Michigan
6-4
Troy
10-4
Ritter Tosses One-Hitter to Defeat 17th-Ranked Auburn
2/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Site: Auburn, Ala. (Jane B. Moore Field)
Scores: Troy 4, #1 Michigan 2; #1 Michigan 1, #17 Auburn 0
Records: U-M (7-4), Troy (10-4) Auburn (11-3)
Next U-M Event: Thursday, March 2 -- at Florida State (Tallahassee, Fla.), 5 p.m.
Boxscores: Game 1 | Game 2
AUBURN, Ala. -- Senior Jennie Ritter's (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) 12-strikeout, no-walk win over No. 17 Auburn helped the University of Michigan softball team split a pair of games Tuesday (Feb. 28) at Jane B. Moore Field. Senior Becky Marx (St. Joseph, Mich./Lakeshore) hit her team-leading 10th RBI of the season with a two-out single in the third inning vs. Auburn to drive home sophomore Samantha Findlay (Lockport, Ill./Lockport East) and give the Wolverines with a 1-0 win over the Tigers following an error-filled 4-2 loss to Troy University eariler in the day.
Ritter tied a season high with 12 strikeouts vs. Auburn and picked up her second win over a ranked team in two days, while Marx and Findlay each added a pair of hits to the cause.
Michigan took a 1-0 lead vs. Auburn in the third when Findlay laced a one-out single to rightfield and advanced to second on a passed ball. Auburn retired the next batter, bringing Marx to the plate. Marx worked the count to one ball and two strikes before taking a pitch to centerfield, scoring Findlay from second. Ritter took over from there, striking out eight batters through the final five innings to improve to 4-1 on the season.
Troy needed just two hits to score four runs through the third, fourth and fifth innings, using a solo home run in the third and capitalizing on a walk in the fourth and a pair of Wolverine errors in the fifth to stake themselves to a 4-0 lead.
Michigan got on the board in a big way in a two-run sixth with a leadoff home run from Marx and a two-out pinch-hit single from freshman Allison Kidman (Clearwater, Fla./Countryside) to close the gap to 4-2. Marx hammered her second home run of the year for her team-leading ninth RBI of the season, making it 4-1. Senior Grace Leutele (Sierra Vista, Ariz./Buena) reached second base on an error and senior Stephanie Bercaw (Wooster, Ohio/Hillsdale) moved her to third on a groundout, bringing Kidman to the plate as a pinch-hitter with two out. Kidman slapped a single to second base and beat out the throw, scoring Leutele and making it 4-2.
Findlay drew a one-out walk in the seventh, but a pair of groundouts ended the Michigan threat.
Troy got on the board first with a solo home run in the third off the bat of Heidi Johnson to make it 1-0 Trojans. The Trojans added a second run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly, chasing freshman Stacy Delaney (Freeland, Mich./Freeland) from the game and taking a 2-0 lead. An ugly fifth inning began with Lorilyn Wilson (Salem, Ore./Sprague) hitting the leadoff batter, who scored from first base in the next at-bat after an errant throw by the Wolverine infield put a runner on third with the score 3-0. The Trojans singled in their fourth run of the game in the next at-bat before the Wolverines could end the threat.
Michigan takes a day off before resuming play Thursday (March 2) with a single game at Florida State at 5 p.m.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ritter, Jennie (4-1)
L: H. Currie (7-1)
Batting:
2B: Bercaw, Stephanie 1
RBI: Marx, Becky 1
SH: Haas, Tiffany 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Findlay, Samantha 1
CS: Bercaw, Stephanie 1
