Leutele, Young Power Michigan Past Western Michigan

Thursday, May 15

Ann Arbor, Mich.

3:00 PM

Michigan

Western Michigan

5/15/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 3 seed University of Michigan softball team trounced Western Michigan University 8-0 in five innings Thursday afternoon (May 15) in the first round of the NCAA Region 7 Championship at Alumni Field. U-M pitcher Marissa Young (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei HS) allowed just one hit through five innings en route to her 20th win of the season (20-3). Young's double in the second inning led to Michigan's first run, and the Wolverines exploded for seven runs in the fourth to put the game out of reach.

Leutele has four home runs and 11 RBI in three games against the Broncos in 2003.

Meghan Doe (Tucson, Ariz./Sabino HS) collected the first hit of the game off of WMU pitcher Laura Stewart. After Doe stole second base, Melinda Moulden (LaCrescenta, Calif./Crescenta Valley HS) and Monica Schock (Rialto, Calif./Eisenhower HS) both grounded out to end the inning and keep the game scoreless. In the second inning, Michelle Teschler (Casco, Mich./Richmond HS) put Michigan on the scoreboard, scoring on a double by Grace Leutele (Sierra Vista, Ariz./Buena HS). Teschler was the pinch runner for Young, who doubled to start the inning.

Michigan closed out the game in the fourth inning, as Leutele blasted her sixth home run of the season to put U-M ahead 2-0. Two Western Michigan fielding errors allowed Doe and Tiffany Haas (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill HS) to reach base. Moulden's single up the middle brought home Haas and Schock's fly out scored Doe from third. Jessica Merchant (Wayland, Mich./Wayland HS) kept things going for U-M, singling down the leftfield line and scoring Moulden. A pair of singles from Young and Motycka allowed Merchant to score, and Leutele finished off the scoring with a double that brought home both Motycka and Young to make the score 8-0 in Michigan's favor.

Young's perfect game and no-hitter were spoiled in the final inning as Gina Dobbs walked with one out and then Crystale Gorny singled to right field. However, Young fanned the final two batters to send U-M to the next round.

The Wolverines (41-15) advance to the winners bracket semifinal round and will face the winner of No. 2 seed California vs. No. 7 seed Oakland on Friday (May 16) at 3 p.m. Western Michigan (30-23) will take on the loser of contest between the Golden Bears and the Golden Grizzlies at 10 a.m. Friday.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
On the game against Western Michigan ... "It was a great start for us. I thought Marissa (Young) was on her 'A' game and our hitters were aggressive and confident. We were a team with a lot of confidence today. I think its starts on the mound. It was a good first game for us."

On Marissa Young's performance ... "We've known each other for a long time. I have watched every pitch of her career. I know when she is on and when she needs a whack. I think beating that first batter in the first inning was big. I felt going into the game, if we can get through the first inning 1-2-3 that would set the tone for us. The pitcher sets the tone for your team and she did that for us."

U-M Senior Pitcher Marissa Young
On her game ... "The Big Ten Tournament was tough so it was nice to get off to a good start and get some runs to help things get going. I felt really good in warmups. I felt that my pitches were on and I had good control. So it was nice to get this game."

Western Michigan Head Coach Kathy Leitke
On the game ... "There is no question they are a very good team and it's one of those situations where we were playing pretty well and kind of let down quickly and they were in the reverse. They came out and made us pay. We didn't play a very good game obviously, especially in the fourth inning we just kind of let things go astray."

N O T E S

U-M's Grace Leutele is 8-for-9 with 11 RBIs and four home runs in three games against Western Michigan this season. She was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a homer and four RBI against the Broncos on Thursday.

With the victory U-M's Marissa Young earned her 20th win on the season, which now gives her three straight seasons of 20 or more wins.

U-M's Marissa Young carried a perfect game through 4.1 innings before Gina Dobbs drew a walk in the top of the fifth. Young then allowed a single to rightfield by Crystale Gorny to break up the no-hitter.

Michigan has defeated Western Michigan in its last 14 meetings, going 13-0-1.

Michigan has won nine consecutive NCAA Regional games.

Michigan is making its ninth straight NCAA appearance. The Wolverines are also hosting their ninth NCAA regional (1995, '95, '96, '97, '98, '99, 2000, '02 and '03).

With the 8-0 win over Western Michigan, Michigan recorded its fifth game called due to the run rule this season.

Western Michigan is making its first NCAA Regional appearance since 1982.

WMU's Laura Stewart suffered her first defeat since April 2. She is now 13-4 on the season.

Contact: Rich Marion (734) 763-4423