Wolverines To Be Honored at Alumni Field on Thursday
6/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan director of athletics Bill Martin and the Michigan community will host an event to honor the accomplishments of the U-M softball team Thursday (June 9) at 7 p.m. at Alumni Field. The event is free and open to the public.
The event is a celebration of the 2005 Michigan softball team that will be bidding for its first national championship when it faces UCLA tonight (Wednesday, June 8) at 6:30 p.m. CDT at the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla. The game will be televised live by ESPN. The top-seeded Wolverines and No. 7 seed Bruins split the first two games of their best-of-three championship series, with UCLA taking the opener 5-0 on Monday and the Wolverines evening the series with a 5-2 victory Tuesday.
This season Michigan advanced to its eighth WCWS, earned its first No. 1 national ranking, and won its 10th Big Ten Conference championship and seventh Big Ten Tournament title. Head coach Carol Hutchins notched the 900th victory of her career in 2005, while junior Jennie Ritter (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Year accolades and was one of three finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
A record-tying eight Wolverines were named to the Big Ten all-conference team, including five first team selections. Michigan is the first team east of the Mississippi to reach the championship game of the Women's College World Series and the first non-West Coast school ranked No. 1 midseason. The Wolverines are making their 13th NCAA tournament appearance and have already recorded a program-best 64 wins.
