Young Homers, U-M Pitchers Hurl Fourth Straight Shutout

Sunday, March 23

West Lafayette, Ind.

11:00 AM

Michigan

15-6

Loyola (Ill.)

10-8

Loyola (Chicago)

Michigan

Young Homers, U-M Pitchers Hurl Fourth Straight Shutout

3/23/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. C The 15th-ranked University of Michigan softball team completed a dominating weekend at the Boilermaker Classic with a 7-0 win over Loyola (Ill.) this afternoon (Sunday, March 23) at Purdue's Varsity Softball Complex. Sophomore pitcher Nicole Motycka (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney HS) earned her fifth straight win, while Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) went 2-3 from the plate, including a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth that sparked a six-run Wolverine rally in that frame and turned a one-run game into a 7-0 Michigan lead. Michigan (15-6) has now won nine straight and 12 of its last 13.

For the first time in Michigan's four games at the Boilermaker Classic, the Wolverines did not score in the first inning, despite loading the bases after Tiffany Haas (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill HS) and Meghan Doe (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS) opened the inning with singles. Young, however, struck out and Grace Leutele (Sierra Vista, Ariz./Buena HS) grounded out to second to leave the bases juiced.

The Wolverines also placed a runner on third with one out in the second but again were unable to come up with a key hit. Loyola's first real threat came in the third when two singles were sandwiched around a Michigan error to load the bases with one out. However, Michigan shortstop Jessica Merchant (Wayland, Mich./Wayland HS) came up with a big play to force a runner out at the plate before Motycka struck out the final hitter of the inning to strand three Rambler runners.

Michigan finally pushed across the first run of the game in the third thanks in large part to a pair of Loyola errors. The Ramblers were charged with four errors for the game. Doe reached base on an error to lead off the inning and moved to third on a one-out single to centerfield by Monica Schock (Rialto, Calif./Eisenhower HS). After the Loyola catcher dropped a foul popup by Young, the senior made the Ramblers pay with an RBI single for a 1-0 Michigan lead. Merchant had a chance to add to the Michigan lead but stranded Young and Schock on second and third base, respectively, with a groundball to shortstop to end the inning.

Motycka settled in and allowed just one runner in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings while the Wolverine hitters gave her ample breathing room with a six-run fifth. Young delivered a two-run home run with one out, which ignited the Michigan offense. The long ball, Michigan's first since March 1 vs. North Carolina, was followed by four straight Michigan hits, including a double from Merchant and a two-run single by Motykca to help her own cause. Motycka then scored from first on a Michelle Teschler (Casco, Mich./Richmond HS) single and errant Loyola throw before Teschler was driven in on a Doe double down the leftfield line. Moulden ended the inning and her five-game hit streak on a popout to second, but the damage had been done to the tune of seven Michigan hits and six runs in the frame.

Ritter closed out the game with a perfect inning of relief in the seventh that included a pair of strikeouts.

Michigan travels to Bowling Green for a single game on Tuesday (March 25, 2 p.m.) before its home and Big Ten opener at Alumni Field vs. Illinois on Friday (March 28, 3 p.m.).

N O T E S

Michigan outscored its opponents 27-0 in its unbeaten 4-0 run at the Boilermaker Classic. The Wolverines hit .378 as a team, led by Monica Schock's mark of .750 (6-8), and Marissa Young led the way with five RBI.

Young's home run is her team-leading fourth of the season.

The Michigan pitching staff has tossed four straight shutouts and has not been scored upon in the last 29.2 innings. The last runs allowed by Michigan pitchers came in the fourth inning of the 5-2 win over Florida International at the Seminole Classic on March 8.

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423