Michigan Advances by Holding Off Penn State Comeback

Thursday, May 9

Ann Arbor, Mich.

5:40 PM

Michigan

44-9

Penn State

30-23

Penn State

Michigan

5/9/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Michigan jumped to an early lead and then held off a Penn State comeback in a 4-3 win this afternoon (Thursday, May 9) in Big Ten Softball Tournament action at Alumni Field. The top-seeded Wolverines (44-9) were led by Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS), who won her 24th game of the season and drove in a pair of runs with a first-inning triple. No. 4 seed Penn State (30-23), which stranded nine runners for the game, was led by Jennifer Tripken, who hit her third home run of the day in the seventh inning to bring the Nittany Lions within a run and force Michigan freshman Nicole Motycka (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney HS) to come out of the bullpen and hold the 4-3 lead for her second save.

Young

The Wolverines wasted no time getting on the board, coming up with three in the bottom of the first. The big hit of the inning produced the first two runs when Young drove two-out, two-RBI triple up the gap in right-center. Meghan Doe (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS) started the rally with a one-out single after a long battle at the plate, which was followed by a walk to Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS). A forceout by Monica Schock (Rialto, Calif./Eisenhower HS) left it up to Young with two outs. Young scored the final run of the inning on an error on the Penn State shortstop.

The Nittany Lions were able to put a runner on in each of the first two innings before posing a serious threat in the third. Second baseman Mandy Nuxoll singled and Tripken drew a two-out walk before both runners moved up to second and third on a wild pitch. Young, however, induced a groundout to third off the bat of Penn State cleanup hitter Erin Norton to retire the side.

Michigan threatened to open up its lead in the fourth after Jessica Merchant (Wayland, Mich./Wayland HS) drew a one-out walk, chasing starter Shana Riggleman and forcing the Penn State coaches to call Tina Skelly out of the bullpen. Skelly allowed a single to the first batter she faced and one out later Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS) singled to leftfield, loading the bases with two outs. Doe again fouled off several pitches and missed a bases-clearing extra-base hit down the rightfield line by inches before finally grounding back to the pitcher for the final out.

Although Young kept the Nittany Lions scoreless through five, Penn State had its opportunities and after stranding two more in the fifth it had stranded seven total. Susan Shuplock singled and Jennifer Ripken walked, but again Young forced a groundout by Norton to the end the inning.

The Wolverines added to their lead in the fifth on an RBI single from Melinda Moulden (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley HS) that scored Volpe, who had reached after drawing her third walk of the game to lead off the inning. Merchant followed with a single, again loading the bases for Michigan, but this time with one out. Mack, however, struck out and Courtney Betley (Corona, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS) hit into a fielder's choice as the Wolverines stranded three more but took a 4-0 lead into the sixth.

That run proved to be a big one after Penn State finally broke through in the sixth. A hit batter and a Michigan error preceded a two-out double by Shuplock that cut the Michigan lead in half and brought the tying run to the plate. Nuxoll fouled out to the shortstop to end the threat, but the Nittany Lions were set to bring the 2-3-4 hitters to the plate in the seventh.

Michigan went down 1-2-3 in its half of the sixth and the momentum stayed with Penn State heading into its last chance. In what ended up being one of the biggest outs of the game, Young got Gina Bianchini to ground back to the circle for the first out. Tripken then delivered her third home run of the day -- she hit two against Wisconsin earlier -- to cut Michigan's lead to one (4-3). A single from Norton immediately followed, causing the Michigan coaching staff to go to the bullpen. Motykca answered the challenge by inducing an infield popup and a groundout to first base for the 4-3 Michigan win.

Michigan moves on to face No. 2 seed Ohio State in the winner's bracket final tomorrow (May 10, 2:30 p.m.), while Penn State faces No. 3 seed Iowa in an elimination game tomorrow at noon.

N O T E S

Jennifer Tripken's three home runs in two Big Ten Tournament games is a tournament record.

Despite drawing three walks, Stefanie Volpe's 10-game hit streak ended with an 0-1 day at the plate. Volpe has now reached base via a hit, walk or HBP in 24 straight games.

Marissa Young has an RBI in three straight games and in four of her last five.

Michigan and Penn State combined to leave 17 runners on base, with Michigan stranding eight and Penn State stranding nine.

Jennifer Tripken now has four home runs in four games at Alumni Field this season. In addition to her three shots today, she also hit a solo shot off Marissa Young in Penn State's 1-0 win over Michigan on March 30.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
On the win ... "It was a tough win and you have to give Penn State a lot of credit for coming back like that. However, this is the postseason and this is what we expect because everything is tough this time of year. We did what we needed to do and now we move on to tomorrow."

On bringing in Nicole Motycka in a pressure situation ... "I remember driving one of the vans on the way to our first game of the year back in February and asking her if she was nervous because I always ask the freshmen that. She was not and is not the type of kid that gets worked up. She just comes out and plays the game and really does not get caught up in that other stuff."

Penn State Head Coach Robin Petrini
On the comeback ... "I was pleased with the way we stuck with it and I was happy to get that goose egg off the board in the sixth inning. I was glad to see Megan Humphrey at the plate as the go-ahead run because she has the potential to get one up in the wind. I knew Michigan would come out strong, but we just had stay with it and give ourselves a chance at the end, which we did. We just could not get the last hit."

On Jennifer Tripken ... "She has been great and the ball is just flying off her bat. Even her single was a laser beam, and when she goes deep it is gone when it leaves her bat. I have been in this business for 20 years and she hits the ball as good as anyone I have been around."

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423