Ritter Pitches U-M Past Wildcats for Tournament Crown

Saturday, May 13

Evanston, Ill.

3:06 PM CT

Michigan

40-13

Northwestern

42-12

Northwestern

Michigan

Ritter Pitches U-M Past Wildcats for Tournament Crown

5/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. -- In a battle between the Big Ten's best pitchers in the Big Ten Tournament final, senior Jennie Ritter (Dexter, Mich./Dexter) bested 2006 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Eileen Canney, throwing a two-hit, nine-strikeout masterpiece in a 6-0 victory over the No. 11 Northwestern Wildcats Saturday (May 13) to give the Wolverines their second straight conference tournament title.

The tournament MVP, Ritter allowed a pair of infield hits in the fourth but kept the Wildcats off the board through seven innings, running her scoreless streak to 26.0 consecutive innings and going the entire Big Ten Tournament without giving up a run.

The top of the Wolverine order did most of the damage with all-tournament selections senior Tiffany Haas (North Tustin, Calif./Foothills) batting 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and junior Rebekah Milian (Grand Blanc, Mich./Grand Blanc) going 2-for-3 with a two-RBI double. All-tournament selection senior Becky Marx (St. Joseph, Mich./Lakeshore) accounted for the game-winning RBI, drawing a bases-loaded walk in the third for the deciding run.

Michigan gave Ritter a 2-0 lead in the third on Marx's bases-loaded walk and all-tournament selection sophomore Samantha Findlay's (Lockport, Ill./Lockport) RBI single to centerfield. Ritter fanned nine batters through six innings and forced 2006 Big Ten Player of the Year Garland Cooper into a pair of groundouts and a fielder's choice before her offense added four runs in the sixth inning. In the sixth, all-tournament junior designated player Tiffany Worthy (Yorba Linda, Calif./Luhteran), Haas and Milian accounted for four Wolverine runs as U-M knocked four base hits and capitalized on two Northwestern errors to seal the tournament.

The win was Michigan's first over Northwestern at the Big Ten Tournament, running the all-time series to 1-3. Michigan also repeats as Big Ten Tournament champion for the first time since the 1997-98 seasons. The tournament victory ensures the Wolverines a place in the NCAA Tournament with the conference's automatic bid.

Northwestern was the first team to reach base, drawing a one-out walk in the second inning, but Ritter recorded back-to-back putouts to strand the runner on first base. Leutele reached on a base-hit bunt for the first hit of the game in the bottom half of the inning, but Canney fanned a pair to limit the damage.

Michigan put a pair of precious runs on the board in the third on a bases-loaded RBI walk by Marx and an RBI single from Findlay to put U-M up 2-0. Ewing laced a one-out single to rightfield for her second hit of the tournament and reached second on a throwing error from the Wildcat second baseman in Haas' at-bat to put a pair of runners on base. Milian loaded the bases with a slap-hit single and Marx drew a full-count walk to bring the first run of the game across the plate.

Findlay stepped up with the bases loaded and fired a tailing ball to center which appeared to be snared by a diving Wildcat, holding the Wolverines close to their bases. A delayed fair ball call by the second base umpire brought Haas home for the second run of the inning, but Marx was frozen between first and second and was tagged out for the second out of the inning. Findlay stole second to put runners on second and third with two out, but Canney induced Alessandra Giampaolo (Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic) into a groundout to end the inning.

Northwestern mounted a legitimate threat in the fourth with a leadoff bunt single, followed by a single through the left side to put runners on first and second with two down. Ritter ran the count to one ball and two strikes and overpowered the final batter of the inning for her seventh strikeout of the game to end the inning.

Michigan threatened to build on its lead in the fifth when Haas and Milian found themselves on first and third with one out and Marx at the plate. Marx took a 2-2 pitch and hammered it to leftfield but the ball curved a foot outside the foul pole. Marx grounded out two pitches later and the Wildcats were able to escape by the tips of their tails to keep the score at 2-0.

The Wolverines blew the doors off the game in the sixth with four runs off four hits to give Ritter a 6-0 lead heading into the final frame. Giampaolo led off with a single to leftfield and Leutele reached on a fielding error by Cooper to put two on with no outs. Worthy hit a sharp single up the middle to advance the runners, but the centerfielder overran the ball, allowing Giampaolo to score on the error to make it 3-0. Canney helped retire the next two batters faced, but Haas got ahold of a pitch and sent an RBI single to center to make it 4-0 and chase Canney from the circle. Northwestern's Courtnay Foster took the ball and gave up a two-RBI double to Milian in the next at-bat, giving Michigan an insurmountable 6-0 advantage.

Michigan will await the NCAA Division I Softball Selection Show, aired live on ESPNews on Sunday (May 14) at 3:30 p.m., to learn the 64-team field and the 16 regional sites. Regionals begin on Thursday (May 18) and run through Sunday (May 21) with the 16 regional champions advancing to the Super Regional round (May 26-27).

2006 Big Ten All-Tournament Team

C: Becky Marx, U-M
1B: Samantha Findlay, U-M
2B: Tiffany Haas, U-M
3B: Darcy Sengewald, Northwestern
SS: Tammy Williams, Northwestern
OF: Rebekah Milian, U-M
OF: Megan Schwab, Ohio State
OF: Brittany Vanderink, Ohio State
DP: Tiffany Worthy, U-M
UT: Mariangee Bogado, Indiana
P: Courtnay Foster, Northwestern
P: Jennie Ritter, U-M (MVP)

N O T E S

Michigan captured its seventh Big Ten Tournament title, repeating for the first time since winning the 1997 and 1998 titles.

Head coach Carol Hutchins recorded the 980th victory of her collegiate career Saturday.

Senior Tiffany Haas made her 250th collegiate start against Northwestern. Haas is fifth on U-M's all-time starts list, needing four starts to tie for third, 11 for second and 14 for first place.

Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423