Softball Sneaks Past NMSU 5-4
Softball's struggles continued today on the West Coast, but fortunately did not prove costly. Blanco had a bumpy ride as the starting pitcher against New Mexico State, with 3 earned runs charged the her name in just 3 innings of work. Betsa came in facing a serious jam & pushed a few runners across on free passes, but settled in and delivered 4 innings of hitless ball to give the Wolverines a chance.
Offensively, it was all about the top of the order. Peters & Ramirez both got two hits, and those hits turned into 4 runs as Kelly Christner drove them both home twice. In the 3rd, Christner gave Michigan the lead with a 2 RBI bloop single, and in the 6th, Christner launched a 3-run blast to put Michigan ahead for good. The rest of the offense was stagnant, as the 4-9 hitters never reached base once against the Aggies.
At the end of the day, it's a win coming off a long flight & a time-zone change. With match-ups against 3 ranked teams looming in the next 2 days, though, Team 40 will need to elevate their game in order to get what they want out of this road trip.
February 24th, 2017 at 3:31 PM ^
I will say this - as frustrating as the early season struggles can be, huge props have to go to Kelly Christner, who is having a great bounce-back from her rough 2016. She's currently hitting a comical (and sadly unsustainable) .633 through 10 games, and has almost single-handedly carried Michigan through some of these games. You always like to see players play their best ball as seniors, and Kelly's on track to do that for sure.
February 24th, 2017 at 4:24 PM ^
February 24th, 2017 at 4:47 PM ^
Different sport, but Kenny Allen had some struggles kicking when he became the punter and kicker this past season. But he managed to get his field goal kicking back on track. Hopefully Blanco can do the same with her batting.
February 24th, 2017 at 4:49 PM ^
Problem is is Blanco's playing time is more comparable to Peppers. She pitches, hits and plays 1B.
February 24th, 2017 at 9:02 PM ^
February 24th, 2017 at 7:57 PM ^
I'm sure doing double duty is hurting Blanco's hitting but we don't hare much choice in the matter. We really needed to bring in a pitcher this year and for some reason it didn't happen. In fact we needed to do it last year as well since Driesenga's 5th year wasn't expected.
February 24th, 2017 at 8:30 PM ^
We're bringing in an elite pitcher next season and a depth pitcher. Leah Crockett was also very good in HS.
Blanco was the #2 ranked pitcher as a recruit iirc. Her injury her freshman year may have delayed her progress.
Hindsight is 20/20. Classes are recruited way in advance. The 2018 class is already complete and the 2017 class hasn't even gotten here yet.
We have a pitcher in 2018 and another elite pitcher in 2019.
February 24th, 2017 at 4:56 PM ^
February 24th, 2017 at 7:54 PM ^
Michigan pitching still struggling with control. The two pitchers today issued 6 free passes (5 walks and a HBP). NM State pitching gave up no walks nor a HBP. Michigan had only 7 hits today, all coming from the first 3 batters in the lineup.