250th Big Ten Career Win on Hutchins' Horizon
Michigan head coach Carol Hutchins needs one Big Ten win to reach the 250-win total against regular-season league competition. Over 15 seasons in the conference, Hutchins has compiled a 249-103 record (.707). She coached her 350th Big Ten game with the first game of the April 3 Ohio State doubleheader. Hutchins is quickly approaching another career coaching milestone, heading into the Wednesday Purdue twinbill five wins shy of her 600th Michigan victory (595-257-2, .698).

Family, Coaching Ties in Michigan-Purdue Tilt
Wednesday's doubleheader at Purdue goes a little deeper than Wolverines vs. Boilermakers with both family and coaching ties making the Big Ten games a bit more meaningful.

Michigan senior left fielder Catherine Davie (Westlake Village, Calif./Westlake HS) will square off against younger sister Chrissy, a freshman right fielder for the Boilermakers. Catherine leads the Michigan offense with a .429 batting average while Chrissy, a starter in 27 of the Boilers' 29 games, is hitting .235 in her first college season. Interestingly, the Davie sisters wear mirror numbers on their respective jerseys: Catherine is No. 21 and Chrissy is No. 12.

Then there is the coaching tie. Boilermaker head coach Carol Bruggeman got her collegiate coaching career started in the Michigan dugout beside Carol Hutchins for five seasons (1989-93), helping the Wolverines to their first two Big Ten titles (1992, '93) and five consecutive upper-division conference finishes.

U-M vs. the Week's Competition

Purdue (20-14, 1-2 Big Ten) -- Purdue hosts Michigan in a Wednesday (April 7) doubleheader after opening its Big Ten schedule going 1-2 against Minnesota April 3-4. . . . Sam Mercier (.348) and Mandy Smart (.340) lead PU hitting. . . . Fifth-year Boilermaker coach Carol Bruggeman is a former Michigan assistant coach (1989-93), helping the Wolverines to their first two Big Ten titles. . . . Michigan carries an 11-1 record vs. Purdue, winning the first nine games in the series; the Wolverines have a two-game win streak vs. the Boilermakers. . . . U-M coach Carol Hutchins is 11-1 vs. Purdue. . . . U-M pitchers vs. Boilermakers: Marie Barda 0-0, Kate Eiland 0-0, Jamie Gillies 1-1. . . . Web site: www.purduesports.com.

Minnesota (26-10, 2-1 Big Ten) -- Minnesota plays a home doubleheader against Drake Wednesday before heading to Ann Arbor for the three-game weekend series vs. Michigan. . . . Minnesota's offense is led by Steph Midthun (.397) and Shannon Beeler (.392). . . . The Gophers are the only team in the Big Ten with co-head coaches. Lisa Bernstein is in her eighth season at Minnesota while Julie Standering is in her first head coaching season. . . . Michigan leads the all-time series vs. Minnesota 46-19 and has an 11-game win streak alive. . . . U-M coach Carol Hutchins is 44-13 vs. Minnesota. . . . U-M pitchers vs. the Gophers: Marie Barda 0-0, Kate Eiland 0-0, Jamie Gillies 0-0. . . . Web site: www.gophersports.com.

Penn State (17-11/Big Ten 3-0) -- Penn State continues its homestand with a Wednesday (April 7) non-conference doubleheader vs. Akron and a three-game Big Ten weekend vs. Northwestern (April 10-11) before traveling to Michigan for an April 13 doubleheader. . . . The Nittany Lions recorded their second-ever conference series sweep, taking Iowa in three games April 3-4. . . . Former Northwestern assistant coach Robin Petrini is in her third season as PSU head coach. . . . A pair of Wolverine All-Americans complete the Penn State coaching staff. Kelly Kovach (1992-95), also a three-year assistant with U-M, and Kellyn Tate (1995-98) are both first-year PSU assistant coaches. . . . Michigan holds a 21-1 advantage in the Penn State series, including wins in the last 11 games. . . . U-M coach Carol Hutchins is 21-1 vs. Penn State. . . . U-M pitchers vs. the Nittany Lions: Marie Barda 0-0, Kate Eiland 0-0, Jamie Gillies 0-0. . . . Web site: www.psu.edu/sports/.

