Central Michigan 2 No. 6 seed

vs.

Notre Dame 1 No. 3 seed

Score by Innings		1	2	3		4	5	6		7		R	H	E
Notre Dame (47-14)		0	0	0		1	0	0		0		1	6	2
Central Michigan (33-12)		0	2	0		0	0	0		x		2	6	2

Boxscore and Play-By-Play

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alumni Field)
Event: NCAA Regional 8 Softball Championship (Game 7)
Result: Central Michigan 2, #17 Notre Dame 1
Records: CMU (33-12); Notre Dame (47-14)
Next CMU Game: Saturday, May 20 -- vs. DePaul, 3 p.m.
Next UND Game: Notre Dame eliminated from regional with 1-2 record

Central Michigan Slides Past Notre Dame, 2-1

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Central Michigan pushed across two runs in the bottom of the second inning and Tina Kinney hurled her third complete game of the NCAA Softball Regional 8 Championship as the sixth-seeded Chippewas eliminated No. 3 seed Notre Dame 2-1 on Saturday (May 20) in front of 522 fans at Alumni Field.

CMU (33-12) opened the bottom of the second with a walk to Hope Robertshaw, who was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Michelle Brander. Amy Morrison's single to rightfield put runners on first and third with only one out. Kristen White came in to pinch hit and the Chippewas tried a delayed steal, but the throw down to second base went into centerfield, allowing Robertshaw to score and Morrison to advance to third. White singled later in the at bat to plate Morrison and give Central Michigan a 2-0 advantage. The Chippewas failed to extend the lead further when White, who had advanced to second on an error, was doubled up on a fly ball to deep centerfield.

Notre Dame (47-14) scored its lone run in the top of the fourth inning when Jarrah Myers hit her 12th home run of the season, a two-out blast that cleared the trees behind the leftfield bullpen. But the Irish were unable to push across the tying run, stranding runners on second base in the second and fourth innings and on first and third in the sixth. Notre Dame was also able to get a runner into scoring position in the top of the first inning, but Jennifer Kriech was thrown out by CMU second baseman Kim Burke trying to tag on a pop up to shallow rightfield.

Kinney, who has pitched all 26 innings of the tournament for Central Michigan, scattered six hits and one walk while striking out three to raise her record to 24-7 on the season. Michelle Moschel (14-6) started the game for Notre Dame and went the first 1.1 innings in taking the loss. Jennifer Sharron, who allowed one run and nine hits in 17.2 innings during the tournament, relieved Moschel in the second inning and retired 11 of the 13 batters she faced.

Central Michigan will face fifth-seeded DePaul, at 2-0 the lone remaining unbeaten in the regional, at 3 p.m. this afternoon.

Q U O T E S

Central Michigan Head Coach Margo Jonker
On the keys to the victory ... "I thought Tina (Kinney) pitched a great game again, and Lindsay (Horvath) called a good game. The two of them were working really well together, which is key. And as I have talked about all season, our whole team has come together to do the job. Everyone on this team is willing to do whatever they can for the team to succeed. It's the continuation of the entire team doing the job. It is one game at a time."

CMU Pitcher Tina Kinney
On today's game ... "There wasn't a lot of room for error, but our team had a very high intensity today. We were all in this together. We just came out ready to play. Even when they (Notre Dame) got the one run, we came back with tough defense."

CMU Pinch Hitter Kristen White
On her pinch-hit RBI single in the second inning ... "Going in initially (to bat), I was nervous. I knew I had to get the job done with runners on. It felt incredible to get the hit. I was happy to put my part in."

Notre Dame Head Coach Liz Miller
On the season-ending loss ... "It is always hard when you get to this point, and in the big picture you try to look to it like it's been a great season and all those kind of things. It's always difficult when it ends, especially when it ends sooner than you want it to. But it doesn't make it any easier. This team has worked very hard, and I think they have done a great job. We just didn't quite perform like we wanted to perform when we got here this week, yesterday and today."

Notre Dame Catcher Jarrah Myers
On her long home run ... "It just happened, I guess. I just got up there wanting to get on base to get the game closer."

N O T E S

• With the win over Notre Dame, CMU pitcher Tina Kinney tied the Mid-American Conference record for career wins with 77. Ball State's Bernie Coffman (1986-89) also holds the mark.

• Notre Dame's Jarrah Myers hit her 12th home run of the season. The 12 homers are one shy of the Fighting Irish single-season record of 13, set this season by Melanie Alkire.

Last updated: Saturday, 20-May-2000 17:01:18 EDT