Home Runs Key U-M's Doubleheader Split at Illinois

Sunday, April 15

Champaign, Ill.

Noon CT

Michigan

32-6, 0

Illinois

25-15, 0

Michigan

Illinois

4/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Champaign, Ill. (Eichelberger Field)
Score: #9 Michigan 5, Illinois 0; Illinois 5, #9 Michigan 3
Records: U-M (32-7, 4-2 Big Ten), Illinois (26-15, 5-3 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Tuesday, Apr. 17 -- DH at Central Michigan (Mount Pleasant, Mich.), 2:00 p.m.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Senior pitcher Lorilyn Wilson (Salem, Ore./Sprague HS) rung up 21 strikeouts as the No. 9-ranked University of Michigan softball team earned a doubleheader split at Illinois, 5-0 and 3-5, on Sunday (April 15) at Eichelberger Field.

Wilson took the decision in both contests, giving up eight hits and allowing five runs through 10.2 innings of work. She went the distance in the opening game and matched a career-high 15 strikeouts en route to her sixth shutout of the season.

Home runs proved the theme of the afternoon as each squad registered a pair in its respective win. For the Wolverines, it was senior Tiffany Worthy (Yorba Linda, Calif./Lutheran HS) and freshman Maggie Viefhaus (Eureka, Mo./Eureka HS) who both went long in the fourth inning of the first contest to account for four U-M runs.

Similarly, Illinois scored four of its five of its tallies on home runs in the seventh and eighth frames of the nightcap to rally from a three-point deficit and force the series split. The result marked only the second time this season that the Wolverines lost after leading after six innings.

Michigan had held the 3-0 advantage late after scoring runs in the third and fifth frames. Junior Alessandra Giampaolo (Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic HS), who paced the Wolverines at the plate with three hits on the day, kicked off the third with hard single back to Illini pitcher Ashley Wright and quickly moved to third base as a result of a subsequent throwing error by Wright. After an intentional walk loaded up the bases, freshman Angela Findlay (Lockport, Ill./East HS) lofted a sacrifice fly to centerfield to bring Giampaolo home. Worthy, who also tallied three hits on the day, drove in another run in the following at-bat with an RBI single to centerfield.

Angela Findlay and Worthy set up the Wolverines' scoring opportunity in their next turns at bat in the fifth inning. Findlay singled up the middle and immediately took second with her third stolen base of the season. She advanced again, to third base, as Worthy drilled a hard double to left center to give Michigan two in scoring position. Sophomore Teddi Ewing (Olathe, Kan./East HS) narrowly missed the gap between second and third in the next at-bat but allowed Findlay to score from third and put U-M ahead by three.

Illinois knotted up the score with three runs scored in the top of the seventh -- the first on a U-M throwing error and the latter two on a homer to rightfield by Illinois third baseman Shanna Diller. Her teammate, centerfielder Sarah Bryers, repeated the feat in the top of the next frame, breaking up three Wilson strikeouts by sending a two-run shot over the outfield fence.

In the earlier game, the Wolverines took an immediate lead which they would not relinquish in the top of the first inning on an RBI single from junior Samantha Findlay (Lockport, Ill./East HS). Giampaolo led of the inning with a single of her own through the right side and made her way around the bases on a sacrifice bunt and an Illinois wild pitch before coming home on Findlay's hit to third base.

The U-M bats exploded again in the fourth inning, highlighted by Worthy and Viefhaus' home runs -- the third multi-home run inning for the Wolverines this season. Worthy's deep solo shot to centerfield, in the frame's second at-bat, was bookended by a pair of outs, but Michigan capitalized on an Illinois mistake to keep the inning alive. Freshmen Roya St. Clair (Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS) and Molly Bausher (Las Vegas, Nev./Spring Valley HS) gave their classmate a pair of baserunners after advancing on a fielding error by Illini pitcher Wright. Viefhaus cleared bases in the succeeding at-bat, sending her fourth home run of the season over the fence in right center.

The Wolverines will stay on the road for a pair of meetings on Tuesday (April 17) against Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant, Mich. The non-conference doubleheader is slated for a noon start at the CMU Softball Complex.

Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423