Florida Atlantic 8 No. 6 seed

vs.

Central Michigan 3 No. 4 seed

Score by Innings		1	2	3		4	5	6		7		R	H	E
Central Michigan (41-18)		0	2	0		0	1	0		0		3	5	3
Florida Atlantic (49-18)		2	0	0		6	0	0		x		8	10	1

Boxscore and Play-By-Play

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Event: NCAA Regional 6 Softball Championship (Game 5)
Result: Florida Atlantic 8, Central Michigan 3
Records: Florida Atlantic (49-18); Central Michigan (41-18)
Next FAU Game: Saturday, May 22 -- vs. Nebraska/Arizona State winner, 11 a.m.
Next CMU Game: Central Michigan eliminated from regional with 0-2 record

Owls Continue Regional Run with Win over Chippewas

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Spurred by a grand slam off the bat of third baseman Michelle Shirah, Florida Atlantic pushed across six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and went on to defeat Central Michigan 8-3 on Friday (May 21) in NCAA Softball Regional 6 play. The victory sends the No. 6-seeded Owls (49-18) into the finals of the winners' bracket to face the Arizona State vs. Nebraska winner at 11 a.m., while No. 4 seed Central Michigan (41-18) was eliminated with a 0-2 tournament record.

Florida Atlantic got to Central Michigan starter Tina Kinney early with two runs in the bottom of the first. Kinney allowed seven hits and seven runs (three earned) in 3.2 innings pitched. Following a bunt single by leadoff hitter Suzanne Flege and a sacrifice bunt, Shirah tripled down the rightfield line for the first of her four hits on the game and the first of five RBIs. After a strikeout, Shirah scored from third on a wild pitch with two out.

Central Michigan came right back with a pair of solo home runs in the top of the second to knot the contest at two runs apiece. Kinney helped her cause with a leadoff dinger, her fifth of the year, and was matched by Nicole Weston, who drilled her fourth home run of the season to pull Central Michigan even.

After a scoreless third by both squads, Florida Atlantic busted loose in the bottom of the fourth with six hits, including Shirah's second grand slam of the season, to pull away. Florida Atlantic's big inning started with an infield popup which Central Michigan's second baseman and shortstop allowed to drop in between them. Three singles among a pair of fielder's choice outs put Florida Atlantic up one run and left the bases loaded with two out. Shirah stepped up and drove a pitch deep to right-centerfield over the fence for a 7-2 Florida Atlantic lead.

After Florida Atlantic scored one more run in the fourth for an 8-2 lead, Christina Sutcliffe relieved Owl starter Nicole Myers in the fifth and closed out the contest allowing one Central Michigan run in the final three innings of work. Myers (24-8) earned her second win of the tournament.

Q U O T E S

Florida Atlantic Head Coach Joan Joyce
"It was a little bit of a scary game to start out with. We have played Central Michigan in the past quite a few times. Every time we have played that team, it's a rip-roaring game with balls hit all over the place, and I thought 'Here we go again. We are going to end up with another slugfest.' However, when Nikki (Myers) struck out the first three pretty easily and we scored the two runs, I relaxed a little bit until the next inning. Then with two fat pitches hit out of the ballpark, we were back to starting over again."

"I thought in the middle of the ball game, we started to play a little bit scared. I told them that, and then I told them that if we're going to lose this ball game, we're going down the way we know how to play. They popped right out of it in that inning and scored six runs, and it was the ballgame."

Florida Atlantic Third Baseman Michelle Shirah
On her grand slam ... "I thought it was just going to be a base hit, but it kept travelling."

On being a double away from hitting for the cycle ... "I don't think about that when I am at bat. I just think about doing my job (getting on base). In this kind of tournament, you have to get on base in order to compete with other teams."

Central Michigan Head Coach Margo Jonker
"We are very happy we got to regionals again this year, and we are very disappointed we didn't play to our potential. We didn't play as well in the regionals as we have most of the year. Yesterday, I thought we had a good ballgame; today, it was an ugly game."

"We had a couple of power hits to come back after the first inning, but from then on, it was sort of downhill. We made a lot of errors, which is very atypical of our team."

"I am proud of the team overall for their accomplishments, proud of the individuals for all of the things they've done, and we plan on being back next year."

N O T E S

• Today was the fourth multi-home run game of the season for Central Michigan and the third time this season that Nicole Weston and Tina Kinney have hit home runs in the same game.

• Nicole Weston's home run was her second in postseason play this year. She also hit one in the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

• Michelle Shirah's grand slam was her second of the season and the team's third.

Last updated: Friday, 21-May-1999 19:27:05 EDT