{{Short description|American softball player}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox sportsperson | image = Jennie Ritter in 2005.jpg | image_size = | caption = Ritter at the [[White House]] in 2005 | education = [[Michigan Wolverines softball|Michigan]] | sport = Softball | position = Pitcher | nickname = | years_active = 2003-2006 | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 8 | weight_lb = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1984|06|01}} | birth_place = [[Dexter, Michigan]], U.S. | death_date = | death_place = | medaltemplates = {{MedalCompetition | [[Pan American Games]] }} {{MedalGold | [[2007 Pan American Games|2007 Rio]] | Team competition }} {{MedalCompetition | [[World Cup of Softball]] }} {{MedalGold | [[2007 World Cup of Softball|2007 Oklahoma City]] | Team competition }} }}
'''Jennifer Darlene Ritter''' (born June 1, 1984) is an American, former collegiate [[All-American]], retired [[softball]] [[pitcher]] and current sports commentator. She played [[college softball]] and was a starting pitcher for the [[Michigan Wolverines softball]] from 2003 to 2006 and led them to the [[2005 Women's College World Series]] championship. She is the career [[shutouts]] record holder for the Wolverines in the [[Big Ten Conference]].
==Early life and college career== Ritter graduated from [[Dexter High School (Michigan)|Dexter High School]] in [[Dexter, Michigan]] in 2002.<ref name=Michigan>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050829063353/http://www.mgoblue.com/bio.cfm?bio_id=1248§ion_id=305&top=2&level=3&season=940|archive-date=August 29, 2005|title=Jennie Ritter|url=http://www.mgoblue.com:80/bio.cfm?bio_id=1248§ion_id=305&top=2&level=3&season=940|publisher=University of Michigan|access-date=June 8, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>
At the [[University of Michigan]], Ritter played for the [[Michigan Wolverines softball]] team under head coach [[Carol Hutchins]]. Ritter saw limited playing time as a freshman in 2003, only getting 7 decisions for a 5–2 record. Debuting on February 15, 2003, Ritter got a no-decision, pitching 5-innings, giving up a run and striking out 9 vs. [[San Diego State Aztecs]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/021503aaa.html |title=Ritter Shines in First Start But U-M Loses To Aztecs in Nine |date=February 15, 2003 |access-date=August 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901205513/http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/021503aaa.html |archive-date=September 1, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> She made her second appearance in the 2003 NCAA Regionals, shutting out [[Wright State Raiders]] for three innings to collect her last win that season.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/051603aab.html |title=Michigan Staves Off Elimination With Rout of Wright State |location=Mgoblue.com |date=May 16, 2003 |access-date=August 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616043048/http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/051603aab.html |archive-date=June 16, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 2004, Ritter earned All-[[Big Ten Conference|Big Ten]] honors after posting 24 [[win (baseball)|win]]s and 269 [[strikeouts]], of which the latter ranked second all-time for the Wolverines. Ritter fired her first career [[no-hitter]] on March 12 against the [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish]]. She was a hit batter away from a [[Perfect game (baseball)|perfect game]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/031204aaa.html |title=Ritter Nearly Perfect in No-Hit Win Against Notre Dame |location=Mgoblue.com |date=March 12, 2004 |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref>
Ritter had a golden season as a junior in [[2005 Michigan Wolverines softball team|2005]], earning All-Big Ten and National Fastpitch Coaches' Association First Team [[All-American]] honors.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nfca.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3343:2005-di-aa-teams&catid=64&Itemid=134 |title=2005 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-America Teams |location=Nfca.org |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref> She was named conference "Pitcher" and "Female Athlete of The Year" to go along with the [[University of Michigan]]'s "Female Athlete of The Year." She threw three [[no-hitters]] and a [[Perfect game (baseball)|perfect game]] on April 17, 2005, vs. the [[Indiana Hoosiers]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/041705aaa.html |title=Ritter No-Hitter, Findlay Home Runs Help U-M To Sweep |location=Mgoblue.com |date=April 17, 2005 |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref> She also broke and set the school records for wins and [[innings pitched]]. Her strikeouts and [[shutouts]] still rank top-5 all-time for a Wolverine season. She also earned a Big Ten pitching [[Triple Crown (baseball)|Triple Crown]] for the best win, strikeout and ERA totals.