taylor bump
It's NCAA Tournament time! Michigan Softball made the tourney for the 27th consecutive season on Sunday, being placed into the Orlando Regional with #16 UCF after losing in the B1G Tournament title game to Nebraska on Saturday. In today's piece we'll rehash what went down in the BTT, then talk about the selection show (including a fantastic night for B1G teams), and then preview the Orlando Regional, which appears winnable.
Recapping the B1G Tournament
Michigan was the 4-seed in the B1G Tournament and they drew the 5-seed Maryland Terrapins in the quarterfinals to begin the tourney. The two teams were decently close in the regular season, but this game was not competitive. Michigan jumped out to a lead in the first inning and then poured five runs on in the third, including a two-run HR by Taylor Bump and a two RBI triple from Annabelle Widra. In perhaps the best news of that day, Alex Storako looked more like her peak self, throwing five shutout innings with only four baserunners allowed and six strikeouts, cruising along with the 7-0 lead intact. She handed it over to Widra, who then slammed the door with two efficient innings and Michigan was off to the semis.
Against Northwestern on Friday, Michigan was looking to get revenge for that series in Evanston where the Wolverines held 6th inning leads in all three games, but came away with only one win. This time the script was flipped, as Michigan would be the one entering the later innings trailing, only to come from behind to snatch victory. The game was a tight pitching duel between NU star Danielle Williams and Michigan veteran lefty Meghan Beaubien.
Both were pretty clean through four innings, but Beaubien ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth. She issued a leadoff walk and then hit a batter, being yanked with two on and nobody out. Widra was called in from the bullpen and she proceeded to get a fielder's choice and a strikeout. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and two outs, Michigan opted to intentionally walk star slugger Rachel Lewis. However, unlike in the MLB nowadays, you don't just get to put the runner on; you still have to throw four balls. That's when disaster struck, as one of the intentional balls rolled between Hannah Carson's legs to the backstop for a humiliating wild pitch to score the go-ahed run.
Losing a game 1-0 on an intentional ball wild pitch is one of the more embarrassing ways you could lose a game, but that's what Michigan was staring down with two outs in the top of the seventh. On the first pitch, Hannah Carson laced a single to right field and got aboard, bringing Bump to the plate. The fifth year slugger has had a tough season, but for the second straight day she played the hero, slamming a no-doubt, two-run HR to left:
TAYLOR BUMP WITH A TWO-OUT, TWO-RUN SHOT! MICHIGAN LEADS IN THE SEVENTH! @taylorbump13
— Michigan Softball (@umichsoftball) May 13, 2022
T7 | Michigan 2, Northwestern 1 pic.twitter.com/25QGSvdee7
That put Michigan ahead 2-1 and Widra went back to the circle and got a 1-2-3 bottom half to close out a win. Michigan was off to the championship game, having notched another big win for their tourney resume.
[AFTER THE JUMP: More BTT recap & the NCAAs]
The last time we saw Michigan Softball, well, it hurt. A lot. The Wolverines were out in the Seattle Regional in the deciding game three against host Washington, with the winner advancing to the Super Regionals. Michigan held a 5-1 lead heading to the bottom of the third, just 15 outs from their first ticket to the Supers since 2016. They had their ace, Alex Storako, in the circle and had to love their position. Then it all fell apart. Storako gave up two in the bottom of the third, and then the fourth saw seven Husky runs and a solid Michigan lead turned into a heartbreaking Washington blowout, 10-5. Season over.
The good news is that a new season means new beginnings. A fresh start. Rebirth. Much of last year's core has returned for another shot at a deep NCAA Tournament run, but there are plenty of new pieces too. And if the preliminary reporting from The Michigan Daily is to be believed, this iteration of Michigan Softball is hungrier than ever to return to Oklahoma City and the Women's College World Series. Do they have the parts? And what would reaching this team's goals require? I have you covered with the 2022 Michigan Softball season preview:
The Roster
Pitching
The strength of this Michigan team, as it has been for so many years now, is pitching. Michigan has a pair of senior aces returning, Alex Storako and Meghan Beaubien. Beaubien's storied Michigan career is well documented, a superstar pitcher from the time she arrived in Ann Arbor during the 2018 season. She's never had an ERA above 2.00 and last season was a classic MB year, 1.24 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, with 9.3 K/7 innings. Beaubien is dependable and strikingly consistent, and the question is whether the BeauBot has one last gear to reach in her 5th season. She has grown much less over her career than her counterpart Storako, so it does feel a little unlikely that Beaubien suddenly gets a lot better, but here's for hoping. What she is now is enough.
2021 was the story of Alex Storako, who made The Jump. In 2019 and 2020, Storako showed flashes via her high strikeout numbers, but was also inconsistent and highly vulnerable to scalding hard contact. In 2021 she transformed into a monster who passed Beaubien on the depth chart to become the #1. Her 1.05 ERA and 22 wins are impressive enough before you see the strikeout numbers: 270 Ks in 146 innings (!). That 12.9 K/7 clip led the NCAA and helped make her the unanimous B1G Pitcher of the Year and a 2nd team All-American. Storako fixed her hard contact problem and mowed down the competition with ease the whole season (including Washington in G1 of that Regional Final) until it unraveled against in the aforementioned G3. That should provide enough motivation for Storako to put together another dominant campaign as a senior.
