Jessica Merchant

Class:
Sophomore
Position:
SS
Height:
5-9
B/T:
R/R
Hometown:
Wayland, Mich.
High School:
Wayland

At Michigan ... NFCA All-American second-team (shortstop) as a junior ... NFCA All-American third-team (shortstop) as a senior ... U-M all-time leader in home runs (46) ... shares U-M single-season home run record (21) with Samantha Findlay) ... tied for 3rd all-time at U-M in games started (252) ... 4th all-time at U-M in RBI (155) ... 4th all-time at U-M in doubles (48) ... Big Ten Player of the Year as a junior ... three-time All-Big Ten and two-time All-Great Lakes Region.

Senior (2005) ... Member of U-M's 2005 NCAA Champion team ... one of 10 finalists for the USA Softball National Collegiate Player of the Year award ... Invited to USA Softball National Team Selection camp (Sept. 6-10) ... Invited to USA Softball National Team Selection camp (June 13-17) ... named to USA Softball Elite Team ... member of USA Softball Elite Team Intercontinental Cup championship team ... Named Intercontinental Cup MVP, batting .500 with a home run and eight RBI ... U-M all-time single-season home run co-leader with 21 ... Big Ten Tournament MVP after hitting .667 (8-12) with six runs, seven RBI, four doubles and two home runs ... All-Big Ten second team (shortstop) ... U-M Athletic Academic Achievement award ... NCAA All-Tournament Team ... became Michigan's career home run leader when she hit her 29th home run in a win over Chattanooga (March 4). Now has 46 career dingers ... ranked 17th in the nation in home runs per game (0.29) ... 16th in runs per game(0.93) and 27th in slugging (.743) ... just the 4th U-M player ever named Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week (April 14) after hitting .500 with four home runs, 14 RBI and a 1.100 slugging percentage the week of April 4-10 ... leads U-M in home runs (21), slugging (.816) and runs (61) and is second in RBI (61) ... Big Ten Rankings (through Big Ten Tournament): BA (6th-.398), slugging (2nd-.807), on-base (9th-.459), runs (1st-57), hits (3rd-72), RBI (2nd-59), home runs (1st-19) ... Big Ten Player of the Week (March 28) ... opened the season with a 3-4 effort including a home run vs. No. 17 Baylor (Feb. 12) ... career-best eight-game hit streak from Feb. 19 (vs. Rutgers) through March 1 (Florida-1) ... went 2-4 with a home run, double and season-best five RBI in win over Pittsburgh (March 6) ... went 2-4 with a home run and RBI in win over #24 Fresno State (March 17) ... hit two home runs in win over Western Kentucky (March 25) ... went 3-4 with two home runs and matched a season best with five RBI in win at Central Michigan-2 (April 6) ... went 4-6 with four RBI, four runs scored and a home run in a twinbill sweep at Minnesota (April 10) ... homered in sweep of Michigan State-2 (May 1) ... tripled, scored and drove in a run in win over #19 Northwestern (May 7) ... went 3-4 with three RBI a double and a home run in BTT win over Michigan State (May 12) ... went 3-4 with two runs, two RBI, a double and a home run in BTT win over Wisconsin (May 14) ... went 2-4 with two doubles and two RBI in BTT championship win over No. 22 Iowa (May 14) ... hit .333 with two home runs and two RBI in NCAA Regional ... went 2-4 with a home run and two runs in NCAA win over Canisius (May 20) ... career-best eleven-game hit streak from May 1 (vs. Michigan State-1) through May 21 (Seton Hall) ... homered in NCAA Regional win over Seton Hall (May 21) ... batted .353 with two home runs in NCAA Regional and Super Regional action ... went 2-3 with a pair of runs in 4-0 Women's College World Series win over Texas (June 3) ... went 2-4 with 2 RBI in 5-2 WCWS win over UCLA (June 7).

