4B - The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - April 8, 2002 A Dugout Shout "Yeah, not iving up those two home runs (Friday). That would have een better," - Marissa Young, after striking out 25 in 11 innings this weekend, commenting how she could have pitched better against Indiana. FRIDAY' S GAME 9 Michigan 9 Indiana 2 SATURDAY'S GAME Indiana 3 Michigan 4 Key play Saturday, fifth inning Down 3-1 with two outs and Meghan Doe on first base, third baseman Ste- fanie Volpe hit a game-tying home run. The long ball was just Michigan's second hit of the day. 0 'What's left Home games in Bold Date Opponent Result/Time Young baffels Hoosiers with career-high in K's 2/15 2/15 2/16 2/16 2/17 2/22 2/22 2/23 2/23 2/24 2/24 2/27 2/27 3/1 3/1 3/2 3/2 3/3 3/8 3/8 3/9 3/9 3/10 3/22 3/23 3/23 3/24 3/30 3/30 3/31 3/31 4/3 4/5 4/6 4/10 4/12 4/13 4/14 4/17 4/19 4/20 4/21 4/26 4/27 4/28 5/2 5/4 5/5 Loyola-Marymount 7-1 Pacific 1-7 Cal. Santa Barbara 8-1 Utah State 9-0 Pittsburgh 9-0 Connecticut 9-1 Mississippi State 2-3 Arizona State 4-6 Oklahoma 1-0 Arizona State 5-1 Oregon State 3-2 South Florida 8-0 South Florida 6-2 South Carolina 5-0 Ohio 6-3 Central Michigan 1-0 Missouri 1-2 Pittsburgh 3-2 Winthrop 8-0 Missouri-Kansas City 6-3 Ball State 4-5 Florida State 1-0 Minnesota 0-7 Saint Louis 8-1 Saint Louis 3-2 Louisville 1-0 Louisville 3-0 Penn State 0-1 Penn State 3-0 Ohio State 5-4 Ohio State 8-2 Bowling Green 4-1 Indiana 9-2 Indiana 4-3 Central Michigan (DH) 2 p.m. Minnesota 4 p.m. Minnesota 2 p.m. Wisconsin (DH) 12 p.m. WestemMichigan(DH) 2 p.m. Northwestern 4 p.m. Northwestern 12 p.m. Iowa (DH) 12 p.m. Illinois 6 p.m. Illinois 12 p.m. Purdue (DH) 12 p.m. By Bob Hunt Daily Sports Writer BLOOMINGTON- As Indiana walked off the field on Friday after- noon, they thought they had seen the last of MarissaYoung. The Hoosiers were mistaken. After striking out a career-best 15 Hoosiers in Friday's 9-2 win, Young came in to relieve Nicole Motycka to start the fourth inning on Satur- day and continued her dominance. Young struck out 10 of the 14 bat- ters she faced to earn her 15th win of the season. Indiana's only scoring opportunity was in the sixth, when a single through the hole on the left side and a dribbler that just went under Young's glove for an infield single left runners on first and second with just one out. But with the game on the line, Young struck out the final five bat- ters to finish the Wolverines' sweep of the Hoosiers. "(Catcher Monica Schock) calls my game, and we just did a really good job of setting them up," Young said. "They're there to swing their bats, and that's what they were doing." Young's appearance on the mound changed the momentum of Satur- day's game. The Wolverines were hitless when Michigan coach Carol Hutchins made the switch from Motycka to Young. But after Young did not surrender a baserunner in two innings of work, the Wolverines came back and scored three runs taking the game. That was after baffling the Hoosiers the day before, when she went the distance and allowed just five baserunners. Other than the two home runs she surrendered on Fri- day, Young's weekend was almost perfect. "She's been pitching very, very well for us," Hutchins said. "We're glad she's on our team." But performances such as the one here this weekend are nothing new for Young. Since she was a fresh- man, her performances have been far from ordinary. Two seasons ago a 0.38 ERA in Big Ten games to lead the confer- ence and was named to the All-Big Ten second team. After last season Young was in the top 10 in 13 Michigan season and career pitching records." Since Michigan ac'e Marie Barda graduated last spring, Young has flourished as the staff ace. Her 25 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched this weekend gave her 182 for the sea- son, just two fewer than the Michi- gan single-season mark she set last season. She is also on pace to break the program's career strikeout record of 602 by the end of her jun- ior season. Young pitched the third perfect game in Michigan softball history on Feb. 16 against Utah State, and she has appeared on the mound in 24 of the Wolverines' 33 games. Not only has Young started every other contest, but she has also relieved Motycka on seven occasions. "You want your pitcher to be in good control of the game," Hutchins said. "With Marissa, we certainly have that. And that helps everything on the field - whether we're on offense or defense." Young has also taken Motycka under her wing. When the freshman has had any troubles on or off the field, Young has been there for assistance on everything from pitch- ing to just