New Look to Big Ten Tournament
In 1999, the Big Ten Conference Softball Tournament takes on a new look with the top five regular-season finishers advancing to the postseason event (only four teams have gone to the tournament in the past four seasons). The fourth- and fifth-seeded teams open the action in a single-elimination play-in game. The middle part of the tournament will be played in double-elimination format while the final game will be a winner-take-all championship game.

Tournament Ticket Information
Tickets for the 1999 Big Ten Conference Softball Tournament will be available at the Alumni Field gates both days of tournament play. Admission is $6 for adults, and $4 for senior citizens, college students with valid I.D., and youth under age 18.

Tracking the Big Ten Softball Tournament Michigan and Big Ten softball fans can stay up-to-date with the weekend Big Ten Softball Tournament via the internet. Michigan will host an extensive tournament site with scores, stories, boxscores, game narrative and statistics at mgoblue.com/softball. The Big Ten Conference championships site at www.bigtenchampionships.com will feature photo highlights, scores and tournament background information. . . . WTKA-AM in Ann Arbor is tentatively scheduled to carry all Big Ten Tournament games involving Michigan. Internet access to the WTKA broadcasts can be found on the U-M softball page.

NCAA Automatic Bid at Stake
The top five finishers in the 1999 Big Ten regular-season standings will compete at the May 14-15 conference tournament, each vying to earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA National Championship Tournament. The winner of the Big Ten Tournament will join the expanded 48-team NCAA field, which will be announced by the NCAA Division I softball selection committee Sunday (May 16) in an 8 p.m. EDT selection show/teleconference.

Michigan vs. the 1999 Big Ten Tournament Field

Iowa (40-24-1, 14-10 Big Ten) -- No. 5-seeded Iowa is the only 1999 tournament team to have beaten Michigan in the 1999 Big Ten season, winning a 2-1 nailbiter April 24 in Iowa City. . . . The two teams have met five times in the 1999 season, with the Wolverines 3-1-1 against the Hawkeyes. The squads shared the Sacramento State Capital Classic team title with a 2-2, eight-inning tie March 21. . . . Iowa finished the Big Ten schedule winning six of its last eight games. . . . Two Hawkeyes batted better than .400 against the league: Tammy Utley (.452) and Shawnte Vallejo (.403). . . . Kristi Hanks carries a team-best 9-4 Big Ten (18-10 overall) pitching record into the tournament. . . . The Hawkeyes ended Michigan's school-record 26-game Big Ten season win streak on April 24, but the Wolverines took the series with games one and three victories. . . . Melissa Gentile highlighted the series with a three-run home run in Michigan's 7-0 series-closing shutout. . . . Michigan is 6-1 vs. Iowa in Big Ten Tournament play while the Hawkeyes hold a 45-32-1 advantage in the all-time series. . . . U-M head coach Carol Hutchins is 27-39 vs. Iowa. . . . U-M pitchers vs. the Hawkeyes: Marie Barda 1-0 (1 SHO), Kate Eiland 0-0, Jamie Gillies 5-1 (2 SHO). . . . Website: hawkeyesports.com.

Michigan State (39-20, 13-9 Big Ten) -- No. 4 seed Michigan State returns to Big Ten Tournament play for the first time since 1997. . . . MSU dropped two of three games at Iowa the final weekend of conference play (May 8-9), but had wins in eight of the last 11 games. . . . A pair of Spartan batters finished the Big Ten season batting better than .360 against the league -- Carrie Carpenter (.380) and Carrie Fry (.361). . . . Pitcher Erica Strutz finished 7-5 vs. the Big Ten (26-12 overall). . . . Michigan won both games of the season doubleheader with Michigan State to take a 52-19 lead in the all-time series. . . . Marie Barda tossed her third career one-hitter with a 4-0 shutout in game one while Traci Conrad was 4-for-4 in the Wolverines' 11-2 nightcap win. . . . The Wolverines are 1-0 in Big Ten Tournament play vs. MSU, winning 4-0 in the 1997 tourney. . . . U-M head coach Carol Hutchins is 45-9 vs. her collegiate alma mater (class of 1979). . . . U-M pitchers vs. the Spartans: Marie Barda 1-0 (1 SHO), Kate Eiland 0-0, Jamie Gillies 1-0. . . . Website: www.msuspartans.com.

