Michigan 11 No. 1 seed

vs.

Penn State 0 No. 3 seed

Score by Innings		1	2	3		4	5		R	H	E
Michigan (51-10-1)		5	1	0		3	2		11	13	1
Penn State (35-22)		0	0	0		0	0		0	2	2

Boxscore and Play-By-Play | Photos from bigtenchampionships.com

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Event: Big Ten Conference Softball Tournament (Game 5)
Result: Michigan 11, Penn State 0 (5 innings)
Records: Michigan (51-10-1); PSU (35-22)
Next U-M Game: Saturday, May 15 -- vs. Minnesota (5:30 p.m.)
Next PSU Game: PSU eliminated from tournament

Tune Stars as Wolverines Bounce Nittany Lions 11-0

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan sophomore shortstop Rebecca Tune blasted a first-inning grand slam and the top-seeded Wolverines used a balanced team effort to blank No. 3 seed Penn State 11-0 in five innings Saturday afternoon (May 15) in the losers' bracket final of the 1999 Big Ten Tournament at Alumni Field. All nine Michigan starters recorded at least one hit and Marie Barda pitched three no-hit innings before giving way to Jamie Gillies.

Michigan (51-10-1) advances to face Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament championship game at 5:30 p.m., while Penn State (35-22) was eliminated from the tournament with a 1-2 record.

Michigan broke the game open in the first inning, putting five runs on the board before Penn State had a chance to bat. Stefanie Volpe singled down the rightfield line to drive in Michigan's first run. Following a pop out and a semi-intentional walk to Melissa Gentile, Tune drove a 3-2 pitch over the leftfield fence for her third home run of the season and first career grand slam.

Catherine Davie continued her hot hitting, posting a 3-for-3 game with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Davie, Gentile and Tune all have five RBIs in the tournament, one shy of the Big Ten Tournament record shared by Minnesota's Amber Hegland (1996) and Iowa's Tammy Utley (1997).

The championship game will be a rematch of Saturday's first game, in which Minnesota rallied past Michigan 2-1 with two runs in the top of the seventh.

Q U O T E S

Michigan Shortstop Rebecca Tune
On her grand slam in the first inning ... "When we played Minnesota earlier, I didn't [hit] very well. I spent time working on my swing, so when I got up there, I think I had more confidence in myself. I was nervous with the bases loaded, but I had confidence in my swing."

Penn State Head Coach Robin Petrini
"Michigan's on a mission, and they just crush the ball. Everyone talks about consistent pitching, consistent defense and consistent hitting, but their defense played big in our game. We had a couple of [hits] which their kids made some great plays on, and that's what makes World Series teams."

On the first inning ... "The error really hurt us. If we wouldn't have made the error, we would have been okay. Rebecca Tune hit Jaci (Kalp) to get the win against us before (April 13), but we also know that [Melissa Gentile] has been hitting bombs in every game. So, we chose to walk her (Gentile) to get to Tune, and the rest is history."

N O T E S

• Rebecca Tune's home run in the first inning was her first grand slam at any level of play. . . . For the season against the Nittany Lions, Tune now has five hits (three doubles, one home run and one single) and eight runs batted in. . . . She also recorded the game-winning hit against PSU on April 13 with a three-run double in a 3-0, eight-inning Michigan win in the second game of a doubleheader.

• Tune's grand slam was also the second grand slam in the history of the Michigan-Penn State series.

• Michigan has hit a home run in each of its first three games of the Big Ten Softball Tournament (Game 1 - Catherine Davie and Melissa Gentile; Game 2 - Gentile; Game 3 - Tune).

• Michigan is playing for its fifth consecutive Big Ten Softball Tournament title in the five-year history of the tournament.

Last updated: Saturday, 15-May-1999 17:33:17 EDT