Michigan Blanked by Oklahoma in World Series Opener

Thursday, May 24

Oklahoma City, Okla.

12:30 PM CT

Michigan

43-16-1

Oklahoma

50-7

Oklahoma

Michigan

5/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- The 21st-ranked University of Michigan softball team dropped a 2-0 pitchers duel in its opening game of the double-elimination Women's College World Series this afternoon (Thursday, May 24) at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium.

Michigan senior hurler Marie Barda (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale HS) allowed two runs on just five hits while striking out five in her first-ever WCWS appearance. Also making her WCWS debut, sophomore first baseman Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) led the Wolverine offense as she collected a single and double for two of Michigan's three hits.

Barda cruised through the first three innings, setting down Oklahoma in order in each inning and striking out three. However, the Wolverines were not able to mount much offense in the first three innings either, despite putting together several good at-bats. Excellent defense by Oklahoma robbed potential extra-base hits from Melinda Moulden (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley HS) and Young in the second and third innings, respectively.

The Sooners put their first runner on base with a one-out walk in the fourth to leftfielder Chrissy Ring, which subsequently led to Oklahoma's first run against Barda. Following a single and intentional walk, Ring scored on a sacrifice fly to leftfield off the bat of rightfielder Jennifer Stump for the first run given up by Barda in 23.2 innings, dating back to the sixth inning of the Big Ten championship game vs. Iowa on May 12.

Barda remained tough in the circle and kept the deficit to just one run as Michigan mounted its most serious challenge in the bottom of the fifth on a two-double from Young, which broke up Oklahoma starter Jennifer Stewart's no-hit bid. Stewart, however, went to her change-up to get Michigan catcher Kim Bugel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS) to ground out to second to end the inning and the Wolverine threat.

Oklahoma was able to add insurance in the sixth on three straight two-out singles, with the third hit of the inning off the bat of Ashli Barrett plating Ring for a 2-0 Oklahoma advantage. The Wolverines came right back in their half of the sixth and moved a runner to second base for the second consecutive inning after Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS) reached on an error and Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth Salem HS) singled to centerfield with two outs. Stewart, however, was again able to induce a two-out groundout, this time off the bat of freshman designated player Monica Schock (Rialto, Calif./Eisenhower HS), to end the inning.

Barda finished off the complete-game effort after pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh to give the Wolverine offense one more shot trailing by two. A two-out single by Young was all the Wolverines would get in the seventh as the Maize and Blue suffered its eighth shutout of the season.

The Wolverines move into the loser's bracket and face No. 6-ranked seed California on Saturday (May 26, 11 a.m. CDT) in an elimination game televised on ESPN. Should the Wolverines win that contest, they would turn around and play in game nine of the WCWS later that day at 6 p.m. CDT on ESPN2.

Q U O T E S

Head Coach Carol Hutchins
On the game in general ... "It was a tough game and the type of game you prepare yourself for in the World Series. Every game is going to be tight and your chances to score are going to be at a premium. We just need to bounce back and win a game on Saturday morning and stay focused and enthused because there is still a lot of softball to be played."

On being held to three hits ... "I thought we did a nice job of getting good swings early on and we worked the count very well, but we had some well-hit balls that Oklahoma made good plays on. Later in the game I felt we got a little less patient and were not swinging at as good of pitches as were earlier and that hurt us a little bit."

Diamond Gems

Marissa Young's two-hit performance today combined with her two-hit performance in the regional championship win over South Florida on Sunday (May 20) are the first back-to-back multi-hit games of the season for the sophomore.

Michigan is now 1-4 in WCWS opening games and 2-9 all-time at the WCWS.

The 2-0 loss was Michigan's first loss by more than a single run since a 5-2 loss to DePaul on March 30.

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423