Minnesota (43-18, 16-8 Big Ten) -- Minnesota is the No. 2-seeded team in the Big Ten Tournament and enters the weekend with a three-game win streak. . . . Angel Braden led the Gophers' offense in league games, hitting .329 in conference play. . . . Senior Steph Klaviter anchors the three-player pitching staff, bringing an 11-4 Big Ten (20-9 overall) record into tournament play. . . . Michigan swept Minnesota in the three-game April 10-11 season series to go ahead 49-19 in the all-time softball series. Marie Barda threw two of the three U-M victories while Kelsey Kollen recorded a team-best six hits vs. the Gophers. . . . The Wolverines are 5-0 vs. Minnesota in Big Ten Tournament play, including 1-0 and 4-0 wins in 1998 action. . . . U-M head coach Carol Hutchins is 47-13 vs. Minnesota. . . . U-M pitchers vs. the Golden Gophers: Marie Barda 2-0, Kate Eiland 0-0, Jamie Gillies 1-0. . . . Website: www.gophersports.com.

Penn State (34-20, 15-9 Big Ten) -- No. 3 seed Penn State is making its first appearance in the Big Ten Softball Tournament after finishing a school-record third in the league's season standings. . . . Colleen Kersey (.356) and Karen Guilini (.343) were the top Nittany Lion hitters in Big Ten play. Pitcher Jaci Kalp tallied eight league wins while averaging nearly five strikeouts an appearance vs. the Big Ten. . . . The Wolverines took both ends of the April 13 doubleheader vs. PSU, 10-2 and 3-0, for a 23-1 lead in the all-time series. . . . Traci Conrad was 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles in the game one victory while Rebecca Tune's eighth inning three-run double to centerfield was the game-winning hit in the nightcap. . . . U-M head coach Carol Hutchins is 23-1 vs. Penn State. . . . U-M pitchers vs. the Nittany Lions: Marie Barda 1-0, Kate Eiland 0-0, Jamie Gillies 1-0 (1 SHO). . . . Former Wolverine All-Americans Kelly Kovach (1993-95) and Kellyn Tate (1995-98) are assistant coaches on the PSU softball staff. . . . Website: www.psu.edu/sports.

Comparing the Big Ten Opposition (Conference stats only)

	U-M	Iowa	MSU	Minn	PSU
Record	21-3	14-10	13-9	16-8	15-9
Batting Ave.	.337	.295	.300	.267	.252
Runs	143	88	95	96	95
Hits	234	202	171	173	169
2B	40	25	26	18	26
3B	2	0	5	6	1
HR	7	8	9	10	7
RBI	125	71	87	84	72
Walks	73	36	48	65	51
Strikeouts	64	59	53	105	79
SB/Att.	19/25	39/46	27/32	28/33	37/44
Fld. Ave.	.969	.964	.939	.956	.948
ERA	1.50	1.86	2.34	1.71	1.75
Pitcher K's	70	111	72	115	127

Wolverines Capture 1999 Big Ten Title
For the second consecutive year and sixth time in the past eight seasons, Michigan softball claimed the title "Big Ten Conference champions." U-M captured the championship with a 7-4 victory vs. Wisconsin May 2. U-M has been the top team in the conference throughout the 1990s, winning the league's season crown in 1992, '93, '95, '96, '98 and '99. The Wolverines completed the Big Ten schedule with a 21-3 record (.875), the sixth time U-M has won 20 or more games in league play. . . . The softball Big Ten Conference championship is the sixth league crown won by a Wolverine team in the 1998-99 academic year (men's cross country, football, men's gymnastics, women's gymnastics, softball and women's indoor track and field).

Big Ten Conference Standings (Final)

 Place, Team          W-L   Pct.
 1. MICHIGAN         21-3   .875
 2. Minnesota        16-8   .667
 3. Penn State       15-9   .625
 4. Michigan State   13-9   .591
 5. Iowa             14-10  .583
 6. Wisconsin        11-12  .478
 7. Northwestern     11-13  .458
 8. Purdue            9-14  .391
 9. Ohio State        5-19  .208
10. Indiana           3-21  .125

Davie Tops Michigan, Big Ten Doubles Lists
Catherine Davie (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) had a doubles record weekend vs. Indiana (May 8-9), setting the Michigan all-time doubles mark and tying the Big Ten Conference career doubles record in back-to-back games. Davie sent a two-base shot off the top of the left-centerfield fence in the third inning of game one to move past Sara Griffin (1995-98) for first place among Michigan players. In game two of the IU series, Davie moved into a tie with former Minnesota standout Amber Hegland (1995-98) atop the alltime conference list with double No. 60. The senior leftfielder leads the Michigan offense with a .408 batting average and 49 RBIs. Her team-high 21 doubles tie for second on the Wolverines' single-season doubles list. . . . Davie has put all those doubles to good use, scoring a Michigan-record 59 runs over the 1999 season. It is Davie's first 50-run season as a Wolverine.