<ref name="Softball Archived Statistics">{{cite web |url=http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/rankings?doWhat=archive&rpt=archive&sportCode=WSB |title=Softball Archived Statistics |location=Nfca.org |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref>
From February 12 to April 19, Ritter went on a career best 22 consecutive game win streak, eventually snapped by the [[Penn State Nittany Lions]] on April 22.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/042205aaa.html |title=Michigan, Ritter Have Win Streaks Halted By Penn State |location=Mgoblue.com |date=April 22, 2005 |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref> For the streak, she threw 151.2 innings and collected 73 hits, 19 earned runs, 22 walks and struck out 225 for a 0.88 ERA and 0.63 WHIP.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mgoblue.com/sports/softball/schedule/2005 |title=2005 Softball Schedule |location=Mgoblue.com |access-date=October 18, 2020}}</ref> Ritter defeated the No. 1 [[Arizona Wildcats]] on March 20, pitching 5-innings of the 6–2 victory.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mgoblue.com/news/2005/3/20/Michigan_Rolls_Past_No_1_Arizona_for_Kia_Klassic_Crown.aspx |title=Michigan Rolls Past No. 1 Arizona for Kia Klassic Crown |location=Mgoblue.com |date=March 20, 2005 |access-date=October 18, 2020}}</ref> On May 4, Ritter punched out 16 of the [[Western Michigan Broncos]] in a two-hitter for her career single game regulation high.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/050405aaa.html |title=Ritter Fans 16; U-M Hits 50 Wins With Sweep of WMU |location=Mgoblue.com |date=May 4, 2005 |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref>
Ritter would lead the [[Michigan Wolverines]] to the No. 1 seed at the [[Women's College World Series]] and opened her first and only appearance with a shutout of the [[DePaul Blue Demons]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/060205aaa.html |title=Ritter Mows Down Demons, Leads U-M To WCWS Win |location=Mgoblue.com |date=June 2, 2005 |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref> After escaping elimination, Ritter led the way into the Championship Finals against defending champs, the [[UCLA Bruins]]. Ritter toughed out a 10-inning battle in the third game of the finale series to win the National Championship and the distinction of being the first team east of the [[Mississippi River]] to accomplish the feat. She also earned All-Tournament Team honors for her 5–1 record and 60 strikeouts in 54-innings (then a new series record).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/060805aaa.html |title=National Champs! Findlay Drives Michigan Past UCLA |location=Mgoblue.com |date=June 8, 2005 |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/softball_champs_records/2014/d1/Champs.pdf |title=Softball Division I Championship |location=Ncaa.org |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref>
Ritter's senior season saw her repeat all-season honors: All-Big Ten, First Team [[All-American]] and Michigan "Female Athlete of The Year."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://nfca.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3478:2006-di-aa-teams&catid=64&Itemid=134 |title=2006 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-Americans |location=Nfca.org |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref> She threw a [[no-hitter]] and broke her own record for strikeouts and strikeout ratio (11.6); her shutouts were also a new record, the strikeouts totals remains tops for a single season. Ritter also posted her best [[Earned run average|ERA]] and [[Walks plus hits per innings pitched|WHIP]] to accompany a pair of top-5 records for innings and wins at Michigan, helping to earn her a second conference Triple Crown.<ref name="Softball Archived Statistics"/>
