Michigan Pounds Out 17 Runs, 24 Hits to Sweep Eagles

Thursday, May 2

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:00 PM

Michigan

40-9

Eastern Michigan

16-26

Eastern Michigan

Michigan

5/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Scores: #11 Michigan 6, Eastern Michigan 3; #11 Michigan 11, Eastern Michigan 1 (5 innings)
Records: U-M (41-9), EMU (16-27)
Next U-M Game: Saturday, May 4 -- vs. Michigan State (Alumni Field), 2 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The 11th-ranked University of Michigan softball team continued its torrid hitting this afternoon (Thursday, May 2) with a 6-3, 11-1 (five innings) doubleheader sweep of Eastern Michigan at Alumni Field.

Senior third baseman Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS) was one of three Wolverines to go deep in game one as she hit her team-best 10th to help freshman hurler Nicole Motycka (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney HS) to her 18th win of the season. Junior centerfielder Meghan Doe (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS) finished off a 5-7 afternoon with a 3-4 performance in game two to lead a 14-hit Michigan attack in the 11-1, five-inning win due to the run rule. Freshman shortstop Jessica Merchant (Wayland, Mich./Wayland HS) also continued her hot hitting with a 4-6 afternoon, including two runs and three RBI in game two.

Merchant

Michigan (41-9) wasted no time putting the long ball to use in game one as Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS) hit a leadoff shot over the fence in right-center to get things started in the first frame. The home run was Kollen's fifth of the season.

The top of the Michigan order did even more damage the next time through and again it started with Kollen. With one out, Kollen and Doe hit back-to-back singles to set the stage for the team's hottest hitter. Volpe responded by drilling a round-tripper for the third straight game and fifth in her last six, giving Michigan a 4-0 lead after three innings. The four runs were more than enough for starter Motycka, who was perfect through the first four innings.

Eastern Michigan (16-27) broke up the perfect game bid with a one-out single in the fifth, but Motycka maintained the shutout before the Wolverine offense added to the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Doe led off with a single, moved to second on a passed ball and advanced to third on a flyout from Monica Schock (Rialto, Calif./Eisenhower HS). Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to score Doe.

The Eagles broke through with a run in the sixth, but Michigan got that run right back in the bottom of the sixth when junior reserve first baseman Liz Elsner (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Canton HS) came off the bench to hit her first career home run, a solo shot to right-center for a 6-1 Michigan lead. Although Motycka cruised through the first six innings, she ran into trouble in the seventh after a single, error and walk loaded the bases with one out. Another single ensued as Eastern Michigan cut the gap to four (6-2) and left the bases loaded with the tying run at the plate. After a conversation on the mound with head coach Carol Hutchins, Motycka regained her form and induced consecutive groundouts for the final 6-3 tally.

Even a leadoff home run in the first inning of game two by the Eagles failed to slow the Michigan attack as the Wolverines answered with five runs of their own in the bottom of the first. In what would become a game-two theme the Wolverines did all their damage after two were out. Doe singled and stole second, but she was still at second with two down when Schock drove an RBI single through the right side for her first of three hits in game two. Young kept things going with a single, but the key play came when the Eastern Michigan rightfielder misplayed a blooper down the line in rightfield by Melinda Moulden (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley HS) that scored Schock and left runners on second and third. Merchant made the error hurt even further after she sent a line drive to the gap in right-center for a two-run double. Courtney Betley (Corona, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS) provided Michigan with its fifth run of the inning on a solid single to leftfield.

The Wolverines added another two-out run in the second on an RBI single from Moulden to expand its lead to 6-1. Young, meanwhile, settled down after allowing the leadoff home run in the first, allowing just one hit the rest of the way and striking out eight in four innings.

Following a scoreless third, Michigan put the game away in the bottom of the fourth with five runs on six hits. Once again Doe was in the middle of a Michigan rally with a leadoff single and scored after Volpe and Schock singled right behind her. Michigan was forced to do the job with two outs again, however, after Young grounded into a double play. Merchant drove in her third run of the game with a single and then Lisa Mack (Saline, Mich./Saline HS) drew a walk to load the bases. Betley again delivered a two-out hit, sending a double to deep right-center that cleared the bases for an 11-1 Michigan lead.

Sophomore Meghan Ritter (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) worked a scoreless fifth to close out the doubleheader sweep for the Wolverines.

Michigan concludes its 2002 regular season this weekend with a pair of single games against instate rival Michigan State. The Wolverines and Spartans square off on Saturday (May 4, 2 p.m.) at Alumni Field for Michigan's 2002 Senior Day before closing out the regular season on Sunday (May 5, 1 p.m.) at Old College Field in East Lansing, Mich.

N O T E S

Michigan's three-home run performance in game one was its second straight game with thee round-trippers and upped its school-record total to 32.

Stefanie Volpe reached safely in each game today to run her current team-best hitting streak to nine games. Volpe's nine-game hit streak is a personal career best.

Volpe's 10th home run of the season is the 19th of her career, which ties her for second on Michigan's career list with Catherine Davie (1996-99). Melissa Gentile (1997-2000) holds the school record with 28.

Courtney Betley's four-RBI effort in game two is a season best and matches her career high.

The Wolverines' 11 runs in game two matched a season best, while their 14 hits were one shy of their best effort of the season. Michigan pounded out 15 hits in five innings of a 9-0 win over Pittsburgh on Feb. 17.

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423