Volpe Gains Big Ten Player of the Week Award
Freshman catcher Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS) took apart the Indiana pitching staff over the May 8-9 series, batting a blazing-hot .900 (9-for-10) against the Hoosiers. Volpe posted a pair of perfect games in the three-game series, opening with a 3-for-3 showing in game one and closing with a season-best 4-for-4 performance in game three. Three of her hits went for doubles, including two in Michigan's 5-4 game two victory. Volpe pushed her season RBI total to 42 with nine RBIs -- three in each game -- against IU. Volpe's performance earned her Big Ten Player of the Week accolades, the first award of her career. . . . The .900 weekend positively impacted Volpe's season and Big Ten batting averages, improving her season average 38 points to .355 and pushing her average vs. the conference to .400, second-best among the Wolverines.

High-Scoring Offense Drives Wolverines' Game
Michigan heads into the Big Ten Softball Tournament with the highest scoring and hitting numbers in the league. The Wolverines are batting a collective .326 for the season, with a .337 batting average in conference play. Five U-M players are hitting better than .350 overall, with five players carrying better than a .350 batting average vs. the Big Ten. All that Maize and Blue hitting power is pushing runs across the plate at a rate two and one-half times better than the opposition (323 runs to 126 runs for the year). Against the Big Ten, Michigan averages 5.96 runs a game to the opposition's 2.17 runs. . . . Michigan ranks in the top 10 among NCAA Division I teams with its .326 team batting average.

Barda Records 20-Win Season
Sophomore Marie Barda (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South HS) became the seventh pitcher in U-M history to record a 20-win season in the circle when she two-hit Indiana in an 11-2, five-inning victory May 8. Barda, who will enter the Big Ten Softball Tournament with a 20-2 season record and 1.15 ERA, is tied with Kelly Kovach (20 wins, 1993) for eighth place on the Michigan single-season win list. Barda is the fourth Wolverine to earn 20 wins in her sophomore season and is third on the school's season winning percentage list with a 90.9 percent success rate in 1999. . . . In addition to reaching the 20-win plateau, Barda added to her season save total with a save in the middle game of the Indiana series (May 9). Barda entered in the sixth and retired all six batters faced in order for her third season and career save.

Tune Tallies Game-Winning RBI
Rebecca Tune (Aloha, Ore./Jesuit HS) posted the game-winning RBI in Michigan's 5-4 win vs. Indiana (May 9). The shortstop also drilled a pair of singles along with her game-winning RBI to record her 13th multiple-hit game of the season. . . . Tune is three games from making her 125th start as a Wolverine. The sophomore enters the Big Ten Softball Tournament having started and played in all 122 games of her collegiate career.

Conrad Tops U-M Hit Chart vs. Big Ten Opponents
A 3-for-3 plate performance in the first game of the final regular-season series vs. Indiana (May 8-9) helped first baseman Traci Conrad (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way HS) solidify her place as the Wolverines' top hitter against the Big Ten. Conrad finished the 24-game conference schedule batting .452 against the league, her third straight year as Michigan's top hitter in the Big Ten season. . . . . Conrad closed the Big Ten portion of her collegiate career playing and starting in 92 league games, missing one game in 1997 following a defensive collision with teammate Sara Griffin at Iowa. She graduates with a .435 career batting average vs. the Big Ten, tallying 140 hits -- 28 for extra bases -- and 48 RBIs.

Kosanke Snaps Multi-Hit Dry Spell
Two singles in game two of the three-game Indiana series (May 9) ended a multiple-hit drought for Michigan third baseman Pam Kosanke (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS). Kosanke, who last posted a multiple-hit game April 14 vs. Central Michigan, enters the Big Ten Softball Tournament with 15 multiple-hit games in 1999, with six of the extra-hit games coming against conference competition. The junior recorded back-to-back multiple-hit games in the April 10-11 Minnesota series, tallying three hits in game two and two hits in game three to finish 5-for-9 against the Golden Gophers. . . . Batting a career season-best .326, Kosanke is closing in on the 150-hit career milestone. She has 147 hits over her 193 games with the Wolverines.

Solid Sophomore Season for Taylor
The move from second base to rightfield has been the spark in the offensive performance of sophomore Melissa Taylor (Deerfield, Mich./Summerfield HS) this season. Taylor carries a season career-best .359 batting average into the Big Ten Softball Tournament, an 84-point improvement over her first-year .272 average. Taylor surpassed the 50-hit milestone for the season with a single vs. Wisconsin May 2, and needs just six more hits to reach 100 for her career. Taylor has turned her two season's worth of hits into runs for the Wolverines, scoring 48 career runs in a two hits-to-one run ratio.

