Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Results: #6 Michigan 5, #22 Minnesota 2; #6 Michigan 8, #22 Minnesota 3
Records: Michigan (34-5-1, 7-0 Big Ten); Minnesota (28-12, 2-3 Big Ten)
Next U-M Game: Sunday, April 11 -- vs. #22 Minnesota (U-M Alumni Field), 1 p.m.

Big Innings Produce Home-Opening Sweep for Michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Big run-producing innings in both halves of Saturday's (April 10) softball doubleheader led to two Big Ten Conference wins for the University of Michigan as the No. 6-ranked Wolverines swept No. 22 Minnesota 5-2 and 8-3 in their 1999 home debut.

Michigan (34-5-1, 7-0 Big Ten) finishes the three-game weekend series vs. Minnesota (28-12, 2-3 Big Ten) with a 1 p.m. single game Sunday (April 11) at Alumni Field.

In addition to the two important league wins, Big Ten history was rewritten when Michigan senior first baseman Traci Conrad (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way HS) moved past Minnesota's Rachel Nelson (313 hits, 1994-97) as the all-time hits leader in league history. Conrad, who now has 314 hits, broke Nelson's two-year-old mark with a single up the middle in the fifth inning of the day's second game. Conrad finished the doubleheader 4-for-8 with a run batted in and three runs scored.

The Wolverines came back to tie Minnesota 2-2 in the fifth inning of game one, taking the lead for good on a three-run center-field double by freshman Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS) in the sixth. Karmen Lappo (Muskegon, Mich./North Muskegon HS) doubled in the Wolverines' first run in the fourth, and U-M tied the game in the fifth when Conrad advanced home after Pam Kosanke (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Volpe, who singled in the first, and Conrad recorded four of Michigan's six hits in the opener. Sophomore pitcher Marie Barda (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South HS) struck out five and held Minnesota to three hits in her compete-game win. Barda goes to 13-1 while Minnesota's Michelle Harrison (7-5) took the loss in relief of starter Steph Klaviter.

Michigan never trailed in the second game, scoring five runs in the first inning and scattering 14 hits in the victory. Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif/Mater Dei HS) and Kosanke tallied three hits apiece while Conrad and Melissa Taylor (Deerfield, Mich./Summerfield HS) collected two hits each. Junior Jamie Gillies (Saugus, Calif./Saugus HS) went the distance for Michigan, earning her 10th win of the year (10-2) with five strikeouts and four hits. Starter Heather Brown (8-1) was credited with the loss, her first of the year.

Maize 'n Blue Diamond Gems