It was one of those smiles that can't be stopped. Michigan's Kellyn Tate wasn't about to stop hers, as she stepped on home plate yesterday after hitting her first home run of the year.
The timing couldn't have been better for her. The Kellyn tater turned out to be the tournament winner as Michigan advanced to the Women's College World Series by beating DePaul for the second time this weekend, 3-0.
Tate's first-pitch home run put Michigan up 1-0 early in the first inning. Tate also added a single to deep right field in the third to move first baseman Traci Conrad to third base.
Conrad would later score on an error by DePaul second baseman Yvette Healy.
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| MATT MADILL/Daily Sara Griffin (15), Cathy Davie (with bat), and Kellyn Tate (behind Griffin) cheer one of Davie's homers in a victory over DePaul on Saturday. Griffin homered later in the game, and Tate did yesterday as Michigan won,3-0. |
In the top of the sixth inning, with two outs, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins had Lisa Kelley fake a slap-hit attempt, which allowed Melissa Taylor to steal second. Then, needing more than a bunt to advance Taylor, she sent in Mika to pinch hit.
"I told her if they put it close to go for it," Hutchins said.
Mika sent the first pitch she saw down the first-base line to score Taylor, and the Alumni Field-record crowd of 1,452 broke into an a capella version of 'The Victors'. Apparently, the fans felt that three runs would be enough, as it had been the day before.
In Saturday's game, Griffin allowed six hits and a run as Michigan beat DePaul, 3-1. She made up for the run before she gave up the run, launching her third of the year in the sixth inning.
Griffin's blast came on the heels of Cathy Davie's two first-pitch round-trippers - neither of which came on a particularly hittable pitch.
"She hit a really good pitch," DePaul pitcher Liza Brown said.
Davie said she "felt a lot of energy," as she waited, swinging the bat in the on-deck circle. In her third at-bat, Davie was grazed by a Brown pitch. The umpire had to ask Davie if the pitch hit her.
"I wanted to say 'no,' but I had to tell the truth," Davie said.
Davie clearly was having fun. But all the Wolverines had fun in their first game Friday.
A nine-run second inning, Michigan's most incendiary this season, torched Ball State and brought most of the Michigan bench into the game to close out the 12-1 victory.
Yesterday, a Pam Kosanke closed her glove on Dana Jakusz's pop foul to end the game, her teammates came sprinting out of the dugout.
They had advanced, just as they had in each of the past four years. And there was no stopping those smiles, either.
"I can't explain the feeling. ... It was just a dream to hit my first this year," Tate said of her right-time, right-place, right-field shot. "I can't control my emotions really well."
Not that anyone asked her to. Timely homers will have to do.
05-18-98
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