#14 M Softball vs OSU [UPDATE: M WINS 8-0, 5 innings, OUTRIGHT B1G CHAMPS]

Submitted by tlo2485 on

#14 U-M (41-9, 16-2 Big Ten) vs. OSU (33-11, 13-6 Big Ten), 1PM, BTN

Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/umichigan/softball/

 

Lots of notes for this game:

-Michigan won Game 1 yesterday 3-2. Beaubien struck out 11, walked no one, and gave up the 2ER on two solo home runs.

-Meghan Beaubien will get the start on the mound again for Game 2. Taylor Swearingen gets the start for the second game in a row in the DP position.

-Michigan clinched a share of the Big Ten Title yesterday with a win/Minnesota loss. The magic number is 1 (Mich win or Minny loss) in the final two games for an outright title.

-Today is Senior Day, honoring: Aidan Falk, Nikki Wald, Amanda Vargas, Morgan Swift, Taylor Swearingen, and Tera Blanco. 

-Today is Aidan Falk's birthday. 

-Yesterday was the annual Pink Game. Michigan softball became the first women's collegeiate team in the country to cross the $1 million threshold total raised for a charity cause.

-OSU Head Coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly starred for Michigan under Hutchins from 1992-1995. She was the B1G Freshman of the Year in 1992 and the B1G Pitcher of the Year in both 1992 and 1995. She remained on the staff as an assistant after her playing career for a few years while also obtaining her Master's from U-M.

-Michigan is 94-21 all-time vs OSU.

-Today and tomorrow's games are sold out.

 

Go Blue!

South Bend Wolverine

May 5th, 2018 at 8:18 PM ^

Glad you were able to get out to a game!  Alumni Field is what made me fall in love with softball, to tell the truth.  I was starting to get interested, but seeing a super-regional game (sadly a season-ending loss) live was the game-changer.  It's an amazing environment, and it's only gotten better over the years as more & more fans pack the stands.

tlo2485

May 5th, 2018 at 1:43 PM ^

OSU pitching is in meltdown mode. Michigan has batted around after a run walks in, 4-0, still bases loaded. 2 outs, Alexander up.

tlo2485

May 5th, 2018 at 1:45 PM ^

Wow, Alexander is up with bases loaded after a run was walked in and 5 total walks this inning and she strikes out swinging through the first 3 pitches. They looked like good pitches, but you've got to make this pitcher at least earn it.

tlo2485

May 5th, 2018 at 1:57 PM ^

Hoogenraad continues her big weekend with a 2 run homer!! 6-0 MICHIGAN!!!! This is a GREAT sign with the bottom of the lineup showing a ton of life recently. It's late in the season, but swapping her and Falk might be an idea??

SDCran

May 5th, 2018 at 4:12 PM ^

How does the producer not ensure that Kovach’s B1G POY season get included??



I know they could have included 2-3 more freshmen, but you have to include the woman coaching in the opposite dugout.

tlo2485

May 5th, 2018 at 2:30 PM ^

I really like this recent strategy of pinch hitting for Rodriquez once a game to put a power hitter in and then being able to sub her right back into the game as the runner if they make it on base. 

RoseInBlue

May 5th, 2018 at 2:36 PM ^

Same.  Not the best hitter (still a freshmen though, so plenty of time to improve) but homegirl can tear up the base paths.  The last few weeks alone, I've seen her make 4 excellent decisions on the basepaths (you can tell which ones are hers and which are Hutch's) and plenty more just plain good ones.

Goggles Paisano

May 5th, 2018 at 2:41 PM ^

I am really impressed by the way this team plays the game.  Very solid club with good hitting, great pitching and great defense.   And that bomb by Hoogenraad -  That pitch was on the inside corner and she got her hands well inside that ball and caught it well out in front of the plate and crushed it.  As a baseball coach, I could watch that all day long.  

This team is going to be a handful over the next few years with Beaubien on the mound (in the circle).  

RoseInBlue

May 5th, 2018 at 3:26 PM ^

Eh, it's Penn State.  All of Minnesota's swagger seems to have come from Sara Groenewegen.  I thought they might have found something with Kendyl Lindaman given her conference play last year but she feasts on crap teams and disappears completely against good ones.  

Fiser seems like she'll be a pretty good pitcher for them, though.

South Bend Wolverine

May 5th, 2018 at 3:09 PM ^

I had to watch this one on a bit of a Tivo delay, so I'm just now getting to read through the thread.  What a PERFECT way to seal the deal on that Big Ten Championship.  Game never in doubt after that big 2nd inning, Beaubien dominant, hitting through the line-up, doing it every which way with small ball, the home run, good defense, good base-running...  Man, that was just 5 innings of highly satisfying softball.

And most importantly of all, Michigan is once again the OUTRIGHT CHAMPIONS of the Big Ten conference!!!  That was the #1 goal for this season - restoring order within the conference - and they got it done.  Now let's wrap up the sweep & go for the double next weekend at the BTT!

tlo2485

May 5th, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^

2017-2018 Championships:

Men's Cross Country

Women's Cross Country

Field Hockey

Men's Soccer

Women's Swinning & Diving

Women's Gymnastics

Women's Water Polo *(CWPA)

Tournament Titles:

Field Hockey

Men's Basketball

Women's Gymnastics

Women's Tennis

South Bend Wolverine

May 5th, 2018 at 3:22 PM ^

Champions of the West!  That's a pretty successful athletic year.  Hope we can add at least one more softball title to that list.  Baseball is tailing off a bit, but they're still in the mix too, so maybe they can chip in. :)

tlo2485

May 5th, 2018 at 3:34 PM ^

I forgot to include Softbal!!!!! Ahh. So that makes 7 B1G regular season tiles. Based on my math, that gives Michigan 7/21 regular season titles so far in the conference, with an additional 2 tournament titles in sports we did not win the regular season.

We will not be winning the men's/women's lacrosse titles being crowned in Ann Arbor this weekend.

Outdoor Track & Field, Rowing, and Baseball are still in play. This is a pretty dominant school year--claiming titles in roughly 1/3 of our sports-- considering we compete with 15 other schools (Notre Dame and Johns Hopkins are highly competitve in their single sports). Plus, our title in our non-B1G sport, Water Polo.

Michology 101

May 5th, 2018 at 4:01 PM ^

I'm glad the Michigan ladies won at least the regular season Big 10 Championship. I was kinda concerned for awhile that one of the weaker teams might luck up and win it.

I just started following Michigan softball during their last run to the NCAA Championship series. I've read reports stating that female softball pitchers don't really get as tired as men throwing a baseball.

Therefore the women can pitch many more games and innings. I hope that holds true because it seems like the playoff success of the team will rest heavily on Meghan Beaubien's arm.

RoseInBlue

May 5th, 2018 at 4:19 PM ^

Yes, the windmill pitching motion is a much more natural movement for the arm so softball pitchers can throw a lot more pitches than baseball pitchers.  They can also pitch consecutive days and most teams, unless they have multiple stud pitchers, will throw their ace the entirety of the playoffs.