Unbeaten Streak, Perfect March Record on the Line at EMU
The 1999 softball team has a chance to write itself into Michigan softball history during Wednesday's (March 31) doubleheader at Eastern Michigan. Carrying a 21-game (20-0-1) unbeaten streak, the Wolverines are on the verge of bettering the old mark of 22 games. Two wins at Eastern Michigan would also keep Michigan's March 1999 record unblemished, marking the first time the Wolverines have completed a full month of games with no losses.

Successful Big Ten History
Michigan softball has a successful history over the first 16 seasons of Big Ten Conference season play. The Wolverines lay claim to five conference season titles (1992-93-95-96-98) and five Big Ten Tournament crowns (1982-95-96-97-98). In addition to the five first-place finishes, U-M has five second-place finishes and has been among the league's top four teams 15 of the 17 seasons of Big Ten-sponsored play. Michigan takes a 276-128 (.676) all-time conference record into 1999 season play.

Michigan vs. the Week's Competition

Eastern Michigan -- The trip to Eastern Michigan is the shortest road trip of the season for U-M, which takes a six-mile ride east on Washtenaw Avenue to face the Eagles. . . . EMU is 10-9 and is led offensively by Randi Wolfe (.404) and Lisa Beavers (.359). . . . Michigan is 29-8 vs. the Eagles, winning the last five games and nine of the last 11. . . . U-M coach Carol Hutchins is 19-6 vs. Eastern Michigan. . . . U-M pitchers vs. EMU: Marie Barda 0-0, Kate Eiland 0-0, Jamie Gillies 0-0. . . . Web site: www.emich.edu/public/athletics.

Ohio State -- The Buckeyes begin the week 8-12 and have home doubleheaders with Miami Tuesday (March 30) and Cleveland State Wednesday (March 31) before opening Big Ten play against Michigan. . . . Jaime Chenevey (.415) and Katie Wessendorf (.348) are atop the Ohio State hitting stats while Meaghan Robinson (5-3) carries a team-low 1.14 ERA. . . . Michigan leads the all-time series 51-17 and takes a 10-game win streak to Columbus. . . . U-M coach Carol Hutchins is 39-11 vs. Ohio State. . . . U-M pitchers vs. OSU: Marie Barda 0-0, Kate Eiland 0-0, Jamie Gillies 1-0. . . . Web site: www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com.

U-M Heads to League Play with Trio of All-Big Ten Honorees
Three Wolverines -- including last season's Player of the Year Traci Conrad (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way HS) -- return to lead Michigan in its 1999 Big Ten campaign. First baseman Conrad, who topped the conference hitting statistics with a blazing .468 average, and left fielder Catherine Davie (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) are returning All-Big Ten first-team award winners while center fielder Tammy Mika (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) returns as an All-Big Ten second-team honoree.

Family Ties
Michigan's first two Big Ten series -- April 3-4 at Ohio State and April 7 at Purdue -- provide interesting decisions for a pair of families.

The first dilemma comes for the Kollen family of Cerritos, Calif., which has freshman second baseman Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Mater Dei HS) on the current Michigan roster and older daughter Candace, a former Most Valuable Player and All-Big Ten award winner while playing second base at Ohio State (1995-98). Kelsey Kollen begins the week hitting .349, third-best among the Wolverines.

Dilemma two involves the Davie clan out of Westlake Village, Calif. Senior left fielder Catherine Davie is in her fourth season with the Wolverines while Chrissy Davie is a freshman right fielder for Purdue. Catherine Davie leads the Michigan offense with a .406 batting average. Interestingly, the Davie sisters wear mirror numbers on their respective jerseys: Catherine is No. 21 and Chrissy is No. 12.

Hutchins Looks for Pair of Milestone Wins
U-M head coach Carol Hutchins, five times Big Ten Coach of the Year, is in the hunt to reach a pair of career wins milestones. She begins her 15th Big Ten softball season carrying a 246-103 (.705) record vs. the league and needs four Big Ten wins to earn league victory No. 250. Hutchins is 10 wins shy of her 600th victory at Michigan, holding a 590-259-2 record over her 15 seasons with the Maize and Blue. She reached the 600-win plateau for her collegiate coaching career March 5 vs. Hofstra.

Victorious in the Big Ten
Already the winningest women's varsity coach at Michigan, Carol Hutchins is second on the wins list among Big Ten softball coaches. Hutchins trails Iowa's Gayle Blevins, who has 364 Big Ten wins over 16 seasons at Indiana and Iowa.

  Wins  Coach             Seasons        School(s)    
   364  Gayle Blevins     16 (1983-98)   Indiana, Iowa
   246  CAROL HUTCHINS    14 (1985-98)   Michigan
   228  Sharon Drysdale   16 (1983-98)   Northwestern

Three Times Boilermaker Classic Champions
Michigan continued its hold on the Boilermaker Classic, winning its third championship in as many tries with a perfect 4-0 record in the March 27-28 event. Three of the Wolverines' wins came via shutout in one-hit pitching efforts, and U-M outscored its tournament opponents 36-1. The Wolverines posted back-to-back 11-0 (5 inn.) day-one wins against Indiana State and Loyola (Ill.) March 27. The second day, Michigan beat Bradley 6-1 and No. 25 Central Michigan 8-0 (6 inn.).

Davie has Tournament MVP, Big Ten Player of the Week Weekend
Wolverine senior Catherine Davie hit her way to the Boilermaker Classic Most Valuable Player award, resulting in selection as the March 29 Big Ten Player of the Week. Davie was 6-for-12 (.500) at the plate, collecting four extra-base hits -- two doubles and two triples -- among her total. The left fielder recorded four RBIs in Michigan's tournament-opening win vs. Indiana State (March 27), finishing with six for the weekend. She also scored eight runs and picked-up a stolen base.