Big Ten Play Begins With OSU Sweep
Michigan began defense of its Big Ten Conference season title with a three-game road sweep of Ohio State April 3-4. Michigan opened with 7-3 and 12-1 (5 inn.) wins in the April 3 doubleheader, and closed with a 10-2 win in the April 4 single game. The Wolverines powered 44 hits, hit a collective .494 (44-of-89) and outscored the Buckeyes 29-9 over the weekend series. Sophomore pitcher Marie Barda (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South HS) tallied two of the three wins while junior third baseman Pam Kosanke (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central HS) hit a hot .750 (6-of-8) against Ohio State pitching.

The OSU sweep gives Michigan five straight Big Ten season series sweeps, dating to a 3-0 winning weekend vs. Northwestern April 18-19, 1998. The three wins also extended Michigan's Big Ten regular-season win streak to 13 games; the last U-M loss in Big Ten season play was April 14, 1998, at Michigan State (L, 7-4).

Unbeaten Streak Reaches 26 Games
The count continued -- 24, 25, 26 -- for Michigan during its conference season-opening victories at Ohio State as the Wolverines stretched their unbeaten streak to 26 games (25-0-1) and completed the March schedule with no losses. U-M passed the school's 22-game unbeaten record with two wins at Eastern Michigan (March 31). The Wolverines won their first 16 games in the month of March before tying Iowa 2-2 in the championship game of the Sacramento State Capital Classic March 21. U-M has put a "W" in its season scoreboard in each of its last nine games.

Wolverines Share Big Ten Lead
Michigan was one of four Big Ten Conference teams to sweep its league schedule-opening opposition. U-M shares first place in the Big Ten standings with Michigan State (2-0 vs. Wisconsin), Northwestern (3-0 vs. Indiana) and Penn State (3-0 vs. Iowa).

 Team             W-L   Pct.
 MICHIGAN         3-0  1.000
 Northwestern     3-0  1.000
 Penn State       3-0  1.000
 Michigan State   2-0  1.000
 Minnesota        2-1   .667
 Purdue           1-2   .333
 Wisconsin        0-2   .000
 Indiana          0-3   .000
 Iowa             0-3   .000
 Ohio State       0-3   .000

Barda Collects Three Wins
Wolverine pitcher Marie Barda pushed her season record to 11-1 with three of the five Michigan wins over the March 31-April 4 stretch. The sophomore, who carries a team-low 0.90 ERA over 93-2/3 innings, struck out eight over the three appearances, including five vs. Ohio State (April 3) in a seven-inning complete-game performance. The three wins moved Barda's career record to 16-3 (.842) in 36 appearances.

Kosanke Crushes OSU Pitching
The start of the Big Ten season served as fuel for junior Pam Kosanke. The third baseman lit up Ohio State pitching for six hits, including a double, behind a hot .750 batting average. Kosanke finished the three-game April 3-4 series with four RBIs, two walks and both a sacrifice and sacrifice fly. Her plate performance improved her season batting average to .346 and season RBI total to 26, both single-season bests for her U-M career. . . . Kosanke is tied with Northwestern's Lindsey Prezell for the top place in Big Ten-only batting average stats (.750).

Davie Tallies 16th Dinger
Senior Catherine Davie inched closer to the Michigan career home run record when she tallied No. 16 on a solo shot to center field in the second game of the April 3 Ohio State doubleheader. The U-M record is 19 held by Melissa Gentile (1997-98). The season's top hitter (.429), Davie collected a pair of doubles against the Buckeyes (April 3/game one) to move within two doubles (56) of tying the Michigan career doubles record of 58 held by Sara Griffin (1995-98). Davie lists among the NCAA Division I top 15 in career doubles. In the midst of a 14-game hit streak, the left fielder added 10 hits to her team-leading total (51) over the five-game March 31-April 4 stretch, hitting .625 (10-of-16) for the week. . . . Davie begins the first full week of April leading the Big Ten all-game stats in six categories -- batting average (.429), hits (51), runs (37), RBIs (41), doubles (17) and total bases (89).

