Michigan
18-9
Bowling Green
17-9
Wilson's Pitching Backed by Homers from Findlay, Marx
3/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Junior pitcher Lorilyn Wilson (Salem, Ore./Sprague) shut out her third opponent in as many starts and extended her shutout streak to 24.1 innings, while sophomore Samantha Findlay (Lockport, Ill./Lockport East) and senior Becky Marx (St. Joseph, Mich./Lakeshore) hammered back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning as the University of Michigan softball team defeated Bowling Green 3-0 Tuesday (March 28) in the Wolverines' home opener at Alumni Field.
The win also marks the 958th of head coach Carol Hutchins' career, moving her into a tie for eighth place on the NCAA all-time wins list for all divisions.
Wilson (7-4) fanned 10 batters in the complete-game shutout, striking out two in the first, third and fourth, while striking out the side in the fifth and punctuating her afternoon with a punchout for the final out of the game. She allowed four hits and gave up no walks and picked up her fourth straight win.
Findlay went 2-for-3 with the game-winning home run in the fifth, a two-out, two-run shot to rightfield. Marx homered in the at-bat after Findlay's blast, putting one over the fence in right for her single-season best eighth home run of the year.
In the fateful fifth, freshman Teddi Ewing (Olathe, Kan./Olathe East) led off with a single up the middle, and two outs later Findlay hammered her fourth home run of the season to make it 2-0 Wolverines. The next batter, Marx, hit two foul balls over the leftfield and rightfield fences before getting hold of a pitch and taking it inside the foul pole and over the fence in right, making it 3-0.
The Wolverines improve to 18-9 on the season, while the streaking Falcons drop to 17-9 and fall one win shy of recording the best start in Bowling Green softball history.
The Falcons managed four hits through the first two innings but failed to get a runner on second as the Wolverines ended a second-inning threat with a nifty double play from senior Tiffany Haas (North Tustin, Calif/Foothill) to Ewing to Findlay and stopped a Falcon basestealer cold in the third thanks to Marx's arm behind the plate.
Michigan threatened in the fourth when Findlay led off with a single that skipped two feet inside the leftfield line, and she was sacrificed to second by Marx. Bercaw swung for strike three in the following at-bat but reached on a wild pitch to put runners on first and second with one out. Leutele singled to left to load the bases, but Bowling Green retired the next two batters to end the threat.
Michigan opens the Big Ten Conference season at home on Sunday (April 2) with a doubleheader against Minnesota beginning at noon at Alumni Field.
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wilson, Lorilyn (7-4)
L: WIEMER (4-5)
Base Running:
CS: DeLONG 1
Batting:
HR: Findlay, Samantha 1 ; Marx, Becky 1
RBI: Findlay, Samantha 2 ; Marx, Becky 1
SH: Marx, Becky 1 ; Worthy, Tiffany 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Findlay, Samantha 1 ; Marx, Becky 1 ; Ewing, Teddi 1
