Michigan
Eastern Michigan
Findlay, Powers Launch Michigan Past Eagles
4/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Score: #6 Michigan 11, Eastern Michigan 0 (5 innings)
Records: Michigan (39-4), Eastern Michigan (9-22)
Next U-M Game: Friday, April 18 -- at Ohio State (Columbus, Ohio), 6 p.m.
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan softball team used hot bats and strong pitching to claim a dominant 11-0 run-rule win in five innings over Washtenaw County rival Eastern Michigan on Tuesday evening (April 16) in front of 976 fans at Alumni Field in the Wilpon Softball Complex.
Freshman designated player Marley Powers(Owosso, Mich./Owosso HS) stole the show for the Wolverines in her first collegiate starting assignment, knocking out a grand slam in the home half of the fourth to give her team the necessary runs for the premature end. Senior second baseman Samantha Findlay(Lockport, Ill./East HS) also went long with a three-run shot in the preceding frame. Eight different U-M batters collected base hits, including sophomore third baseman Maggie Viefhaus(Eureka, Mo./Eureka HS), freshman first baseman Dorian Shaw(Burke, Va./Robinson SS) and sophomore catcher Roya St. Clair(Livonia, Mich./Stevenson HS), who all tallied two a piece.
Freshman pitcher Jordan Taylor(Valencia, Calif./Valencia HS) fanned five Eagle batters and allowed just two hits from the circle to claim her 11th complete-game shutout of the season and Michigan's third in as many games. Taylor, who saw her 48.1 shutout-inning streak come to an end at Wisconsin last Friday (April 11), began anew with back-to-back shutout performances. Her current streak is 12 straight shutout innings.
After a scoreless first inning, the Wolverines tallied runs in each of their final three turns at the plate. St. Clair drove in the only run her team would need with one out in the second. Shaw dropped a well-placed single to shallow centerfield to lead off the frame, and, with junior pinch runner Megan Gregory(Rockford, Mich./Rockford HS) in scoring position after a stolen base, the Wolverine catcher got ahold of the 1-2 pitch and ripped a hard liner down the rightfield line, allowing Gregory to race home from second.
Samantha Findlay made the Eagles pay for a pair of walks early in the third frame, clearing the bases with a three-run homer -- her 15th long ball of the season and third in the last five games. After scattering several foul balls to both sides, Findlay finally made solid contact, directing a towering blast to the EMU bullpen beyond the fence in leftfield. The Wolverines added an additional run before inning's end on back-to-back base hits from Viefhaus and Shaw in the subsequent at-bats. Viefhaus fired a double -- her fifth of the season -- down the rightline line, setting up Shaw, who nearly took out EMU's pitcher with a liner up of the middle, to bring her home.
The Wolverines' momentum carried into the following frame as they matched a season-high single-inning run total to pad their lead to 11 -- their second-largest win margin of the season. After senior leftfielder Alessandra Giampaolo(Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic HS), who extended her hitting streak to 15 games, and sophomore centerfielder Molly Bausher(Las Vegas, Nev./Spring Valley HS) led off with back-to-back base hits over the infield, sophomore rightfielder Angela Findlay(Lockport, Ill./East HS) took the first pitch she saw to the rightside gap, bringing home both Michigan baserunners to pull within one tally of required run-rule margin. Powers took care of the rest three batters later after U-M loaded the bases on a Viefhaus single and a subsequent walk. The Wolverine rookie, who is hitting 1.000 (3-for-3) with eight RBI in bases-loaded situations this season, lifted her first collegiate home run to the outfield bleachers in right center.
Taylor gave up one of her two hits allowed to lead off the top of the fifth, but when EMU's Brooke Carpenter tried for extra bases, she was thrown out by Giampaolo at second base. The Wolverine pitcher wasted little time on the remaining two Eagle batters, forcing a line out and ground out to end the game.
The Wolverines head to Columbus, Ohio, Friday (April 18) for the first of two games against Big Ten Conference rival Ohio State. The game is slated for a 6 p.m. start on Buckeye Field.
Contact: Leah Howard (734) 763-4423
