No. 20 Softball Falls to No. 11 Michigan, 4-0, in NCAA Regional Final – Ohio State Buckeyes
5/19/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 19, 2002
Box Score
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – In their sixth meeting of the year on Alumni Field in Ann Arbor, Mich., the No. 20 Ohio State softball team suffered a 4-0 defeat at the hands of No. 11 Michigan, this time in the final round of the NCAA Region 6 tournament, to close out the sensational season the Buckeyes had put together. Wendy Allen (So., Moreno Valley, Calif./Moreno Valley) collected two of the four OSU hits in the loss, the sixth to UM this year, as the Buckeyes ended the 2002 campaign with a 55-14 record while the Wolverines advanced to their second Women’s College World Series in as many years with a 50-9 record. OSU finished the regional tournament with a 2-2 record and went 4-6 on the year on the home field of UM.
“We needed to come out here and play our best game and did not do it,” Linda Kalafatis, OSU head coach, said. “I think the scorers missed an error. We had four errors in that game. We did not handle the ball and we cannot give Michigan second chances. I thought our pitcher (Katie Chain) pitched well enough to win. We had a couple of opportunities and did not swing at good pitches. I do not think that we were mentally tough like we needed to be today. Michigan proved again they were the better team this year and they deserve to go. I hope they go on and represent the Big Ten well.”
After five Buckeye batters had been retired in a row, Kristi DeVries (So., Corona, Calif./Corona) took the first pitch from Nicole Motykca, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, to the fence in left and legged out a double but pinch runner Meghan Rowlands (Fr., Hilliard, Ohio/Bishop Ready) would be stranded. Allen collected a single to right in fourth but OSU could not get anything going. In the UM halves of the inning, the Buckeyes used some tough plays to keep the Wolverines at bay. In the second and with one out, starter Katie Chain (Jr., North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) walked Melinda Moulden before getting out the inning when Jessica Merchant grounded to Breana Pozzi (So., Petaluma, Calif./Casa Grande) at short. Pozzi scooped up the ball, stepped on second and fired to Sarah West (Sr., Galloway, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) at first for the double play. The third inning was a different story.
With one out on Chain’s third strikeout of the game, Mary Conner lined a single through the middle and took third when lead off hitter Kelsey Kollen doubled through the left side. Megan Doe then put down a bunt Kristine Himes (Jr., Bolivar, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley) fielded at third. After looking back Conner on third, Himes overthrew first base allowing Doe to come around to third with two runs scoring ahead of her.
In the fifth, OSU looked to respond and climb out of a 2-0 deficit. With one out, Pozzi walked and was run for by Amy Ellis (So., Erie, Pa./Ball State). West then singled to right to move Ellis to second before Jenn Elwell (Sr., Dearborn Heights, Ohio/Divine Child) came into run for West. UM pulled its starter Motycka and replaced her with staff ace Marissa Young. Young got Chrissy Fowler (Sr., Utica, Ohio/Wright State) to ground into a fielder’s choice that forced out Ellis at third but kept runners on first and second. Anna Smith (Sr., Walnut, Calif./Diamond Bar) then walked to load the bases. Jennifer Link (Jr., Yorba Linda, Calif./Sonora) came to the plate and swung at the first pitch sending a slow roller towards second. Kollen fielded the ball and beat Link to first by diving and tagging the base with her glove to end the inning and keep the Buckeyes scoreless.
UM tacked on its final two runs of the game in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Kollen drilled a shot to right field and made her way to second where she stopped and then proceeded to third when Link bobbled the throw. After a line out recorded the second out, Stefanie Volpe singled to right to bring in Kollen for a 3-0 lead. Volpe came in to score on the next at bat when Monica Schock singled to center but the ball got past Smith to bring in the final run of the ball game.
The Buckeyes end the season with numerous school records broken in team, single season and career categories as well as garnering several accolades including Allen’s Big Ten Player of the Year honors and Kalafatis’ Big Ten Coach of the Year award. The game also marked the end of the careers of seniors Elwell, Fowler, Stacy Roth (Sr., Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon), Smith and West.
