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Three Big Ten Softball Squads Advance
May 19, 2006
Michigan 4, Youngstown State 0 Sophomore Alessandra Giampaolo (Pasadena, Calif./Polytechnic) fueled the Wolverines offense, going 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and three runs driven in. Michigan also got a boost from senior catcher Becky Marx (St. Joseph, Mich./Lakeshore), who drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and drew a walk which eventually turned into a run. The Wolverines opened the scoring in the bottom of the second on Giampaolo's solo shot. The sophomore ripped an 0-1 offering over the right-centerfield fence for her first homer of the season to give the Maize and Blue a 1-0 lead. Full Story Iowa 0, Nebraska 1 Linke collected her third walk of the game to leadoff the bottom of the tenth. Meghan Mullin followed with a bunt single to put Nebraska's first two hitters on base. Iowa got the next two batters out and nearly escaped the Cornhusker threat, but Waldecker ripped a 2-1 pitch off Iowa pitcher Brittany Weil to record the game-winning RBI. Waldecker and Weil were high school teammates at Pacifica High School in California for three years. The game was a pitcher's dual, as both hurlers yielded only one hit each through the first five innings. Nebraska had only three base runners through five innings and Iowa one. Nebraska's Ashley DeBuhr struck out five batters and scattered three Hawkeye hits, while Weil sat down seven and yielded five hits. DeBuhr threw 139 pitches, 106 strikes, while Weil tossed 151 pitches, 83 strikes. Full Story Penn State 4, Hofstra 4 [Suspended] After two scoreless innings, Hofstra lead-off hitter Laura Sweeney lifted a single to left field to begin the third inning and second baseman Lisa Wambold moved the runner over with a sacrifice bunt. All runners were safe on the next play, a throwing error that put Pride runners on first and third base with no outs. A fielder's choice got Sweeney home to score the game's first run with runners on first and second and only one out. After a strike to Carolann Lubach, lightening struck in the distance behind the stadium and the rain followed, delaying the game for over two hours. Full Story Ohio State 3, Arizona 6 The winner of the game tonight will face No. 1 seed Arizona (46-9) Saturday in the regional championship game at 6 p.m. (EDT) on ESPN2. When these two teams met February 25 in Palm Springs, Calif., Hollowell (25-4) struck out 18 Buckeyes and allowed two hits in Arizona's 5-1 win. Friday, however, OSU had four hits and scored three runs in the fifth inning in its bid for what would have been the first-ever win for the Buckeyes over the nation's top-ranked team. Full Story Northwestern 4, Southern Illinois 0 Northwestern's win Friday upped its record to 43-12 on the season, matching the program's 1987 team for the best win total in school history. The shutout is NU's 21st of the season, tying the 1982 and 1983 teams for the fourth-best total in program history. The Wildcats now are 4-0 in their opening NCAA Tournament game in the last four years. Northwestern starter Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) began the game in dominating fashion, striking out the first four and 7-of-9 batters in Southern Illinois' first trip through the lineup. Canney already had racked up eight K's through three innings. She finished with 13 strikeouts against just a pair of walks to move to 22-6 on the season and move her into a tie for seventh on NU's single-season wins list. Full Story Indiana 3, Utah 0 "I am not surprised with how we started the NCAA Tournament," head coach Stacey Phillips said. "We have talked a lot about being aggressive and capitalizing on our scoring chances. We came out today and played IU softball." Indiana notched the game's first run in the bottom of the second innings as junior center fielder Kim Richards crossed the plate on a standing double to left center by freshman second baseman Sarah Padove. Richards reached on a leadoff single up the middle. Full Story
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