Softball sweeps series

It's not easy being this good.

The Michigan softball team continues to rewrite the record books in the midst of its best season ever. Not surprisingly, the No. 2 Wolverines added more marks to their win column this past weekend, sweeping No. 16 Minnesota in a three-game series.

With the victories, the Wolverines (34-3 overall, 11-0 Big Ten) remain in first place in the Big Ten, ahead of Minnesota and Northwestern. The sweep brought the Wolverines' win streak to 15 games and halted the Golden Gophers' six-game tear. The Wolverines are seven games shy of the 22-game streak set during the 1993 season, a Michigan record.

Halfway through their Big Ten season, the Wolverines are 11-0, and are attempting to win their fourth straight Big Ten title. The undefeated start is the best ever by a Michigan team.

"We really want it this year," senior pitcher Sara Griffin said. "We're taking it one step at a time, but if we keep playing the way we are, I think we have a really good shot. We have a great team this year and we haven't peaked yet."

Griffin notched all three decisions for the Wolverines, improving her record to an unblemished 21-0 for the season. She compiled 17 strikeouts for the three games and has an ERA of 1.20. Griffin's dominance over Minnesota was not surprising - she is 10-0 lifetime against the Gophers with four shutouts.

"They're a tough team," she said. "But we out hit them in all three games. When I look back at those games, I feel like we dominated."

While left fielder Cathy Davie may have stole the show with two two-run homers in the series, it seemed that everyone on the team contributed offensively. The Wolverines combined for 34 hits over the weekend and 18 RBI.

Sunday's game proved to be the closest of the weekend as the Wolverines barely pulled out a 6-5 win. The Gophers scored first with two unearned runs in the first inning and extended their lead with a run in the third.

"Being down 2-0 after the first inning was kind of a shock," Griffin said. "We are not used to that happen, and we realized we had to get our act together. We felt we were out hitting them, and we said to ourselves 'what's going on?'"

Behind Traci Conrad, Griffin and Melissa Gentile, the Wolverines battled back to take a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, Griffin walked Minnesota's Amber Hegland and then gave up only her fourth home run of the season to Erin Brophy.

Without some help from the Gophers in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, the Wolverines may not have completed the sweep. Tied at three after the third inning, the two teams remained deadlocked for the next two innings. With two out in the sixth, the Wolverines scored three unearned runs on a pair of errors by the Minnesota infield. That was the only break the Wolverines needed, as Griffin sealed the 6-3 win, sending the Gophers down in order in the next two innings.

The nightcap was a breeze for the Wolverines, as Griffin put forth her most masterful performance of the weekend. She shut out the Gophers, allowing only two hits and two walks in five innings. Eight Wolverines recorded at least one hit while Davie, Kellyn Tate and Conrad each knocked in two runs apiece to net a 9-0 victory.

"We knew that they would be a fight because they're a good team," Gentile said. "We didn't think we would be able to blow them out."

04-13-98