46 - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 16, 2001
Quote of the weekend
"Our focus is just taking it
one game a a time."
- Carol Hutchins on the pressure upon the
Wolverines as the Big Ten leaders.
SATURDAY'S GAME
Michigan 4
W isconsin 2
SUNDAY'S GAME
Michigan 8
Wisconsin 0
Player of the Weekend
Marie Barda
Barda was dominant this weekend,
pitching 14 innings without allowing an
earned run. She picked up two wins and
a save while registering 12 strikeouts.
Barda 's ERA is now 1.07.
} ;, .
EAM STATISTICS
Through April 16, 2001
Player G BA AB RBI HR
Taylor 37 .475 118 9 0
Pollen 39 .369 130 18 0
TTune 39 .325 117 12 2
Moulden 39 .305 118 27 5
Doe 35 .300 90 4 0
Volpe 37 .281 96 27 3
Bugel 25 .277 47 4 0
Young 36 .237 93 10 2
Schock 35 .235 85 12 0
Mack 26 .200 5 0 0
EIsner 7 .182 11 4 0
Churchill 17 .176 17 4 1
Betley 19 .171 35 3 0
Garza 28 .160 50 4 0
Conner 21 .000 8 0 0
Murdock 5 .000 2 0 0
Prichard 5 .000 0 0 0
EA
Bairdb 1.07
Young 1.17
Strikeouts
Young 124
Barda 91
Wins
Young 14
Barda 12
Yesterday's Oame
ICHIGAN 8, WISCONSIN 0 (6 INN.)
15
and
counting ...
Flexible M' steals close games
before blowing out Badgers
0l
01
BADG ERS'
Continued from Page 1B
Cummings could withstand Michigan's attack, as the
Wolverines posted 12 hits in the victory.
In the sixth inning, Taylor advanced to first on an
error, Volpe walked and Courtney Betley singled to load
the bases. Moulden singled in Taylor and Elizabeth
EIsner pinch hit for Tune. Elsner responded by singling
to right field, and the ensuing run upped Michigan's lead
to 8-0 and ended the game via the mercy rule.
Barda allowed just one hit to the Badgers, a single by
Nicki Starry in the fifth inning. The Wolverines were
able to shutout the Badgers with their much-hyped
defense that has been inconsistent since the season began.
Taylor fueled Michigan's effort against the Badgers on
Saturday with a one-out triple in the first inning. With
Volpe at the plate, Taylor scored on a balk by Wisconsin
pitcher Jennifer Cummings.
In the second, after Tune hit her 1Ith double of the
season, Kim Bugel stepped up and drove her home. The
senior catcher scored on a passed ball in the fourth inning
to up Michigan's lead to 3-0 before Wisconsin began its
comeback struggle.
Michigan pitcher Marissa Young had just allowed one
runner on base with a walk in the third. But in the fifth
inning the Badgers' Sheena Padovan hit a two-run
homer.
The Wolverines responded in the sixth. Kelsey
Kollen's single to left drove in Bugel This ended the
game's scoring and gave Michigan a 4-2 win.
Yet, even after the win, Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins didn't gloat over her team being ranked first in
the Big Ten.
"All the games are really close, and it's a tight race,'
Hutchins said Saturday evening.
The previous day, Michigan took two games over Min-
nesota by just one run each - proving Hutchins' point of
her team not having the power to ignore even a single
play.
"Our focus is just taking it one game at a time.'
Hutchins said.
Friday's doubleheader began the same way it ended -
with great pitching.
Young threw a three-hit shutout in the first game and
Barda backed her up by hurling another three-hit game.
allowing just one unearned run in the second inning.
The first match's only run came in the top of the third
inning. Doe hit a single and advanced to second by
Kollen's groundout. Taylor then got a base hit that drove
Doe to third.
The corners now occupied. Minnesota catcher Meghan
Smith threw a wild attempt to catch Taylor, who was try-
ing to steal second. That allowed Doe to reach the plate.
In Friday's second game, the Gophers caught an early
lead with an unearned run by Allie Fisk. But Michigan
played copycat in its half of the first, when Kollen scored
on Moulden's two-out single.
Kollen again sparked the Wolverines with a leadoff
double in the third. Taylor sacrificed her to third, and
Volpe drove Kollen home for the game-winning run. 1
POWENTR-AIDED PITCHERS: At the end of the week,
Barda moved her record to 3-0 with 19 strike outs. Over
21 innings, she didn't allow a single earned run and
walked just six batters.
With Young by her side training in the bullpen, the duo
makes Michigan's efforts seem like a stroll in the park.
Young has a record of 14-6 and, although the sopho-
more's pitching numbers are not as impressive as her
senior mentor's, she adds diversity to the lineup.
As the only pitcher who bats, Young takes over
Moulden's spot on first base when Barda pitches.