Mika Reaches Hit Milestone
Senior Tammy Mika (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) made the most of her final regular-season home weekend at Alumni Field. The centerfielder recorded her 150th career and 50th season hit with a double down the leftfield line in the Wolverines' 11-2 win vs. Indiana (May 8). She finished the weekend with four hits -- two as doubles -- and three RBIs, including the game-winning RBIs on a two-run single in the final game of the IU series (May 9). . . . Mika's 12 doubles and 36 RBIs over the 1999 season are both single-season bests.

Gentile Blast Re-Sets Wolverine Home Run Mark
Since returning to the Michigan lineup on April 17, Melissa Gentile (O'Fallon, Mo./Wentzville HS) has made home run hitting a regular occurrence. The junior designated player has recorded a home run in each of the last three U-M series -- Iowa, Wisconsin and Indiana -- with massive three-run shots vs. Iowa (April 25) and Indiana (May 8). Gentile has posted seven career three-run home runs, and re-set her Wolverine alltime home run record with her three-run blast to straightaway centerfield vs. Indiana. . . . Gentile's three-run home run at Iowa was also her 50th hit in Big Ten Conference play.

 338* TRACI CONRAD, 1996-present
 275  Sara Griffin, 1995-98
 272  Kellyn Tate, 1995-98
 252  CATHERINE DAVIE, 1996-present
 244  Patti Benedict, 1990-93
 240  Alicia Seegert, 184-87

* Also Big Ten Career Record

 184  Sara Griffin, 1995-98
 165  CATHERINE DAVIE, 1996-present
 134  TRACI CONRAD, 1996-present
 133  Tracy Carr, 1993-96
 124  Patti Benedict, 1990-93

  22  MELISSA GENTILE, 1997-present
  18  CATHERINE DAVIE, 1996-present
  14  Sara Griffin, 1995-98
  11  Alicia Seegert, 1984-87
   7  Jessica Lang, 1994-97

  60* CATHERINE DAVIE, 1996-present
  58  Sara Griffin, 1995-98
  58  TRACI CONRAD, 1996-present
  40  Traci Carr, 1993-96
  37  Jenny Allard, 1987-90

* Ties Big Ten Career Record

 219* TRACI CONRAD, 1996-present
 160  Kellyn Tate, 1995-98
 148  Sara Griffin, 1995-98
 145  CATHERINE DAVIE, 1996-present
 126  Michelle Silver, 1992-95

* Also Big Ten Career Record

.390  TRACI CONRAD, 1996-present
.384  Sara Griffin, 1995-98
.360  Alicia Seegert, 1984-87
.357  Kellyn Tate, 1995-98
.350  CATHERINE DAVIE, 1996-present

  63  Diane Hatch, 1979-82
  60  TRACI CONRAD, 1996-present
  50  Patti Benedict, 1990-93
  45  Kellyn Tate, 1995-98
  44  Michelle Silver, 1992-95

 Poll  Date         Rank   Pts.
 Pre   Jan. 27       5th   498
  1    March 3      14th   280
  2    March 10     T9th   383
  3    March 17     10th   393
  4    March 24      8th   433
  5    March 31      7th   438
  6    April 7       6th   478
  7    April 14      6th   501
  8    April 21      6th   497
  9    April 28      4th   532
 10    May 5         6th   497

At home                          12-3
On road                          12-1
Neutral                          25-5-1
Tournament                       23-5-1
Vs. Ranked (season)              13-4-1
On Monday                         0-0
On Tuesday                        4-0
On Wednesday                      7-1
On Thursday                       3-0
On Friday                         6-3
On Saturday                      17-4
On Sunday                        12-1-1
Scoring first                    34-6-1
Opponent scores first            15-3
U-M scores in 1st inning         23-4
Opponent scores in 1st inning     8-2
U-M leading after 3 innings      35-4
U-M tied/trail after 3 innings   14-5-1
U-M leading after 6 innings      38-1-1
U-M tied/trail after 6 innings    8-8
Extra-inning games                7-2-1
Shutouts                         16-1
One-run games                     8-3
Two-run games                     7-2
Five+-run games                  21-1
Scoring less than 3 runs          5-5-1
Scoring 3 or more runs           44-4
Getting less than 6 hits          5-2-1
Getting 6 or more hits           44-7
Team steals 2 or more bases      14-4

Inning      1   2   3   4   5   6   7  Ex  Total
Michigan   69  44  53  27  43  43  25  19   323
Opponent   17  14  10  20  27  12  17   9   126