May 17, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Four runs in each of the final two frames of Saturday’s NCAA Regional contest at Wilpon Softball Complex gave No. 6 Michigan an 8-0 win over the University of Notre Dame softball team. The top-seeded Wolverines needed only five innings of work to deal the second-seeded Irish their first loss in the Ann Arbor Regional of the NCAA Tournament, as Notre Dame will now face the winner Saturday afternoon’s game between Wright State and Kent State in tonight’s elimination affair.
Michigan (50-6) used 10 hits and posted four runs in both the fourth and fifth frames as pitcher Jordan Taylor (29-3) gave up one Irish (38-21-1) hit – a Christine Lux single in the fourth – and issued one walk.
Teddi Ewing singled for Michigan in the third, stole second and then advanced a bag on an Irish fielding error when Notre Dame tried to relieve the shortstop on the basepath. Molly Bausher’s one-out grounder was fielded by Bargar who caught Ewing in a rundown which resulted in a putout at the plate. With Bausher on second, Bargar induced an Amanda Findlay grounder to end the scoring threat.
A scoreless contest took a downhill slant for the Irish when Michigan started the fourth with a Samantha Findlay walk. Findlay got to second on a Maggie Viefhaus sacrifice bunt. A one-out single from Nikki Nemitz left runners on second and third when Nemitz advanced to second on the play. Bargar stayed cool by fanning Dorian Shaw but pinch hitter Marley Powers delivered her second home run in as many days on a 2-2 pitch to give the Wolverines a 3-0 advantage. The fourth run in the frame came on Alessandra Giampaolo’s RBI triple to left-center.
Michigan posted four more runs on four hits in the top of the fifth. Ewing went 3-for-3 and Nemitz added a pair of hits.
Brittney Bargar (30-14) gave up seven earned runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings. The last two outs of the game were recorded by Jody Valdivia, who faced two batters and yielded one hit.
–ND–