STREAKING TIROUGI TIE CONFERENCE Knock on
wood. Michigan's 15-game streak has extended to the
middle of its Big Ten schedule.
The Wolverines return to Ann Arbor for a week of
practice before heading out once again to defend-their
cushy first-place conference ranking.
The upcoming roadtrip will feature two games. against:
Penn State and Ohio State.
NWCHIGAN
Pibym
Kilen 2b
Taylor rf
Volpe 3b
Schock dh
Meckypr
Betley ph
Mbuiden If
Tine ss
Esner ph
Young lb
euge c
Grza ph/cl
AB R H Bi
4 0 1 o:
4 2 1 0
2 2 2 2
3 0 1 0
3 1 2 o1
1 0 122
3 0100
3010 0
1101 0
1240
INIXANA
Player AB R H BI
Consomagno 3b 1 0 0 0
Gosse ss 2 0 0 0
Reissdp 3 0 0 0
Jones2b 2 0 0 0
Starryc 2010
BarthlIf 2 00 0
Padovanib 000 0
Grillrcf 2 0 0 0
Hagen rf 20 00
Totals 298128 Totals 16 0 1.0
E --Padovan. OP.- Michigan 2. LOB - Michigan 10.
Wisconsin 3. 28 -Schock. HR. Voipe. Moulden.
Tune. SB -Tune. CS. Consoimagno. HBP - Volpe.
Consohrnagno. Padiovan. SH4 - None.
IP H R ER BB SO
M ihigan
Barda W (12-4) 6.0 1 0 0 3 5
Wt's wh f
K$rchergL
Cummrings
2.1 8 4 4 0 2
2.2 4 4 3 3 3
AtGoodman Softball Complex
Attendance: 271
Start: 2:00 p iw
Tie: 1: 55
WEEKEND LEADERS
Hitting
Hits -Rebecca Tune, 6
Runs - Melissa Taylor, 3
R$Ils - Melinda Moulden, 4
Walks - Stefanie Volpe, 2
At-bats - Kelsey Kollen, Tune 13
Extra-base hits - Monica Schock, 2
Sacrifices - Melissa Taylor, 2
Stolen bases - Tune, Taylor, Kim
Bugel, 1
Pitching
Innings - Marie Barda, 14.0
Strikeouts - Barda, 12
Wins - Barda, Marissa Young, 2
Saves - Barda, 1
B TEN STANDINGS
MARJORIE MARSHALL' Dailv
Michigan used stellar pitching from Marie Barda (above) and Marissa Young to
keep its lead in the Big Ten. The duo allowed just two earned runs in four games.
A deadly -2 punch
Michigan pitchers Marie Barda and Marissa Young carried the team through
early season hitting woes, and have been rock solid throughout the team's 15-
game winning streak. During the streak, they have been nearly unhittable.
In the last 15 games:
The Wolverine pitchers have thrown 101 innings, allowing just 60 hits and a
miniscule 13 earned runs, while recording 94 strikeouts.
The team ERA over the streak is just 0.90.
During that time, the offense is has provided Barda and Young with an average
of 5.27 runs per game.
To people in the Midwest, warm weather is like having a cold
it's a seasonal affliction that will be gone in a couple of days.
But Kate Eiland's first taste of Midwest winter was the blizzard of
1999, and it was not what she had hoped fir.
"I remember my freshman year. it wasn't very cold and it hadn't
really snowed, and I came back from Christmas break and we had
had this huge storm. I was stuck at the airpoil, frozen." Filand said.
"When I got back to my dorm room. I called my dad and was like.
'I'm transferring. See if' my credits transfer, I cannot handle it out
here. I hate it.' "
liland, from Fresno. California is one of' many softball players
who come from the West Coast to play college ball in the Midwest,
and are harshly greeted by the four seasons.
The divide is apparent in collegiate athletics. From 1988 to 2000,
25 out of 26 teams in softball's NCAA Championship game were
from the West. Only Oklahoma, the 2000 champion, broke the mold.
It really isn't that surprising that schools like Arizona and UCLA
dominate college softball. Girls in southern California - and espe-
cially Orange County, a heavily populated area just south of Los
Angeles - play softball all year, and the talent shows.
"The West coast, and Orange County in particular, is probably the
best softball recruiting spot in the world," Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins said.
So how do schools in the Midwest compete? By mixing the best
their states have to offer and the right amount of West coast stars.
The 2001 Michigan team has eight players from the West coast;
Marissa Young, Meghan Doe, Monica Schock, Courtney Betley and
Melinda Moulden are playing regularly as underclassmen.
And for three upperclassmen on the Wolverines, the decision to
come to the Midwest has paid dividends. Rebecca Tune, Kelsey
Kollen and Kate Eiland came 2,000 miles away to a new world of
softball - and life.
