U-M Sweeps Purdue in Big Ten Home-Opening Series

Friday, April 6

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

Michigan

18-11-1, 3-0

Purdue

25-13-1, 2-3

Purdue

Michigan

4/6/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Results: Michigan 4, Purdue 3; Michigan 6, Purdue 1
Records: U-M (19-11-1, 4-0 Big Ten), Purdue (25-14-1, 2-4 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game: Saturday, April 7 -- vs. Indiana (Alumni Field), 2 p.m

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team ran its win streak to a season-best seven games with a doubleheader sweep of Purdue this afternoon (Friday, April 6) at Alumni Field. The Wolverines (19-11-1, 4-0 Big Ten) remained undefeated in Big Ten play after beating Purdue 4-3 and 6-1, paced by an offensive attack that collected 20 hits for the doubleheader.

Senior outfielder Melissa Taylor (Petersburg, Mich./Summerfield HS), who led the Big Ten in batting average (.467) heading into this weekend's action, went 4-5 in the doubleheader. Sophomore hurler Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) went the distance in game two for the win after earning the first save of her career in game one.

Purdue opened the scoring in the top of the second in game one. Heidi Foster led off the inning with a single up the middle and advanced to second base on a groundout by Sara Hall. Jesse Jones followed with a double up the gap in left-center to score Foster. Michigan starter Marie Barda (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale HS) battled back to get the final out of the inning with runners on the corners.

Michigan made a bid to tie the contest in its half of the second after Monica Schock (Rialto, Calif./Eisenhower HS) received a leadoff walk. Schock moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Melinda Moulden (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley HS). Shortstop Rebecca Tune (Aloha, Ore./Jesuit HS) then came through with a single up the middle, but Schock was cut down at the plate by the Boilermaker centerfielder. Michigan's second-inning threat ended when Young grounded back to the pitcher.

The Wolverines, however, broke through in the third after catcher Kim Bugel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS) drew a leadoff walk. Bugel stole second and was pushed to third on a sacrifice off the bat of Meghan Doe (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS). Junior second baseman Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Mater Dei HS) drove home Bugel with a shot off the glove of the Purdue first baseman to tie the score. Taylor was hit by a pitch and Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS) walked to load the bases with one out. A 3-2-4 double play off the bat of Schock, however, prevented the Wolverines from taking their first lead of the game.

After a scoreless fourth, Michigan broke the game open with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Doe led off with an infield single and reached second when Kollen's shot to shortstop turned into a Purdue error. Taylor advanced the Michigan runners with a sacrifice bunt, which prompted Purdue to give an intentional pass to Volpe to load the bases with one out. Again it was Schock at the plate and this time she delivered with a single to leftfield that scored Doe from third. Moulden then drove a fly ball to left that scored Kollen from third, with Volple moving up to third on the throw. Tune then added to the Wolverine lead with a two-out single to left that scored Volpe and left Barda with a three-run cushion heading into the sixth.

Purdue bounced right back against Barda in the top of sixth with a pair of runs on a two-out double from Jones. The first two Boilermaker runners in the inning reached and they moved up to second and third with nobody out after a wild pitch. Barda looked like she might get out of the inning after getting a strikeout and a foul-out to the third baseman. Jones, however, touched Barda for her second double of the game to cut the Michigan lead to 4-3. Barda was then relieved by Young, who struck out the first hitter she faced to end the threat.

After Michigan failed to score in the bottom of the sixth, Purdue made a serious threat in the seventh to send this game into extra innings. With a runner on second and one out, the Purdue leadoff hitter singled up the middle and after that batter advanced to second on the throw, the Boilermakers had runners on second and third with just one out. Young, however, was up to the challenge, striking out Lynne Tortorelli and getting Katie Crabtree to foul out to first to seal the Wolverine win.

The Michigan bats made sure game two would not come down the final out of the seventh, scoring two runs in the third and exploding for a four-run fifth to take a commanding 6-0 lead. After setting the first nine down in order, Young was touched for one run by Purdue in the bottom of the fourth, but that was all the Boilermakers would get.

Michigan scored all the runs Young would need in the third as Doe led off the inning with a walk. Kollen then reached on an error and Taylor executed a perfect bunt single to load the bases with none out. Volpe, who leads the Wolverines with 15 walks this season, used a good eye at the plate to drive in a run with a base on balls. The Volpe walk chased the Purdue starter, but relief pitcher Leighann Burke was greeted by a single to rightfield off the bat of Schock which scored two after the ball was bobbled by Purdue's rightfielder. Moulden, who had her eight-game hitting streak snapped in game one, began another streak with a single to left that plated Michigan's fourth run of the inning. A 5-3 double play off the bat of Young kept the inning from becoming a huge one for Michigan.

Despite the double play, Young used the six-run cushion to her advantage as she allowed baserunners but shut the door when she had to down the stretch, running her record to 10-6 this season. Barda upped her mark to 8-4 with the victory in game one.

The Wolverines will close out their four-game Big Ten weekend with single games against Indiana on Saturday (April 7, 2 p.m.) and Sunday (April 8, 1 p.m.) at Alumni Field.

Diamond Gems

Melinda Moulden has now registered an RBI in each of the last four games and nine of the last 13 overall.

Michigan has now won seven straight over Purdue.

Melissa Taylor's two multi-hit games in the Michigan sweep run her team-best multi-hit games total to 13.

Leadoff hitter Kelsey Kollen, who went 4-9 in the doubleheader, now owns Michigan's longest current hit streak (eight games). Kollen and Taylor went a combined 8-14 in the doubleheader sweep.

Purdue's run in the top of the first in game one broke up Marie Barda's stretch of 16 straight scoreless innings pitched.

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423