -- sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. It was a situation where she (Chrissy Garza) had struck out a couple times on a riseball and you can go any way -- up or down, in and out -- depending on how you want to work it. The ball doesn't always do what you want it to do. If she pops up for the out, you look like a hero. We've always had confidence in our pitching that we can get out of innings, something we've done all year. The key is that [the score] was 1-1 and they only needed one run, so that's the one you don't want to give them."

On the seniors and the future ... "We have five seniors who have put up somewhere in the neighborhood of 220 wins in the last four years. I think their contribution was pretty significant to the university. We've had five conference championships, five NCAA regional appearances and a Women's College World Series appearance, so they've bumped heads with the biggest programs in the country. The people who learn from this weekend are the juniors and sophomores and freshmen. You want them to get the experience of playing before a crowd that's supportive in a big tournament."

Contact: Amy Carlton (734) 763-4423