adjusting to college life in general. For the Wolverines to get back to al Eastern Michigan (PH) Michigan State Michigan State 2 p.m. 2 p.m. 1 p.m. DANNY MOLOSHOK/Daily Marissa Young has been the workhorse for the Michigan softball team this season appearing in 24 of the Wolverines 33 games, compiling a 15-5 record and striking out 182. SATURDAY'S GAME Michigan 4, Indiana 3 Penn State (0-6, 9-17-1) Player AB R H BI Hanson ss 4 0 0 0 White dh 4 00 0 Monroe 3b 3 0 2 0 Stillians 1b 2 1 0 0 Stark If/rf 3 2 3 2 Griffiths rf 1 0 1 1 Bullock If 1 0 0 0 Suca 2b 3 0 0 0 Dugan ss 2 0 1 0 Ramynke ph 1 0 0 0 Joycf 3 00 0 Cookep 0000 Total 27 3 7 3 Michigan (5-1, 27-7) Player AB R H BI Kolen 2b 3 10 0 Doe cf 3 1 1 0 Volpe 3b 2 1 1 2 Schock c 2 0 0 0 Young 1b/p 2 0 1 1 Teschler pr 0 1 0 0 Moulden If/lb 3 0 1 1 Merchant ss 3 0 0 0 Mack dh 3 00 0 Connerrf 3 00 0 Motyckap 0 000 Betley4f 0 000 Total 24 44 4 the Women's College World Series, accounted for all but three of the the two are going to have to contin- 221.2 innings of Michigan pitching ue to complement each other. this season. Sophomore Meghan Young and Motycka have Ritter has pitched the other three. "I've been there as her support, and been there to help her if she has any questions, or just as a friend," Young said. E -Indiana 2: Stillians, Dugan; Michigan 1: Young. DP - none. LOB -Indiana 5; Michigan 5. 2B - Indiana 3: Monroe 2, Stark; Michigan 2: Young, Moulden. 3B - none. HR - Indiana: Stark; Michigan: Volpe (4). BB - Indiana 1: Stillians; Michigan 3: Volpe, Schock, Young. HBP - none. SB - Indiana none; Michigan 1: Kollen. CS - Indiana none; Michigan none. R HE HOOSIERS Continued from Page 1B though she got off to a rough start. Michigan took an early 1-0 lead when Cooke walked three consecutive bat- ters in the first inning to score leadoff hitter Kelsey Kollen, who had reached based on a Indiana error. But then the Hoosiers took over, tying the game in the second inning when Abby Stark dropped an RBI single into shallow right field. Then Ashley Griffiths drove a Nicole Motycka pitch out of the park to put Indiana up 3- 1. Michigan (5-1 Big Ten, 27-7 overall) was coming off a 9-2 win over Indiana (0-6, 9-17-1) the day before, and Hutchins admitted the Wolverines might have been too relaxed after taking a first-inning lead. "Sometimes, it's hard to come out when it's not a big rival or you've handled them easily," Hutchins said. "It's hard to get as up for the games. But you know what, we were up by about the fourth inning, I think." Hutchins replaced Motycka with Young in the fourth, and Young struck out the first batter in three pitches. The next two Hoosiers struck out and flew out, and another 1- 2-3 inning in the fifth returned the momentum to Michi- gan. Motycka has had trouble controlling her pitches in her last two games, and Hutchins made the pitching change when Motycka appeared unsettled after yielding five hits. "I think she does get frustrated, and I told her at one point early in the game, 'You have to walk on the mound and show the other team, both by your garge command - having command of your pitches - and by your demeanor that you're in charge.' If you show them you're frustrated, they're going to eat that up," Hutchins said. "So she has to certainly get better in that area." Young took charge, using her velocity and tight control to goad the Hoosiers into chasing pitches high and out- side. She struck out 10 of the 14 batters she faced, and that performance gave the Wolverines an offensive boost as well. "I hope it gives us momentum, not letting people on base for them. We get in and get right back on offense," Young said. Young was equally impressive on Friday, striking out 15 and holding Indiana to four hits. Volpe led Michigan on the offensive side, driving Kollen home to start the scoring in the top of the first. Volpe added a second RBI and crossed the plate twice herself. Indiana Michigan indiana Cooke, L (0-6) Michigan Motycka Young, W (15-5) 012 000 0 -- 3 7 2 100 021 X- 4 41 IP H R ER BB SO 6.0 4 4 3 3 2 3.0 5 B 3 1 2 4.0 2 0 0 0 10 S. At- lU Softball field, Bloomington iAttendance - 246 Time - :38 FRIDAY'S GAME Michigan 9, Indiana 2 DANNY MULUSHOK/Ua Melinda Moulden and Monica Schock both had two singles and drove in two runs in the Wolverines' 9-2 win over Indiana on Friday. Michigan (4-1, 26-7) Payer AB R H BI Kolen 2b 4 2 3 0 Churchhill 2b 0 0 0 0 Doe cf 5 11 2 Volpe3b 4 2 2 2 Schock c 5 1 0 2 Young p 3 00 0 Moulden 1b 3 1 2 2 Merchant ss 4 0 0 0 Mack dh 4 0 0 1 Bentley If 2 1 1 0 Holland If 0 0 0 0 Teschler ph/rf2 1 1 0 Conner rf/If 0 0 0 0 Total 36 913 7 Indiana (0-5, 9-16-1) Player AB RI Hanson 3b 2 0 Suca 2b 2 0 Ochoa 2b 1 0 Monroec 3 0 Stillans 1b 2 1 Ramynke 1b 0 0 Jolly ph 1 0 Stark If 3 0 White dh 3 0: Griffiths rf 3 1 Ray rf 0 0 Dugan ss 3 0 Joyc 10 Bullock cf 0 0 Witham p 0 0 H BI 0 0 0 0 0 0 S0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 00 00 00 0 0 oach Hutchins knows best on how tolump start Blue Total 25 2 4 2' E - Michigan none; Indiana 3: Hanson 2, Dugan. OP- none. LOB - Michigan 10; Hooisers 3. 