Wolverines Drop 10-Inning Affair to No. 10 Ragin' Cajuns

Thursday, March 16

Fullerton, Calif.

6:15 PM PT

Michigan

11-7

Louisiana-Lafayette

22-0

Louisiana-Lafayette

Michigan

Wolverines Drop 10-Inning Affair to No. 10 Ragin' Cajuns

3/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

FULLERTON, Calif. -- The ninth-ranked University of Michigan softball team dropped its first game of the Judi Garman Classic, losing 3-2 to No. 10 Louisiana-Lafayette in a 10-inning ballgame Thursday night (March 16) at Cal State-Fullerton's Titan Softball Complex. With the international tiebreaker in use starting in the eighth inning, each team scored a single run in each of the first two extra frames, and U-M could not match the Ragin' Cajuns' tally in the 10th.

Senior Jennie Ritter (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) hurled a season-high 10 innings, gave up five hits and struck out 14 Cajun batters in her third loss of the season (6-3). Louisiana-Lafayette remained undefeated (22-0) as pitcher Krystal Lewallen earned her 12th win of the season, striking out nine and allowing six Michigan hits.

Senior Tiffany Haas (North Tustin, Calif./Foothill) had a single and a double and drove in one run, while sophomore Samantha Findlay (Lockport, Ill./Lockport East) notched her first career triple to drive in a run.

The teams held each other at bay in the first seven innings of play. The Cajuns nearly struck first in the top of the third as Codi Runyan singled to leftfield followed by Deserea Griffin's single up the middle, but All-American Danyele Gomez grounded out to senior Grace Leutele (Sierra Vista, Ariz./Buena) at third base to retire the side.

The Wolverines followed suit in an attempt to score some runs as junior Rebekah Milian (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) singled to short and advanced to second on a throwing error by Runyan in the bottom of the third. After a wild pitch by Lewallen, Milian took third to put herself in scoring position, but Haas popped up to second base and senior Stephanie Bercaw (Wooster, Ohio/Hillsdale) struck out to end the threat.

The next scoring opportunity came in the sixth as Haas singled through the left side. Bercaw advanced Haas on a sacrifice bunt, and sophomore Alessandra Giampaolo (Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic) moved Haas to third as she grounded out to third. With two outs, Findlay struck out swinging to keep the game deadlocked after six.

The seventh inning presented no scoring opportunities for either team as Ritter and Lewallen worked to keep the game scoreless and move into extra innings. Ritter forced a pair of popouts and a strikeout, while Lewallen struck out one, forced a popup and hit a batter only to strike out the next and end the inning unscathed.

The eighth inning featured Runyan scoring Brittany Bryant, who was placed on second to start the inning, on a double to leftfield to put Louisiana-Lafayette in the lead, 1-0. A sacrifice bunt from Jessica Lemoine advanced Runyan to third, but Haas and Ritter worked together to sit down the Cajuns and give the Wolverines a turn with the bats.

In the bottom of the eighth, Milian reached first base on a throwing error by Griffin and advanced freshman Teddi Ewing (Olathe, Kan./Olathe East) to third. Haas stepped up to the plate and doubled to left-center to score Ewing and move Milian to third with nobody out, but the Maize and Blue could not score the winning run.

The Wolverines (11-7) tilted the game in their favor as Findlay laced a triple to left-center to score Giampaolo and tie the game, 2-2, in the bottom of the ninth inning, but they again could not score the runner from third as three straight batters grounded out to retire the side.
 
After Louisiana-Lafayette took a 3-2 lead on Runyan's sacrifice fly that scored Ashley Evans in the the top of the 10th inning, sophomore Michelle Weatherdon (Marquette, Mich./Marquette) pinch ran for Allison Kidman (Clearwater, Fla./Countryside) and advanced to third on a one-out wild pitch from Lewallen. Milian reached on a fielder's choice as Runyan threw Weatherdon out at home plate, and Haas grounded out to second base to end the game.

The competition at the Judi Garman Classic doesn't get any easier for Michigan on Friday (March 17) as the Wolverines will face No. 15 Washington at 11:15 a.m. PST and No. 4 Texas at 4 p.m. PST to complete pool play.

Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423