On April 15 in a 1–0 loss to the [[Iowa Hawkeyes]], Ritter struck out her 1,000th career batter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/041506aaa.html |title=Michigan Manages Just One Hit in One-Run Loss At Iowa |location=Mgoblue.com |date=April 15, 2006 |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref> In a win over the [[Michigan State Spartans]] on May 6, Ritter began a career best 45.2 consecutive scoreless innings streak that was broken on May 21, when she broke the school record for single game strikeouts, whiffing a career best 19 in Regional action against the [[Oklahoma Sooners]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/recaps/052106aaa.html |title=Michigan Uses Extra-Inning Win To Snare Regional Title |location=Mgoblue.com |date=May 6, 2006 |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref> During the streak, Ritter won all 8 games and struck out 76 batters, surrendering only 12 hits and 7 walks for a 0.42 WHIP.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/archive/2006-boxscores.html |title=2006 Box Scores |location=Mgoblue.com |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref>
Ritter ended her collegiate career as the all-time [[Michigan Wolverines]] record holder in strikeouts, shutouts, WHIP, innings pitched and strikeout ratio. As well she also put up some of the best wins and ERA numbers all-time for the Wolverines. She currently still holds the records for shutouts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mgoblue.com/documents/2017/6/8/sfb-record-book.pdf |title=2017 University of Michigan Softball Record Book |location=Mgoblue.com |access-date=October 18, 2020}}</ref> For the [[Big Ten Conference]] she ranks top-10 in almost every other pitching category.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bigten.org/documents/2020/9/22/2021_B1G_Softball_Record_Book.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112075617/https://bigten.org/documents/2020/9/22/2021_B1G_Softball_Record_Book.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |title=2020-21 Big Ten Records Book |location=Bigten.org |access-date=October 14, 2020}}</ref> Ritter is also a top-25 strikeout ratio pitcher all-time for a career in the [[NCAA Division I]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/SB_Records/2021/D1.pdf |title=Division I Records |location=Ncaa.org |access-date=October 18, 2020}}</ref> Ritter graduated from the [[University of Michigan College of Engineering]] with a [[Bachelor of Engineering|B.S.E.]] in [[industrial engineering|industrial and operations engineering]] in 2007.<ref name=JennieRitter15>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218214848/http://www.jennieritter15.com/JenniesBio.htm|archive-date=December 18, 2010|title=Jennie Ritter Biographical Information|url=http://www.jennieritter15.com:80/JenniesBio.htm|work=JennieRitter15.com|access-date=June 8, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Professional career== Ritter was selected to the National Team in 2007 and competed at the World Cup and Pan American games. She had previously been named to the USA Elite in 2005.<ref name="Team USA">{{cite web |url=http://www.teamusa.org/usa-softball/athletes/Jennifer-Ritter |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924140246/http://www.teamusa.org/usa-softball/athletes/Jennifer-Ritter |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |title=Jennifer Ritter |location=Teamusa.org |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/070705aaa.html |title=Wolverines Help USA Elite To 6-0 Start At Canada Cup |location=Mgoblue.com |date=July 7, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807154343/http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/070705aaa.html |archive-date=August 7, 2010 |access-date=August 9, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>
On February 15, 2006, Ritter was selected 6th overall in the [[National Pro Fastpitch]] draft by the [[Akron Racers]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.profastpitch.com/news/npfnews/index.html?article_id=495 |title=NPF Teams Add Depth With Senior Picks |location=Profastpitch.com |date=February 16, 2006 |access-date=August 9, 2015 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905195336/http://www.profastpitch.com/news/npfnews/index.html?article_id=495 |archive-date=September 5, 2015 }}</ref> Ritter instead joined the PFX Tour where she was originally drafted fourth overall.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/021706aaa.html |title=Ritter Among Top Choices in PFX Tour And NPFL Drafts |location=Mgoblue.com |date=February 16, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807150645/http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/w-softbl/spec-rel/021706aaa.html|archive-date=August 7, 2010 |access-date=August 9, 2015}}</ref> In 2008, Ritter played professional softball in Japan and had [[Glenoid labrum|labrum]] surgery at the end of the year before retiring from playing softball in the fall of 2010.