Junior (2004) ... Academic All-Big Ten ... U-M Athletic Academic Achievement award ... NFCA All-America second-team (shortstop) ... Michigan's first-ever All-American shortstop ... Big Ten Player of the Year ... led the Big Ten in home runs (15), slugging percentage (.739) and finished second in RBI (48) ... All-Great Lakes Region first team (shortstop) ... All-Big Ten first team (shortstop) ... set Michigan's single-season home run record with 15 despite missing five complete games and the majority of two others with an ankle injury during Big Ten play ... appeared in 62 and started 61 of Michigan's 67 games as the everyday shortstop ... three-time Big Ten Player of the Week (Feb. 26, March 30, April 20) ... went 3-5 with three home runs and nine RBI in a doubleheader sweep over Bowling Green (April 25) ... hit .438 and slugged 1.125 with three home runs and seven RBI in five games to earn MVP honors and lead Michigan to the Florida Atlantic Invitational title (Feb. 20-22) ... went 2-4 with two home runs and three RBI in 5-4 loss to No. 8 Nebraska (Feb. 14) ... went 3-3 with three RBI on a double, triple and home run vs. Florida A&M (March 13) ... hit the game-winning home run in the top of the seventh of a 1-0 win over Ohio State (April 10) ... hit her Michigan single-season record-setting home run (14) against EMU-1 (April 14) ... after missing six starts with the ankle injury, hit the first pitch over the fence vs. MSU (April 30) for her 15th of the season ... started all five games of NCAA Regional at shortstop ... started both games of WCWS at shortstop ... went 4-7 with two runs scored in two WCWS games ... went 2-4 with a triple and a run scored vs. LSU (May 27) ... went 2-3 with a double and a run scored vs. Stanford (May 29).

Sophomore (2003) ... All-Great Lakes Region first team (shortstop) ... All-Big Ten second team (shortstop) ... played in 58 games, starting 57 at shortstop ... second on team in doubles (13) and tied for second in sacrifice bunts (10) ... her 13 doubles tied for the sixth-most in the conference ... fielded a perfect 1.000 rate in conference action ... set career bests with hits (44), runs (25), doubles (13), RBI (23), and sacrifice bunts (10) ... hit safely in 14 of last 17 games of regular season ... went 2-3 with three RBI in win over Gardner Webb (March 23) ... went 2-3 with two runs in 12-4 win over Illinois (March 29) ... scored a career-best three runs in nine-inning comeback win over Northwestern-1 (March 30) ... went 4-6 with three doubles in doubleheader sweep of Akron (April 16) ... went 2-3 with triple and home run to go with two runs and four RBI in win over Indiana-1 (April 27) ... notched first career two-home run game and drove in a career-best six in win over Eastern Michigan-2 (April 29) ... started all three games of Big Ten Tournament at shortstop as the cleanup hitter ... started all six games of NCAA Regional Tournament at shortstop.

Freshman (2002) ... Started all 61 games at shortstop ... tied for second on the team with five home runs ... Merchant's five home runs is the second-best single-season total for a freshman in Michigan history ... four of her five home runs have come against Big Ten opponents ... started both games of Women's College World Series, going 0-3 against both Arizona State (May 23) and Nebraska (May 25) ... nine multi-hit games this season, including first career three-hit game in win over Purdue-2 (April 28) ... recorded a career-best four RBI, including a three-run home run in 11-1 win over Minnesota (April 12) ... went 2-4 with three RBI and a home run in win over Ohio State-2 (March 31) ... Big Ten Player of the Week (April 29) with a .667 (6-9) average and a slugging percentage of 1.444 to lead the Wolverines to a 3-0 week with a win over Illinois and doubleheader sweep of Purdue ... has hit safely in 10 of her last 12 games heading into the Big Ten Tournament.

Prep ... Wayland High School (2001) ... National Honor Society Vice President ... Student Council President ... member of the Honor Roll ... Detroit Free Press Scholar Athlete (2001) ... Gatorade Softball Michigan Player of the Year (2001) ... All-State first team (2000, 20001) ... All-Area Team MVP (2001) ... four-time All-County selection (1998, 99, 00, 01) ... four-time OK Gold All-Conference first team (1998, 99, 00, 01) ... OK Gold Conference Athlete of the Year (2001) ... All-State honorable mention (1999) ... Detroit Free Press All-State second team in basketball (2001) ... four-year letterwinner in basketball ... three-year letterwinner in volleyball.

Club/Junior Team ... Member of national champion Stratford Brackettes ... member of Grand Rapids Blaze (1997, 98, 99) ... member of Michigan Maniacs (2000, 2001) ... member of Compuware ... USSSA All-World Team (2001) ... USSSA State champs (2001) ... NSA State Champs (2001).

Personal ... Enrolled in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts ... birthday April 29, 1983 ... Aunt Cheri Ritz played softball at Michigan State ... Aunt Jennifer Ritz played basketball at Central Michigan ... Aunt Missy Ritz played basketball at Grand Valley State.