ANN ARBOR, Mich. (May 3, 2000) -- After eight times
being on the losing
end of its 11 one-run games this season, Ohio
University posted a pair of
impressive single-run victories in sweeping
13th-ranked University of Michigan
in a non-conference softball doubleheader.
The Bobcats (16-25)
won the opener 1-0 in eight innings, then battled back
for a 3-2 win in the
nightcap to spoil the final regular-season home
appearance of the Michigan
(38-13-1) senior class.
The teams went down in order in the first two innings
of the opener before
Ohio posted one hit and Michigan two in the third
inning. U-M pitcher Marissa
Young retired the Ohio side in order in the fourth,
fifth and sixth innings, and
forced a pair of flyouts and stranded a runner at
second in the seventh inning.
Bobcat starter Kasey Dowd (Clearwater, Fla.) was just
as impressive retiring
the side in the fourth and the fifth innings.
Bobcats left-hander Christy Connelly (Antioch, Tenn.)
took the mound in the
sixth. Despite loading the bases on a walk, a hit
batter and a single, Ohio held
Michigan scoreless by forcing two outs at home and a
long right field flyout to
end the Wolverine threat.
Both teams were scoreless until the eighth inning.
Sophomore Tiffany Bolton
(Fairfax, Va.) singled to centerfield in the top of
the eighth to end the scoreless
game and send Jennifer Schmidt (Fort Wayne, Ind.) home
for the
game-winning run. Heather Hagen (Huntington Beach,
Calif.), the third Bobcat
pitcher, posted the win (5-10) and helped hold U-M to
four singles. Schmidt
was 3-of-3 in the game as well as scoring the
game-winning run.
Neither team wasted time getting on the scoreboard in
the second game. Ohio
went ahead 1-0 on Jen Sewell's (Tulsa, Okla.) RBI
double down the leftfield
line in the top of the first. Michigan countered with
two runs of its own in the
bottom of the inning when am Kosanke doubled to left
centerfield to score
Stefanie Volpe and Melissa Taylor.
U-M held the Bobcats in check until the sixth inning
when reliever Marie Barda
loaded the bases, then gave up a one-out infield
single up the middle by Lindsay
Eirich (Powell) that scored a pair of runners and gave
Ohio the 3-2 win. Hagen
allowed just three Michigan hits and struck out eight
in her complete game
victory (6-10) while Barda (15-6) took the loss.