Michigan's leading hitter with a .406 average, Davie is in the midst of a nine-game hit streak and has hit safely in 11 of the last 12 games. . . . The Big Ten Player of the Week award is the second of her career. Davie earned her first league award April 13, 1998. . . . Davie now has two Boilermaker Classic MVP awards on her Wolverine resumé, winning her first at the 1997 tournament.

Kosanke, Mika Snag All-Tournament Honors
Pam Kosanke (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS) picked up her second career Boilermaker Classic all-tournament award and teammate Tammy Mika her first following solid performances at the March 27-28 tournament. Kosanke was 6-for-10 (.600) at the plate, drawing four walks and scoring five runs. The junior third baseman totaled four RBIs and a double. She heads to Eastern Michigan with a four-game hit streak, hitting safely in nine of the last 10 games. Senior center fielder Mika drove in six runs with her 6-for-11 (.545) batting performance. She added a double, two runs and two sacrifice hits to her season totals. Mika, also in the midst of a four-game hit streak, has hit safely in eight of the last nine games.

Two One-Hitters for Gillies
Junior pitcher Jamie Gillies (Saugus, Calif./Saugus HS) posted back-to-back one-hitters and allowed no earned runs in her two complete-game appearances at the March 27-28 Boilermaker Classic. Gillies opened with a five-inning 11-0 win vs. Indiana State (March 27), marking her fourth season and 11th career shutout victory. She came back the next day to record the 6-1 win vs. Bradley (March 28), which gave her six wins in her last six starts. Gillies stuck out three and allowed four walks in her two appearances.

It's Taylor Time
Batting in the ninth spot may seem like exile to some, but Michigan sophomore Melissa Taylor (Deerfield, Mich./Summerfield HS) is using the last spot in the batting order to her advantage. A .275 hitter in her first season, Taylor is the Wolverines' second-leading hitter with a .358 average. She has hits in 23 of her 31 games, including a Feb. 28-March 7 streak in which she was able to string together a 10-game hit streak. The right fielder boasts a solid .974 fielding average, third-best among the Michigan regulars, with 35 putouts in 38 chances.

Maize 'n Blue Diamond Gems

• Freshman pitcher Kate Eiland (Fresno, Calif./Clovis West HS) became Michigan's first 10-game winner of the season with her 11-0, five-inning shutout of Loyola (Ill.) March 27. Eiland (10-2) has a 1.34 ERA over 73 innings of work.

• First-year players Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS) and Kelsey Kollen each scored three runs in Michigan's five-inning, 11-0 win vs. Indiana State March 27. The pair are tied with Catherine Davie, who scored three runs against Loyola (March 27), atop the Wolverines' 1999 runs list.

• First baseman Traci Conrad heads into the final days of March with a nine-game hit streak. The senior is 13-for-32 (.406) with 10 runs, three doubles and a triple over the stretch.

• Karmen Lappo (Muskegon, Mich./North Muskegon HS) posted her first multiple-hit game of the season with a 2-for-4 day vs. Bradley (March 28). The junior catcher tallied a double -- her third of the season -- against the Braves.

• Rebecca Tune (Aloha, Ore./Jesuit HS) caught fire the second day of the Boilermaker Classic (March 28), going 4-for-7 at the plate with four RBIs and two extra-base hits -- a double vs. Bradley and a two-run home run vs. No. 25 Central Michigan. Tune totals five doubles and two home runs for the 1999 season.

• Michigan's April 10 home opener vs. Minnesota (1 p.m. DH) is part of U-M Kids Go Blue Club Spring Picnic activities at the Athletic Department. The member picnic is scheduled for 11 a.m.-1 p.m., followed by Wolverine softball and baseball games at 1 p.m. Kids Go Blue Club members should contact the Athletic Marketing office at 734/615-2025 for more information.

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

 184  Sara Griffin, 1995-98
 149  CATHERINE DAVIE, 1996-present
 131  Tracy Carr, 1993-96
 124  Patti Benedict, 1990-93
 119  TRACI CONRAD, 1996-present

  19  Melissa Gentile, 1997-98
  15  CATHERINE DAVIE, 1996-present
  14  Sara Griffin, 1995-98
  11  Alicia Seegert, 1984-87
   7  Jessica Lang, 1994-97

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

At home                           0-0
On road                           1-0
Neutral                          24-5-1
Tournament                       23-5-1
Vs. Ranked (season)               8-3-1
On Monday                         0-0
On Tuesday                        2-0
On Wednesday                      0-0
On Thursday                       3-0
On Friday                         6-3
On Saturday                       9-1
On Sunday                         5-1-1
Scoring first                    14-4-1
Opponent scores first            11-1
U-M scores in 1st inning          9-3
Opponent scores in 1st inning     4-1
U-M leading after 3 innings      15-2
U-M tied/trail after 3 innings   10-3-1
U-M leading after 6 innings      19-1-1
U-M tied/trail after 6 innings    4-4
Extra-inning games                4-1-1
Shutouts                         11-1
One-run games                     6-2
Two-run games                     3-0
Five+-run games                  10-1
Scoring less than 3 runs          3-2-1
Scoring 3 or more runs           22-3
Getting less than 6 hits          3-2-1
Getting 6 or more hits           22-3
Team steals 2 or more bases       8-3

Inning      1   2   3   4   5   6   7  Ex  Total
Michigan   28  18  26  15  18  22   7  13   147
Opponent    7   7   7   9   9   4  11   7    61

Last updated: Monday, 29-Mar-1999 22:51:59 EST