'4
S
Conference
Team W L W
Michigan 9 0
Iowa 7 3
Ohio State 7 3
Illinois 7 5
Wisconsin 6 6
Penn State 5 5 2
Michigan State 4 6
Nbrthwestern 4 6
Purdue 4 8
Minnesota 3 9
Irdiana 3 9
Overall
W L
27 11
30 9
33 12
39 17
24 18
25 17
17 29
13 17
27 18
24 18
13 28
r
REMAINING SCHEDULE
Date Oponent Time
April 20 at Penn State (2) 2 p.m.
April 21 at Ohio State 2 p.m.
April 22 at Ohio State 1 p.m.
April 27 Northwestern (2) 2 p.m.
April 28 Iowa 2 p.m.
April 29 Iowa 1 p.m.
May 2 at Eastern Mich. (2) 3 p.m.
May 5 at Mich. State 2 p.m.
May 6 Michigan State 1 p.m.
May 10-12 Big Ten Toum. TBA
May 17-20 NCAA Regignal TBA
May 24-28 World Series TBA
NFCA TOP 25
As of April 11, 2001
first-place votes in parentheses
Team Record Pts Pvs
1. UCLA (18) 40-3 665 1
2. Arizona (7) 39-4 648 2
3f annr(t11 36-3 620 A4
The Early Years
Kollen, who lives in the Los Angeles area, was one of the most
decorated players coming out of Southern California. She was the
California state freshman and sophomore of the year in high school,
was an all-state selection in her final two years and played on the
Amateur Softball Association national championship team twice.
"I would go to high school practice and then from there I would
go to summer ball practice;" Kollen said. "We would have practices
on Sundays from like nine in the morning to four in the afternoon."
Kollen's case is not unique in Orange County - softball is almost
a way of life. Players have a leg up on Midwest competition already
just because of the amount that they can play.
"The Midwest kids, and the Michigan kids in particular, do not
play the day-to-day schedule that the West Coast kids do," Hutchins
said. "Kelsey Kollen and Marissa Young were on the best team in
the country, and they played."
Eiland and Tune, from Aloha, Ore., also had the chance to play in
games all year.
In the Midwest, softball takes a backseat to indoor sports in win-
ter. As a result, some of the sport's evolutions are slow to catch up.
"I know that in the Midwest, there is still slow pitch around -
that's almost nonexistent in Oregon," Tune said.
The Decision
"I knew that I wanted to come and play in the Midwest, or away
from California," Kollen said. "My sister went to Ohio State, and I
just basically saw how much she loved it, and her experiences grow-
ing up, and I knew that I wanted to follow in her footsteps."
make new friends.
"They fly you in, you're there for 48 hours, and you go here, you
go there, you meet this person, you meet that person, and you hon-
estly don't remember anything," Eiland said. "Then you have to
base your choice off the little fragments of information that you do
remembei."
I futchins thinks that the decision is made easier for someone who
wants a change of pace from the West Coast.
"They have to want to be different. They have to want to try
something new. And we're different. A lot of girls don't want some-
thing new, or they want to stay close to their families." Hutchins
said. "If they don't want to come here, then we don't want them."
The Adjustment
The first year of college can be stressful for anyone, much less a
softball player expected to come in and play right away. Tune and
Kollen have been starting infielders since their first game, and Eiland
was the Wolverines' starting pitcher in 19 games as a freshman.
Each player was forced to adjust in a different way.
Eiland's parents "sort of let softball be my thing, and they don't
really come out all that much," she said. "My parents, they just want
to come see me. They're like, 'When are you not playing softball? I
want to come on a non-softball weekend.'"
- -:... L. - LI-- ---AL,, - th. fnmA
Living in a climate as dynamic as Michigan's has forced the three
Wolverines to learn to live and play differently.
Hutchins said that the weather is the biggest reason why some
players leave Michigan, or decide not to come in the first place.
"They're concerned with the winter." Iutchins said. "They're
afraid of it."
But after the initial shock, the players became accustomed to the
harsh cold.
"You learn to bundle up." Kollen said. "It's funny, my summer
team has a Christmas party when we go home. Everybody is all tan,
and I'm like butt white. They're all in winter jackets and I'm in a
tank top."
Eiland has overcome her initial reservations about the cold.
"Now, I think it's fun," Eiland said. "I was excited for the snow
this year, but it's hard during softball season."
When the weather is unbearable, the team practices indoors, but to
many players, those days seem few and far between.
Even though the team is forced to play in the cold, Tune thinks
making it through the snow to class is a far gireater challenge.
"Once you get to practice it's not too bad, because you're there
with everybody and you're at least doing something with other peo-
ple," Tune said. "But to get up for class and trudge through the snow
n
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