2B - none. 3B - none. HR - Michigan none; Indiana: Stillans (2), Grif- fiths (1). BB- Michigan 3: Churchill, Volpe, Young; Indiana 1: Hanson HBP - none. SB - none. CS- none Michigan Indiana Michigan Young, W (15-5) Indiana Witham, L (4-4) RH E 221 300 1-9 130 001 100 0E-2 4 3 IP H R ER BB SO 7.0 4 2 2 1 15 7.0 13 9 5 3 2 At - U Softball Field, Bloomington Attendance -329 Time -1:39 BIG TEN STANDINGS By Kyle O'Neill Daily Sports Writer BLOOMINGTON - Michigan's offense couldn't seem to find a way to get a hit off of Indiana's Alison Cooke for more than four innings in Saturday's contest. Making contact off her wasn't a problem, but being able to make solid hits was. It seemed that many of SOFTBALL the batters were getting jammed, allowing Indiana's Notebook third baseman Brooke Mon- roe - who led the Hoosiers with four assists -to have a field day with the easily-hit grounders. Then, before the Wolverines batted in the fourth inning, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins got the team together, pulled out a bat and began to point at every part of the piece of alu- minum. "(Hutchins) was just talking to us about turn- ing on the inside pitch," Michigan's Marissa Young said. "(Cooke) was coming in on us, and we weren't really getting our bat head ou. So (Hutchins) wanted us to choke up and hit the ball on the fat part of the bat." The Wolverines responded to Hutchins' advice with four hits and three runs in the final three innings of the game to give the Wolver- ines a 4-3 win. TAKING ADVANTAGE: Michigan has capitalized on other teams' mistakes all season, so no one should have expected Michigan to show Indi- ana any mercy in Saturday's win. The Wolverines put three of their four runs on the board due to Indiana miscues. This was wondering how she got there. "She never went back to the base," Hutchins said of Kollen after the error. Kollen "was looking to take that base - that was a called play." Thanks to the awareness of Kollen, and Indi- ana right fielder Ashley Griffiths' failure to pay attention to her, Michigan had a runner in scoring position. After three straight walks, Kollen scored, giving Michigan a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, after Indiana had taken the momentum and much of the life out of Michi- gan with three unanswered runs, it gave the game right back to the Wolverines. Michigan, which had been held hitless for four-and*two- thirds innings, earned its first hit on the legs of Doe, who outran a groundout in what would have been the third out of the fifth. Instead, she reached base, setting up Stefanie Volpe's game- tying two-run homer. COMEDY OF ERRORS: Indiana also added to its league-worst ranking in errors with five in the two-game series. The Hoosiers' three errors on Friday put them at 44 for the season, twice as many as the Wolverines. Michigan did commit one error on Saturday, giving the Wolverines 23 on the season. The Wolverines became the best in the Big Ten in fielding after Illinois committed three against Iowa this weekend to put the Illini at 25. "You can't give teams extra outs," Hutchins said. "I'm pleased because our team does a really good job of (limiting their errors). Defensively, we're not perfect, but we don't give (opposing teams) a lot." Michigan has allowed just 19 unearned runs while opposing teams have given the Wolver- -__ ')-7 casters realized Michigan had made a pitching change from the third inning. The pronouncing of names weren't much better as Michigan pitcher Nicole Motycka had three different pronunciations before they got it right. And there is reason to believe that there were X-Files fans in the booth as Michigan's Melinda Moulden was referred to as Mulder on multiple occasions, even with correct spelling in front of them. On Friday the broadcast team didn't arrive until the third inning. Team Iowa Northwestern Michigan Wisconsin Penn State Minnesota Michigan State Ohio State Illinois Purdue Indiana Conference Overall W L W L 6 0 23 12 5 1 12 9 5 1 27 7 4 4 21 13 4 4 16 15 3 3 20 10 3 3 16 21 2 4 20 15 2 4 24 11 0 6 27 15 0 8 9 19 Yesterday's results: Northwestern 2, Illinois 0 Illinois 5, Northwestern 4 Michigan State 8, Indiana 0 i I ;Mom. F l