Meghan Beaubien and sunglasses, name a more iconic duo [JD Scott]
Together, Storako and Beaubien should give Michigan elite pitching in every single big game. In NCAA softball, you need two aces to have a shot to reach the WCWS, and ideally you should have a third pitcher who may not be an ace, but can help you out in a pinch. Michigan didn't have that last year, as Sarah Schaefer was never able to develop into a reliable arm over her four years with the Wolverines, and former 5* Chandler Dennis massively disappointed due to injuries and inconsistency. Both have opted to exit the program.
Hope for a reliable #3 thus comes from the freshman class that boasts three arms. Lauren Derkowski and Emerson Aiken are both freshmen who are elite recruits. Derkowski was the #16 national recruit by Extra Innings softball, while Aiken was the #26 recruit and a High School All-American in 2021. Fellow freshman Annabelle Widra is an elite recruit and a two-way player who can hit and pitch, but I would expect Michigan to use her primarily as a hitter (a la young Tera Blanco). Lauren Esman is also a two-way player but has thrown just two innings in her Michigan career.
Derkowski, Aiken, and Widra are the future of the Michigan rotation starting in 2023 and so it'll be crucial to see one of them step up. Between three 5* prospects, the odds at least one of them is ready to be an impact arm seems pretty high. Michigan doesn't need any of them to be an ace so long as Storako and Beaubien are healthy, but they need one of them to give them 60-80 quality innings (or I suppose the three could combine for that many). I feel pretty comfortable about the probability that it comes to fruition.
[AFTER THE JUMP: Much more preview!]
Note: This is the beginning of Softball Roundup, a weekly column that will run during the college softball season. My hope is that it will help give more exposure to the Michigan Softball program, help readers understand college softball, and provide more enlightening analysis on the sport for those who are already hardcore fans.
Second Note: This column is written by Alex Drain (@Alex_Drain on twitter). I have been a member of the MGoBlog team since August 2018, but up to this point I have largely been behind the scenes as a podcast manager for the MGoRadio shows during football season. If you’ve come by the Bo Store to see MGoRadio being taped live sometime in the past two seasons, you’ve probably noticed a college kid with large glasses sitting at the end of the table next to Seth. That’s me. I’ve covered Michigan Softball for WCBN Sports (student radio and a resource most Michigan Softball fans are familiar with) for three years now and am generally a good resource for those looking to learn more about the program, so hopefully this column is useful!
Last Weekend: Sweeping Through North Carolina (9-0)
For those who are just reading about how the 2020 team is doing, they are currently 9-0, having gone 5-0 in Tampa (including a win against a good Florida team) last weekend, and just got done with the ACC/B1G challenge down in Chapel Hill. This past weekend pitted Michigan against #25 North Carolina for two games, and against Louisville for two games. Both teams made regional finals last year (and were a sudden death win away from the Supers), so both are pretty solid wins to collect. Here’s a quick recap of the weekend, game by game:
Game 1: Michigan 6, Louisville 2
Against Louisville’s #2 and #3 pitchers, Michigan’s offense went to work, getting 2 in the second, 2 in the third, and 2 in the sixth. L’Ville threatened in the fifth with a two-run HR from pitcher/hitter Taylor Roby, but Meghan Beaubien’s relief effort of Alex Storako went swimmingly, with three shut down innings to win 6-2.
Game 2: Michigan 4, North Carolina 3
The sloppy opposing defense that helped Michigan against Florida also helped Michigan against North Carolina as the Tar Heels committed two errors in the 2nd which scored a combined 3 runs for Michigan. Beaubien labored in the early 2nd, giving up a single/homer/double combo, and Hutch went to the pen. Storako would allow that runner on second to score but wouldn’t allow another run, leaving it tied at 3. Michigan and Carolina both clawed for the next four innings to break the tie in a contest of who could leave more runners on. The Wolverines finally broke through in the 7th with a Lexie Blair infield single to make it 4-3, and Storako closed the door in the bottom half for the win.
Game 3: Michigan 4, North Carolina 0
This was one of those enjoyably boring games that fans of good teams get to enjoy every so often. Beaubien delivered seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts, while Michigan tallied a single run in four different frames. Two of those tallies came from doubles off the bat of freshman Julia Jimenez, which in the testimony of friend-of-MGoBlog Morris Fabbri (who was at this game) came inches away from leaving the yard both times. Nothing much to see here otherwise, just delectable dominance.
Game 4: Michigan 8, Louisville 4
Just like a week ago in Tampa, Michigan battled a potential letdown game in an early Sunday morning contest, this time against the Cardinals. They took an early 1-0 lead on a Lou Allan single, but Taylor Roby struck again for a 3 run HR off of Storako to put L’Ville up 3-1.
Michigan came roaring back in the top of the fourth, taking the lead back on a HR from Taylor Bump that made it 4-3. Storako was yanked after the Roby HR and Beaubien battled errant command in her ensuing relief outing, culminating in a HBP of a Louisville batter with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth to force in the tying run.
But again Michigan showed their resilience, loading the bases with none out in the top of the 6th. That’s when Hutch went to the bench. She pinch-hit freshman Lauren Esman for the slap-hitting Natalia Rodriguez and that difference in power was pivotal: Esman swatted a no-doubter *grand slam* for her first career college hit. With a four*run lead now in hand, Beaubien promptly slammed the door and Michigan left Carolina with another perfect weekend.
[AFTER THE JUMP: thoughts, national update, and weekend preview]
7