Minnesota 3 No. 2 seed

vs.

Michigan 2 No. 1 seed

Score by Innings		1	2	3		4	5	6		7		R	H	E
Minnesota (46-18)		0	0	0		0	0	2		1		3	6	1
Michigan (51-11-1)		2	0	0		0	0	0		0		2	7	1

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

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Event: Big Ten Conference Softball Tournament (Championship Game)
Result: Minnesota 3, Michigan 2
Records: Michigan (51-11-1); Minnesota (46-18)
Next Game: Minnesota wins Big Ten Tournament, earns conference's automatic bid to NCAA National Softball Championship -- Regionals scheduled for May 20-23 at eight campus sites

Minnesota Takes Big Ten Tournament Title, NCAA Berth

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Minnesota earned its first Big Ten Conference Softball Tournament title with a 3-2 late-inning comeback victory over four-time champion and top-seeded University of Michigan Saturday afternoon (May 15) at Michigan's Alumni Field.

With the win, Minnesota (46-18) earns the Big Ten's automatic bid to the 1999 NCAA National Softball Championship. Michigan (51-11-1), the top-ranked team in the NCAA Mideast Region, awaits selection as an at-large entry to the national postseason tournament. The NCAA will announce the 48-team championship field Sunday (May 16) in an 8 p.m. EDT teleconference.

Michigan opened the championship game by scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Traci Conrad, who finished the game 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, scored the first run on an error by Gopher centerfielder Steph Midthun. With the bases loaded, Minnesota pitcher Michelle Harrison walked Rebecca Tune, sending Catherine Davie across.

Michigan held a 2-0 advantage until the top of the sixth when Minnesota's Shannon Beeler blasted a two-run home run to leftfield to tie the score. Beeler led the Gophers with two hits.

Minnesota led off the seventh inning with a single by Michelle Bennett. Amy Hafemeyer, pinch running for Bennett, moved into scoring position on a passed ball. Wolverine pitcher Marie Barda sat down the next two Gophers on strikes. For the second time on Saturday, Gopher pinch hitter Dana Ballard provided the game-winning theatrics vs. Michigan, this time dropping a bloop single into leftfield to send Hafemeyer home for the go-ahead score.

The Wolverines put together their own one-out rally in the bottom of the seventh, but the game ended with pinch runners Chrissy Garza at second and Kim Bugel at first.

Harrison (9-7), who relieved starter Steph Klaviter in the first inning, held Michigan to four hits and allowed four walks over her six innings of work. Klaviter reentered with one out in the seventh to record her fourth save of the season. Barda (22-3) had a career-high nine Ks while giving up six hits.

Q U O T E S

Minnesota Co-Head Coach Lisa Bernstein
"We came out here prepared to play. We really battled in all three components. The pitching was phenomenal, the hitting was clutch and key when we needed it and the defense played great. We're very excited. Michigan is an excellent ball club."

On taking out pitcher Steph Klaviter in the first inning ... "We were going to go with Steph Klaviter as long as she could go, but Michelle (Harrison) was great. She was ready to go. Klaviter was hanging some pitches, and they hit some of the pitches pretty deep and pretty hard. We knew that if anything in the world could offset [Klaviter's speed] it was the slow junk [Harrison] was throwing. She came in and kept us in the ball game. Our offense kept attacking and attacking, and we knew it was just a matter of time."

Minnesota Shortstop Shannon Beeler
On her home run ... "[Marie Barda] was pitching me inside all day and has pitched me inside in past series we have played them. I was just ready to turn on the inside pitch. That was the one pitch I was looking for. She brought it, and it felt real nice off the bat. I didn't know if it was going out or not because it was so low, but it cleared the fence."

Minnesota Pinch Hitter Dana Ballard
On her at-bat to drive in the winning run ... "I was down 0-1 [in the count]. We had been talking all day as a team to just be aggressive and swing the bat to put the ball in play. As a pinch hitter, that is my job, and that is what I was trying to do."

Minnesota Pitcher Michelle Harrison
On the mindset of entering the game two runs down ... "I think you just go with each batter the same way, you just play it like a little game within a game. Every inning you go out and expect to face three batters."

On entering the game with runners on base ... "Coming in and playing a team like Michigan, you just expect to get runner on here and there. It is just going to happen. They are a very talented team all the way around. You know you are going to get runners on, you just have to stay mentally tough and mentally confident no matter what situation it is."

Michigan Head Coach Carol Hutchins
"We had more hits, but we didn't have more runs. Both teams played well, and I thought Marie (Barda) pitched well. I think we had a good tournament, but we didn't get what we wanted out of it."

"I told the kids after the game that we have another tournament, and we have the most important tournament next. We aren't going to hang our heads about this very long. We have a lot of softball left to get what we want. They have to hold their heads up, and they have to work even harder to get it."

On Minnesota coming back late to defeat Michigan twice today ... "There is a game of momentum in softball. I think they were not to be denied. They were out for it, and give them credit. They were down 2-0 the whole game and never gave up."

Michigan Pitcher Marie Barda
On the last two innings ... "I worked really hard at the beginning of the game. I tried to hit my spots, but the batters got [used] to my speed. I just worked really hard and stayed focused."

On her career-high nine strikeouts ... "I wasn't trying to strike everyone out. They just watched a lot of pitches which hit the corner, and I got the calls."

Michigan First Baseman Traci Conrad
On coming back after the loss ... "Well, we don't have much of a choice. We need to come out and have a great week of practice and start playing our game. We have to just take it to whoever we're playing."

N O T E S

Minnesota

• The Gophers receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Softball Tournament with the win. . . . It will be the fifth time the school has participated in the NCAA Championship, the third time under co-head coach Lisa Bernstein.

• Minnesota becomes the only team other than Michigan to win the Big Ten Softball Tournament in the five-year history of the event.

• Shannon Beeler's home run was her second of the tournament, tying her for the tournament record. . . . She also hit two home runs last year in the tournament. . . . Beeler, who holds the Big Ten career home run record, has four home runs in Big Ten Tournament play in her career, a league record.

• Today is the first time in eight years that the Gophers have beaten Michigan twice in a single day. . . . On May 10, 1991, Minnesota won 2-1 and 1-0 in Minneapolis.

• The Gophers have won each of their last six games by one run.

Michigan

• The loss is just the third for the Wolverines in Big Ten Softball Tournament history. . . . Michigan now holds a record of 13-3 in the five years of the tournament.

Last updated: Saturday, 15-May-1999 22:13:10 EDT