Mika Moves Among Top U-M Home Run Hitters
A two-run shot over the left field fence pushed the career home run total of senior Tammy Mika (Brighton, Mich./Brighton HS) to five, good enough to tie three former Wolverine players at No. 9 on the Michigan all-time home run list. The four-bagger, Mika's first of the 1999 season, is her eighth extra-base hit of the year and gave her 25 RBIs for the year, third-best among the U-M players. The center fielder finished the April 3-4 Ohio State series a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a single, double and home run in the final game. Mika is batting .336 for the season, .500 vs. Big Ten opponents.

Volpe Opens Big Ten Career with Big Bat
The prospect of Big Ten competition didn't seem to phase Michigan freshman Stefanie Volpe (Plymouth, Mich./Plymouth-Salem HS), who collected six hits and three RBIs while batting .545 over the Wolverines' conference-opening series at Ohio State (April 3-4). Volpe had her best performance vs. the Buckeyes in the second of the three games, putting forth a perfect 4-for-4 plate appearance with two runs and two RBIs. Her leadoff single set up Michigan's four-run fourth inning and broke open a close 4-3 score in game two. The designated player in the U-M batting lineup, Volpe carries a .342 batting average.

Multiple Hits Suit Kollen
Multiple hit games seem to fit second baseman Kelsey Kollen (Cerritos, Calif./Mater Dei HS). The freshman has tallied two or more hits in five of her last six games, including a season-best-tying four hits in the first game of the Eastern Michigan doubleheader (March 31). She has recorded 13 multiple-hit games for the season. During the six-game stretch, Kollen batted .500 (13-for-26) and totaled three doubles, five RBIs and 10 runs scored. She is in the midst of a nine-game hit streak and has hit safely in 14 of the last 15 games. Kollen is the Wolverines' third-leading hitter, with a .374 batting average.

Maize 'n Blue Diamond Gems

• Traci Conrad begins the Purdue-Minnesota week with 198 career runs scored. Already holder of both Michigan and Big Ten career runs scored records, Conrad is tied at ninth place with South Carolina's Tricia Popowski on the NCAA Division I all-time runs list (198). She will become one of just nine Division I players to score 200 or more runs as a collegian.

• Rebecca Tune (Aloha, Ore./Jesuit HS) started a four-game hit streak with a 2-for-3 showing in the second half of the March 31 doubleheader at Eastern Michigan. Tune, who hit her sixth season double in that nightcap game, went 6-for-11 against Ohio State April 3-4.

• Chrissy Garza (Southgate, Mich./Southgate Anderson HS) knocked in her fourth run of the season with an RBI single in the first game of the March 31 Eastern Michigan doubleheader.

• Melissa Taylor (Summerfield, Mich./Deerfield HS) extended her hit streak to seven games with singles in each of the three games in the Ohio State series (April 3-4). She has hit safely in 11 of the last 12 games and heads into the Purdue-Minnesota week with a season career-best .371 batting average.

• Mary Conner (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion HS) collected a season-high two RBIs on a single in the opening game of the March 31 Eastern Michigan doubleheader. The single was also the freshman's first collegiate hit.

• Courtney Murdock (Barrington, Ill./Barrington HS) and Kristen Hunter (Sterling Heights, Mich./Warren Cousino HS) played reserve roles in both halves of the March 31 Eastern Michigan doubleheader. Murdock came in at first base and Hunter filled a pinch runner/hitter role in game one and entered in center field in game two.

• Karmen Lappo (Muskegon, Mich./North Muskegon HS) recorded her second two-hit game of the season with her 2-for-4, one RBI showing in the April 3 Ohio State opener. Lappo, who ripped an RBI double to center field in the seventh inning, batted .500 (3-for-6) in the doubleheader.

• Traci Conrad and Catherine Davie carry team-best 14-game hitting streaks into the Purdue doubleheader Wednesday.

 305  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
 157  CATHERINE DAVIE, 1996-present
 131  Tracy Carr, 1993-96
 125  TRACI CONRAD, 1996-present
 124  Patti Benedict, 1990-93

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

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

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

.389  TRACI CONRAD, 1996-present
.384  Sara Griffin, 1995-98
.360  Alicia Seegert, 1984-87
.357  Kellyn Tate, 1995-98
.351  Melissa Gentile, 1997-98

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

Last updated: Monday, 05-Apr-1999 20:36:07 EDT