from MGoBlue.comhttp://www.mgoblue.com/softball/article.aspx?id=137878
Powers, Viefhaus Slam Door on Raiders in Regional Opener
May 16, 2008
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Event: NCAA Regional
Score: #6 Michigan 13, Wright State 5 (5 innings) Records: U-M (49-6), WSU (33-25)
Next U-M Game: Saturday, May 17 -- vs. Notre Dame in NCAA Regional (Wilpon Complex), Noon
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 6-ranked University of Michigan softball team used a pair of grand slams and a 10-run fifth inning to rally past Wright State 13-5 in its NCAA Regional opener Friday evening (May 16) in front of 2,383 fans at the Wilpon Softball Complex, home of Alumni Field. The Wolverines trailed by four runs midway through the fourth frame but scored 11 unanswered to claim their 13th run-rule decision of the season.
The host Wolverines (49-6) will face Notre Dame at noon Saturday in the winner's bracket final of the four-team, double-elimination regional, while Wright State (33-25) will play Kent State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in an elimination game. Notre Dame defeated Kent State 9-1 in six innings in Friday's first game.
Freshman pinch hitter Marley Powers (Owosso, Mich./Owosso HS) and sophomore third baseman Maggie Viefhaus (Eureka, Mo./Eureka HS) both went yard in the fifth frame, accounting for eight of the Wolverines' 10 runs and marking the first time in program history that U-M registered two grand slams in one inning. It was Powers' third grand slam of the season -- second as a pinch hitter -- while Viefhaus hit her second career grand slam in NCAA Regional play.
Entering the home half of the fifth with a 5-3 deficit, Michigan wasted little time before cutting into Wright State's lead and chasing Raider ace Sharon Palma from the circle. Sophomore rightfielder Angela Findlay (Lockport, Ill./East HS) knocked the first pitch of the inning into rightfield, and her sister, senior second baseman Samantha Findlay (Lockport, Ill./East HS), accepted a walk on four pitches in the subsequent at-bat. Sophomore Nikki Nemitz (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Regina HS) drove in the former Findlay on a high chopper over the first baseman's head, before Palma plunked freshman Dorian Shaw (Burke, Va./Robinson HS) for the second time in the game to load the bases for Powers.
The Wolverine newcomer came off the bench and took a hack at the first pitch she saw -- the first pitch thrown by WSU reliever Jamie Perkins -- and sailed it deep over the fence in left-centerfield. Powers is now batting .833 (5-for-6) in bases-loaded scenarios this season with three grand slams and 16 RBI.
With one out and the bases cleared, junior shortstop Teddi Ewing (Olathe, Kan./East HS) initiated the second wave of the U-M attack with a bloop single to centerfield before senior leftfielder Alessandra Giampaolo (Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic HS) moved her into scoring position with a solid comebacker up the middle. Senior pinch hitter Angie Danis (Manchester, Mo./Parkway West HS) took a walk to again load the bases, and Viefhaus made contact with the first pitch she saw, knocking it over the bleacher seats in right-centerfield to bring a sudden, run-rule end to the contest.
Ninety minutes earlier, Wright State began the contest in similar fashion, taking a sudden and immediate lead as Perkins drove the first pitch of the game deep over the right-centerfield fence for the first home run allowed by Nemitz in 12 appearances. The U-M hurdler recovered quickly, setting down the next six batters she faced, including five via strikeout.
Nemitz lost her command in the third, however, loading the bases on a hit batsman, a hard base hit off the shortstop's glove and a walk, and freshman Jordan Taylor (Valencia, Calif./Valencia HS) entered the game with no outs. The Wolverine rookie earned two quick outs but could not get out of the inning unscathed, allowing a shallow blooper to centerfield that scored two runs and another -- unearned -- after the throw to home sailed high.
The Wolverines used a two-out rally in the home half of the inning to cut the gap to a pair of runs, manufacturing two on three hits. Angela Findlay sent a chopper up the middle for the Wolverines' first base knock of the contest and quickly advanced to second base on a wild pitch. The extra bag proved advantageous as Samantha Findlay got ahold of a change-up and smacked it back up the middle to bring in U-M's first run. The elder Findlay came home herself when Viefhaus lined a deep ball off the Penn State sign in left-centerfield for her 10th double of the season.
The teams traded a run apiece in the fourth inning. Wright State tallied its second leadoff homer of the contest -- a bomb to rightfield as centerfielder Mollie Berry -- while the Wolverines pushed across their run on a full-count liner up the middle from Giampaolo. Ewing had kicked off Michigan's rally with two outs, taking the first pitch she saw up the middle before stealing second base -- her 17th swipe of the season -- to move herself into scoring position.
Taylor (28-3), who earned the victory in three innings of relief, got out of a jam in the top of the fifth inning to keep her team in the game. Wright State tallied back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second with one out, but Taylor fanned the final two batters she faced to end the threat. The Wolverine rookie ended the game with five strikeouts -- as did Nemitz -- and five hits allowed.
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