Michigan Sweeps Eagles in First Action Under the Lights

Tuesday, April 15

Ann Arbor, Mich.

5:00 PM

Michigan

26-8

Eastern Michigan

4-26

Eastern Michigan

Michigan

Michigan Sweeps Eagles in First Action Under the Lights

4/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Scores: #13 Michigan 7, Eastern Michigan 1; #13 Michigan 10, Eastern Michigan 2 (6 innings)
Records: U-M (27-8), EMU (4-27)
Next U-M Game: Wednesday, April 16 -- DH vs. Akron (Alumni Field), 5 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The 13th-ranked University of Michigan softball team upped its season-best win streak to 11 games with a doubleheader sweep over Eastern Michigan, downing the Eagles 7-1 and 10-2 in six innings this evening (Tuesday, April 15) at Alumni Field. The twinight doubleheader gave the Wolverines their first opportunity to play under the lights at Alumni Field, and they responded with 25 hits, four home runs and 17 runs in the two games. Senior outfielder Melinda Moulden (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley HS) led the charge, going 5-7 with four runs and three RBI, while freshman Tiffany Haas (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill HS) chipped in with a 5-8 evening, including three doubles and three runs.

After two scoreless innings in game one, Haas set the table in the Michigan third with a solid single up the middle. Centerfielder Meghan Doe (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS) then put down a bunt to move the runner to second for Moulden, who fisted a single to centerfield, putting Wolverines on first and third with one out. Following a Michigan strikeout and Moulden steal of second, there were two down when Lisa Mack (Saline, Mich./Saline HS) came through in the clutch with a two-out single to score Haas and Moulden and put the Wolverines in the lead, 2-0.

In the EMU fourth inning, Michigan starting pitcher Nicole Motycka (Sarasota, Fla./Cardinal Mooney HS) gave up a walk followed by a Wolverine error, putting runners on first and second with one out. After a rope over the glove of Angie Churchill (Mokena, Mich./Lincoln-Way HS) loaded the bases, Motycka hit Eagle Jenny Hann to score EMU's only run of the game. The fire was extinguished by rightfielder Courtney Betley's (Corona, Calif./Santa Ana Mater Dei HS) diving catch in foul territory to close the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, the Wolverines ignited a two-out rally with a single to shallow rightfield off the bat of Betley. With the runner standing at second after a stolen base, Haas belted a double off the centerfield fence to score Betley and increase Michigan's lead to three runs.

Michigan broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth, beginning with a sacrifice fly by Mack after back-to-back hits by Moulden and Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS). Shortstop Jessica Merchant (Wayland, Mich./Wayland HS) capped off the rally with a home run to centerfield, taking the score up to 6-1 Wolverine lead.

The Wolverines scored their final run of the game in the bottom of the sixth, fueled by a single to leftfield by Moulden, who then advanced to third on consecutive wild pitches. After a walk on four straight pitches, Mack hit a drive deep to left, scoring Moulden from third on a sacrifice fly for her season-best fourth RBI of the game.

Eastern's bats quieted after the fourth, managing only one hit and failing to get anyone else to first base in the final three innings. Motycka closed out the game for the Wolverines, getting a strikeout, groundout and a flyout to end the contest with a final score of 7-1.

Michigan's lineup picked up where it left off to start the second game, with Haas legging out an infield single to lead off the first frame. After another sacrifice by Doe, Moulden laced a double to left-center, driving in the first Wolverine run of the game.

The Eagles threatened in the second, putting a runner at third base after a double to the gap in left-center and on a passed ball. After a hit batsman, a ground ball to Michigan starter Jennie Ritter (Dexter, Mich./Dexter HS) proved lucky for EMU when she was caught without a play to load the bases. But the Eagles could not produce, striking out swinging and then grounding to the second baseman to end the inning.

The Wolverines exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the second, coming out with six consecutive hits. Merchant led the rally with a double off the fence in left-center, followed by a single up the middle from third baseman Grace Leutele (Sierra Vista, Ariz./Buena HS), which put runners on the corners. First baseman Jennifer Olds (Riviera Beach, Fla./Suncoast HS) then stepped up and drove the ball deep to leftfield for a three-run home run that stayed just inside the flagpole down the line. The home run, her first since Feb. 23 vs. Temple, upped the Wolverine lead to 4-0.

Rightfielder Michelle Teschler (Casco, Mich./Richmond HS) continued the rally with a single through the hole between first and second, and Haas moved her to third with a line-drive double to left-center. Doe then drove in her fifth run of the year with a single to shallow centerfield. Moulden recorded the first out of the inning with a long sacrifice fly to left-center to take the score to a 6-0 Michigan lead, and Young rounded out the inning with a monster home run to left-centerfield, making it a seven-run inning for the Wolverines.

Eastern Michigan did answer with its best offensive work of the evening, hitting a two-out double in the top of the third followed by a stand-up triple to put across their first run of the game. Their second run came in the top of the fourth, triggered by a leadoff walk and a fielder's choice to move the runner to second. A single up the middle just off the glove of second baseman Haas cut the Eagles' deficit to six (8-2).

EMU handed Michigan a run in the fifth when Teschler reached on an error after two were out and nobody on. Haas made the Eagles pay for the mistake with a deep drive up the gap in left-center, scoring Teschler from first. Moulden then ended the first night game in Michigan history in the sixth with a leadoff home run in the sixth, giving the Wolverines a 10-2 win by virtue of the eight-run rule.

The Wolverines are right back at it tomorrow night (Wednesday, April 16, 5 p.m.) with a doubleheader vs. Akron at Alumni Field.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
On the game overall ... "First of all, this was a great night for our first-ever night game at Alumni Field, and I told the kids before the game that they get to be part of history. Michigan softball has been around since 1978 and they get to be the first team to play under the lights. I thought they handled it well, and Jennie Ritter did a good job of handling all that in the second game. I was pleased with the way we hit the ball tonight throughout the lineup. Our kids that were supposed to get on base did that and then the heart of the order drove them in."

N O T E S

• Michigan's four home runs in the twinbill give the Wolverines 36 for the season, which is one shy of the Michigan single-season mark (37) that was set by the 2002 Wolverines.

• Marissa Young's home run in game two is her team-leading 10th of the season and 19th of her career, which moves her into a tie for third place on the Wolverine career list with Catherine Davie (1996-99).

• Jennie Ritter, who earned her third win of the season with a complete-game victory in game two of the doubleheader, made her first career start at Alumni Field this evening.

• Sophomore Jennifer Kreinbrink (Aliso Viejo, Calif./Aliso Viejo HS) made her collegiate debut at the plate as a pinch-hitter in game two.

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423