2007 SFB vs. Eastern Michigan -- Notes & Quotes
5/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
N O T E S
Michigan improved its record in the all-time series vs. Eastern Michigan to 50-8 with today's victory. The Wolverines have won the last 26 meetings.
Today's three home runs matched the greatest single-game total for the Wolverines this season. Michigan knocked out three vs. Texas-Arlington in the season opener (Feb. 9) and against North Carolina at the NFCA Leadoff Classic (Feb. 24).
Senior Tiffany Worthy extended her NCAA Tournament hitting streak to six games and has hit four home runs over that stretch. She led the Wolverines last season in postseason play, posting a .364 batting average with five RBI.
Senior Lorilyn Wilson tallied her 50th career complete game and her 31st career shutout. She needs just two more shutouts to crack Michigan's top-five all-time leaders in the category.
Wilson netted her 23rd win of the season with today's decision, setting a new career high in single-season wins. She owns 63 career victories, one win shy of the eighth spot on Michigan's career wins list.
Junior Alessandra Giampaolo went 2-for-3 and netted her 20th multi-hit effort of the season. She leads the Wolverines in the category. She also extended her current hitting streak to five games.
Q U O T E S
Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
Opening statement ... "I want to congratulate Eastern Michigan. I thought they came out very composed tonight in the NCAA Tournament. They came out to play, they came out to beat us. We had to play an excellent game, we had to pitch well, which is the one thing we did very well -- we pitched well. Obviously, we had some big hits. I would like to see more hits. I'd like to see some baserunners on when we hit the ball that far, but our team, it's a tough first game. The first game of the tournament, when you're the home team and the high seed, it's hard to hide that elephant, and I thought our kids did a great job of just staying within themselves and Lorilyn let us -- she did a great job."
On Michigan's confidence going into the game and after the win ... "I am confident my team can win this tournament, and I also know my team is going to have to battle hard to win it. We have a very tough game in front of us -- we're playing a very hot, a very aggressive Louisville team tomorrow and we're going to have to stay composed and stay in the moment and worry about every inning. But I'm certain that we're going to have to play confident, and hopefully we gained confidence today."
U-M Pitcher Lorilyn Wilson
On what was working for her ... "You know not every pitch is perfect all the time, but I made pitches work when I needed to so that's important."
On whether there was a point she found her groove ... "Yeah, but at the same time, I wasn't taking it as one game, I was taking it as one pitch, then the next and then the next."
On whether this was one of her best games this year ... "It was one of the better games I've had. It's a good starting point for going into postseason."
U-M Third Baseman Maggie Viefhaus
On being part of the onslaught of home runs in the game ... "Personally, I had two strikes on me and I was just trying to put the ball in play, but it was really fun to be part of and fun to witness everybody's success in hitting home runs, but we just need to keep it going and get on base more."
Eastern Michigan Head Coach Karen Baird
On what happened in the game ... "We had the pitching and we had the defense, we just didn't make very many adjustments at the plate and then we struggled with our hitting."
On how tough Michigan pitcher Lorilyn Wilson was to face ... "Lorilyn had some pretty good movement on the ball. When we weren't swinging early in the count and getting deep into the count, she kept us off balance the whole time."
On what EMU is looking to change against Oregon State tomorrow ... "Hitting. Maybe to get a couple hits. Making adjustments at the plate -- I think that's a big thing for our hitters is trying to jump out early and get a couple runs early. That will help us a lot."
On what adjustments she would have liked to make ... I would have liked to, after the first at-bat, one of the things we talked about was we were late with a lot of them so there was a lot of groundouts. One of the things they need to get was more bat speed and get ahead of the ball, and they would have been able to pull it like Jenny Scherer did that last inning -- she got out ahead and got a little blooper."
On how they kept positive in the dugout ... "Keep fighting -- we feel that any team we face that we can beat and we just try to keep our confidence level up and everybody just keep fighting through the game. Our team has never quit the whole year, so they keep each other up and keep each other going."
On if Michigan looking different from the last meeting ... "No, they didn't look any different. Obviously their three home runs were different, but they played small ball last time, and they didn't really hit the home runs so that was the big difference."
EMU Pitcher Aimee Woodrum
On what it was like to pitch in an NCAA tournament game ... "Honestly, I went out there like it's another game. I don't put a lot of pressure on myself because otherwise things won't work. I think as a team we put too much pressure hitting-wise, and I think that's what we struggled with. I think we need to come out relaxed tomorrow because it's just another ballgame -- tournament or not."
On whether playing a regular-season game at Alumni Field was helpful ... "It sure does. Just ending our season, we didn't have a lot of time off. It's enough time to get enough rest but still keeps us on top of our game."
On preparing for U-M pitcher Lorilyn Wilson ... "Honestly you can't prepare really -- you just have to go out there and do it. If you think too much about who is going to be pitching and what they're going to be throwing, you're going to swing at a lot of junk instead of just going out there and getting what you need to get done."
