COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Freshman pitcher Kate Eiland (Fresno, Calif./Clovis West HS) collected one win in relief and then went the distance for her fourth straight victory as the University of Michigan softball team picked up two wins at the NFCA Leadoff Classic Saturday (Feb. 27).

The Wolverines won their second extra-inning game of the tournament, outlasting Hofstra University 5-2 in a nine-inning game to complete pool play 2-1. Michigan advanced to the Silver Division championship bracket, earning the No. 1 seed in the divisional playoffs ahead of No. 2 seed and defending national champion Fresno State, and scored a 4-1 win over Colorado State University.

The first-round victory over CSU sends the No. 5-ranked Wolverines (5-4) into a rematch with No. 18 Arizona State in the Sunday divisional semifinals (11:30 a.m.). Michigan beat the Sun Devils 4-2 in an eight-inning battle Friday (Feb. 26) in the tournament-opening game for both teams. The winner advances to the divisional championship game at 2 p.m.

Senior Catherine Davie (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) and freshman second baseman Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Mater Dei HS) provided the late-inning heroics for Michigan against Hofstra. Davie, who continued a hot-hitting tournament with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, drilled a RBI double in the eighth to break open the scoreless game, then muscled through a single in the ninth for the Wolverines' fifth run. Kollen's lone hit for the game, a two-run RBI single in the ninth, scored the game-winning runs.

Sophomore pitcher Marie Barda (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South HS) threw her best game of the season against Hofstra. Barda had a no-hitter alive into the seventh, striking out six and allowing five walks before being relieved with two outs in the seventh by Eiland. Eiland picked up the relief win (4-1) and a pair of strikeouts in her two and one-third innings of work. Jen Smith (0-2) allowed 11 hits and struckout seven in her complete game loss.

In the day's second game, Colorado State (3-7) scored a run in the top of the third, but the lead was short-lived as Michigan tied the game in the bottom of the third. Kollen drilled her career-first triple down the left field line in the fifth, scoring pinch runner Mary Conner (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion HS) for the go-ahead run.

Davie finished 2-for-3 with a lead-off double in the sixth. She scored three batters later on a Chrissy Garza (Southgate, Mich./Anderson HS) RBI. Kim Bugel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS) drove in Pam Kosanke (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS) for the final Wolverine run with a single up the middle.

Eiland, who has pitched all three Michigan victories in the NFCA Leadoff Classic, held Colorado State to five hits in the complete-game outing and moved her season record to 5-1. Kyla Kiester took the loss for CSU, allowing seven hits and four walks in five and two-thirds innings.

Linescores

Score by Innings		1	2	3		4	5	6		7	8	9		R	H	E
Michigan (4-4)		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	2	3		5	11	3
Hofstra (0-3)		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	2	0		2	3	2

Michigan -- Marie Barda, Kate Eiland (7) and Kim Bugel. Hofstra -- Jen Smith and Samantha Schour. W -- Eiland (4-1). L -- Smith (0-2). 2B -- Michigan, Traci Conrad, Catherine Davie, Kim Bugel; Hofstra, Jen Smith.

Score by Innings		1	2	3		4	5	6		7		R	H	E
Colorado State (3-7)		0	0	1		0	0	0		0		1	5	0
Michigan (5-4)		0	0	1		0	1	2		x		4	7	0

CSU -- Kyla Kiester, Sara Doherty (6) and Keley Spence. Michigan -- Kate Eiland and Kim Bugel. W -- Eiland (5-1). L -- Kiester. 3B -- Michigan, Kelsey Kollen. 2B -- Michigan, Catherine Davie; CSU, Holly Schmillen, Amanda Kocis.

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Contact: Amy Carlton (734) 763-4423

Last updated: Tuesday, 02-Mar-1999 21:51:03 EST