Battery Mates Power Wolverines Past Golden Griffins

Thursday, May 16

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

Michigan

47-9

Canisius

33-15

Canisius

Michigan

5/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Junior pitcher Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) recorded a career-high 16 strikeouts and sophomore catcher Monica Schock (Rialto, Calif./Eisenhower HS) hit two home runs, including the first grand slam of her career, to lead the 11th-ranked University of Michigan softball team to a 5-0 win over Canisius College Thursday (May 16) on the first day of the NCAA Regional 6 at Alumni Field. The second-seeded Wolverines limited Canisius, the fifth seed in the six-team regional, to three hits and did not allow a Griffin baserunner to advance past second base.

Schock

Young got the Maize and Blue off to a quick start, fanning nine of the first 11 Griffin batters, including all three batters in the first inning. Canisius' Jill Iacono managed a hit for the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference champions in the fourth inning, but Young followed the single with four consecutive strikeouts.

In the bottom of the third, Young received all the run support she would need with one swing of the bat by Schock. Junior Lisa Mack (Saline, Mich./Saline HS) led off the inning with a single to centerfield and moved to second base after a sacrifice by sophomore Courtney Betley (Corona, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS). Senior Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS) put her second hit of the day into leftfield and advanced to second base on the throw. With first base open, junior Meghan Doe (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS) beat out an infield grounder when the throw to first was three feet short of the bag. The mistake turned out to be costly, as the error allowed Schock to take Veronica Maher's second pitch of the at-bat deep into rightfield for her first career grand slam and a 4-0 lead for Michigan.

Schock proved her first round-tripper was not a fluke when she took Maher deep to right in the bottom of the sixth inning for a solo homer, her third of the season and second of the game, to give Michigan a 5-0 lead.

Canisius threatened in the top of the seventh with two hits, but Young shut the door by recording two more strikeouts to halt the Griffins' rally attempt.

The Wolverines improve to 47-9 on the season with the win and advance to play the winner of the Ohio State-Central Michigan game at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow (Friday, May 17). Canisius (33-16) faces Oakland in the first elimination game of the regional at 7 p.m. tonight.

N O T E S

Marissa Young's 16-strikeout performance is the second-best single-game strikeout performance in Michigan history. Young was just one strikeout short of Michelle Bolster's record of 17 strikeouts against Oklahoma in 1988.

Sophomore catcher Monica Schock's grand slam in the third inning was the sixth slam this season for the Wolverines, increasing the school record for most grand slams in a single season. The previous record was three, set in 2000.

Schock's grand slam was the first allowed by Canisius pitcher Veronica Maher in her career. Maher pitched her 13th complete game of the season. She has a 15-6 record in 26 appearances this season.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
On the game ... "Canisius played outstanding. They made some great defensive plays and we had to play some great softball to beat them and fortunately come up with a couple of big hits. I thought we hit the ball well and did not get hits out of it at times but give credit to their defense. They took an awful lot away from us. It was a good first start for us. It felt like our team was ready to go and we did not seem to have the jitters. We were ready to play ball. It was just one more game. I was very pleased by our game today and thought it was a good softball game by both teams."

On Monica Schock's power surge ... "Her biggest thing is being able to use her legs. She is so strong that she can hit the ball well not using her legs. When she went after that pitch, I knew that if she hit it, it was going to be gone because I could just see all of her legs involved. She just used her legs at both at-bats."

Michigan Sophomore Catcher Monica Shock
On her two home runs ... "The first pitch was just an inside pitch and the second one was a change-up. I just waited and saw it all the way. I just went up there to make contact. I did not realize that I was going to hit a home run. I did not know it was over until I saw the umpire. I was just looking for a strike that I could get a base hit off of."

Michigan Junior Pitcher Marissa Young
On her performance ... "Things were just working really well for me. Mo (catcher Monica Schock) and I were working really well together. I was actually missing a lot of my spots but she bailed me out. Canisius seemed like a pretty good hitting team and they had some big swings out there but I just happened to get it by them."

On pitching with a four-run lead ... "It is a relief but as a pitcher you have to take it as a 0-0 ball game. I still had to do my job and not let them back into the ball game. The momentum was definitely going our way after the grand slam so I just tried to keep the lead."

Canisius Head Coach Mike Rapple
On the game ... "I'm proud of the kids, they hung in there. I don't think we had real good at-bats, but that's a credit to Marissa Young. She really pitched a heck of a game. She moved the ball around and got us off-balance. I was disappointed we didn't get the bat on the ball a little more but give them a lot of credit."

On the team's preparation ... "We have a difference in our team. The seniors have been through this before but the freshmen and sophomores haven't and we don't have any juniors. I could see the nervousness on the face of our younger players. They didn't have the at-bats that they've had the past few weeks. I think that might be because of the situation. We talked about not being nervous but how do you tell a freshman you're in the NCAA Tournament for the first time and they were playing high school softball last year against pitchers they could hit any time they wanted to They have to go through it and they have to learn. I think this is a great experience for them. I'm really proud of the way they hung in there. I think we're going to work real hard tonight and try to get back in it against Oakland and then see what we can do tomorrow. I think this type of game will help us if we can advance in the tournament."

Canisius Senior Pitcher Veronica Maher
On trying to hit Marissa Young ... "She was tough to hit just because she was moving in and out and the umpire was going to call the corners. It was tough, that last at-bat I had I knew she was going outside and I knew I had to protect the plate and it was a little too far out but she moved around real well. Her change looked real good. She really mixed it up. She's a very good pitcher."

On the Michigan third inning ... "They were just good hitters. You try to mix things up and they come through and they get a hit here and there. We really should have had that play at first and that would have been that third out and that really would have made things a lot different. They were hitting the ball but I think we could have battled back and stayed in the ball game 1-0 or something."

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423