Pitching Leads No. 9 Michigan Past Wisconsin
April 29, 2007 | Softball
Michigan pitcher Lorilyn Wilson threw a three-hit shutout in game one and came on to save game two as the ninth-ranked Wolverines (40-9, 11-3 Big Ten) took two from Wisconsin (26-19, 5-11) Sunday at Alumni Field. Scores went 2-0 and 2-1.
Wilson (21-5) struck out nine in the opener and added a 10th while getting three outs in the seventh inning of the nightcap. Nikki Nemitz (19-4) allowed one run on six hits and picked up the win in game two.
Michigan remains one game behind Ohio State atop of the Big Ten standings with two games left to play. Wisconsin needs to sweep Minnesota next weekend and have either Michigan sweep Michigan State or Ohio State sweep Penn State to make the field of eight for the Big Ten tournament.
UW pitchers Eden Brock and Letty Olivarez managed to hold the league's top offensive unit to four runs and 12 hits in the twin bill. Brock (14-12) took both losses after throwing the entire first game and allowing two runs in the first inning of game two. Olivarez relieved Brock and threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings while striking out four.
id=5602"> --> UW outfielder Katie Hnatyk was 3-for-6 on the day and earned her third triple of the season. Samantha Polito had a hit in each game and finished 2-for-5 for the Badgers. She scored the team's only run, giving her 35 this season, four shy of UW's single-season record.
Michigan got a sacrifice fly from Samantha Findlay and an RBI single from Maggie Viefhaus in the opener. Angela Findlay, Samantha's younger sister, drove a base hit up the middle off Brock in the first inning of game two that led to two runs.
Rebekah Milian reached on a weak dribbler to third with one out in the top of the first inning of game two. Samantha Findlay then lifted a ball to the warning track in center field that Polito lost in the sun and couldn't make a play on.
An illegal pitch moved the runners to second and third before Angela Findlay's single. Polito couldn't field the ball cleanly, which allowed Angela Findlay to score the second run. Olivarez entered the game and got the final two outs to end the inning.
The Badgers scored in the fourth on a fly ball from Alexis Garcia that dropped between the right fielder and second baseman. But with two on and two outs, Nemitz got Theresa Boruta to groundout to short.
Wisconsin got a hit in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, including a pinch-hit single by Stephanie Chinn to lead off the seventh. But UW failed to advance any of the three runners into scoring position, and following Chinn's single, Wilson entered and retired three in a row to pick up her fourth save this season.
Olivarez has pitched 16 2/3 innings in four games against top-10 teams this season. She 's allowed three earned runs on 16 hits and struck out 15 for an ERA of 1.26.
id=5601"> --> Game One: Michigan 2, Wisconsin 0
id=5602"> --> Game Two: Michigan 2, Wisconsin 1