<ref name="catching up">{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522075032/http://www.annarbor.com/sports/catching-up-withformer-michigan-softball-star-jennie-ritter/|archive-date=May 22, 2011|title=Catching Up With ... former Michigan softball star Jennie Ritter|work=Ann Arbor News|date=May 20, 2011|url=http://www.annarbor.com/sports/catching-up-withformer-michigan-softball-star-jennie-ritter/|access-date=June 8, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Around this time, Ritter joined the [[Big Ten Network]] and [[ESPN]] as a color commentator for softball game broadcasts.<ref name="where are they now"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://hawkeyesports.com/news/2010/5/7/Hawkeyes_Back_On_The_Road_To_Minnesota.aspx?path=softball|title=Hawkeyes Back On The Road To Minnesota|publisher=University of Iowa|date=May 7, 2010|access-date=June 8, 2018|archive-date=July 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707043619/https://hawkeyesports.com/news/2010/5/7/Hawkeyes_Back_On_The_Road_To_Minnesota.aspx?path=softball|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Since 2013, Ritter has lived in [[Louisville, Kentucky]] and worked in management for [[Louisville Slugger]].<ref name="where are they now">{{cite web|url=https://mgoblue.com/news/2015/6/8/Where_Are_They_Now_Michigan_s_2005_NCAA_Champions.aspx|title=Where Are They Now: Michigan's 2005 NCAA Champions|publisher=University of Michigan|work=MGoBlue.com|date=June 8, 2015|access-date=June 8, 2018|archive-date=June 8, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180608043240/https://mgoblue.com/news/2015/6/8/Where_Are_They_Now_Michigan_s_2005_NCAA_Champions.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=FloSoftball>{{cite web|url=https://www.flosoftball.com/articles/5044423-careers-jennie-ritter-of-louisville-slugger-1217|title=Careers: Jennie Ritter of Louisville Slugger|publisher=FloSoftball|date=December 17, 2014|access-date=June 8, 2018}}</ref>
==Career statistics== {| class="wikitable" |- align=center | '''YEAR''' | [[Win (baseball statistics)|W]] | [[Loss (baseball statistics)|L]] | [[Games pitched|GP]] | [[Games started|GS]] | [[Complete game|CG]] | [[Shutout|SHO]] | [[Save (sport)|SV]] | [[Innings pitched|IP]] | [[Hit (baseball)|H]] | [[Softball#Scoring runs|R]] | [[Earned run|ER]] | [[Base on balls|BB]] | [[Strikeout|SO]] | [[Earned run average|ERA]] | [[Walks plus hits per innings pitched|WHIP]] |- align=center | '''2003''' | 5 | 2 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 66.0 | 49 | 18 | 14 | 20 | 68 | 1.48 | 1.04 |- align=center | '''2004''' | 24 | 8 | 41 | 31 | 20 | 8 | 2 | 207.2 | 118 | 41 | 35 | 45 | 269 | 1.18 | 0.78 |- align=center | '''2005''' | 38 | 4 | 48 | 41 | 34 | 16 | 4 | 288.2 | 137 | 50 | 38 | 43 | 417 | 0.92 | 0.62 |- align=center | '''2006''' | 31 | 8 | 42 | 35 | 32 | 17 | 1 | 272.2 | 129 | 41 | 30 | 39 | 451 | 0.77 | 0.61 |- align=center | '''TOTALS''' | '''98''' | '''22''' | '''151''' | '''115''' | '''90''' | '''43''' | '''8''' | '''835.0''' | '''433''' | '''150''' | '''117''' | '''147''' | '''1205''' | '''0.98''' | '''0.69''' |}
==See also== *[[NCAA Division I softball career strikeouts list]] *[[NCAA Division I softball career sub-1.00 ERA list]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Twitter|JennieRitter}} * {{youTube|p7IlWGP2uM4&t|Michigan vs. UCLA: 2005 Women's College World Series - FULL REPLAY}} * {{youTube|5JCFng0K0_g|2018 Hall of Honor: Jennie Ritter}}
{{Michigan Wolverines softball navbox}} {{2005 Michigan Wolverines softball navbox}} {{Big Ten Athlete of the Year}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ritter, Jennie}} [[Category:1984 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American softball players]] [[Category:Michigan Wolverines softball players]] [[Category:People from Dexter, Michigan]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Washtenaw County, Michigan]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Jacksonville, Florida]] [[Category:Softball players from Michigan]] [[Category:University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni]] [[Category:Big Ten Athlete of the Year winners]] [[Category:Softball players at the 2007 Pan American Games]] [[Category:Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games]] [[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in softball]]