NCAA Rules Force Softball to Stop Murdering PSU - Game Ends 14-2
Michigan was not especially interested in showing mercy tonight in Pennsylvania, but the NCAA rules require a team beating the ever-living tar out of an opponent as badly as Michigan was doing to PSU tonight to stop. The Nittany Lions pitchers are very glad this one ended early.
After taking an inning to warm up, the offensive onslaught began in the top of the 2nd. After freshman Lou Allan, reached on an error, senior Aidan Falk drove home the pinch-running Nikki Wald to open the scoring. Singles from Alexander & Rodriguez tacked on 2 more runs, and provided the winning margin. After a quiet 3rd, Michigan tacked on 2 each in the 4th (on an unlikely home run from OBP maestro Natalie Peters) and the 5th (an Allan solo-shot followed by a sac fly later on), all hell broke loose in the 6th.
PSU made the mistake of ticking Michigan off by scoring a pair in the bottom of the 5th, capitalizing on a couple rare shaky moments from Beaubien, who was in command for most of the night. The Wolverines vented their rage, churning out 7 runs, batting around, and chasing the PSU starter. When all was said & done, just about every Wolverine had at least a run, a hit, or an RBI. Canfield & Uden both put up 3 hits, while Peters & Allan posted 2 apiece.
While mercy has been shown for now, the series resumes tomorrow at 3 PM. Look for the violence to continue against a PSU team with only 6 wins on the season.
Great stuff.
Now that MBB and Hockey's amazing runs in their great seasons have ended, Softball moves up to first priority for me.
Beaubien will take us to multiple World Series. The fact that she's this dominant as a freshman is scary. She's an upgrade to Megan Betsa who was 2-time B1G Pitcher of the Year.
As for the Michigan-PSU series, it is as one-sided as you will see in this sport. We lead 68-7 after tonight's win and are on a 32 game win streak against them. 13-0 all-time at Beard Field.
Do they have to wear cups?
You meant caps, yes!
Or visors.
Yeah, I was really surprised PSU left their starter in as long as they did. The announcers (students, I presume given the prestigious BTN Plus airtime) kept saying she had a long leash because she was a senior but seriously? Homegirl got shellacked for 14 runs.
Absolutely LOVE the title!!!
So, I'll admit to not closely following softball, but I'll watch some games. What is the prognosis for this team? Are they expected to be one of the best in the nation again, which has become usual?
I'd say they're on the cusp, but not quite there yet. They've won some big games & showed the ability to compete with the best, but they've also struggled to score at times. They're in great position in terms of the Big Ten, but still will be in a battle in terms of hosting an NCAA regional. I'm optimistic they can make some postseason noise, though, and they're setting up for a potentially awesome 2019 season.
You should make Softball your spring sport once Basketball/Hockey season ends.
Following and supporting all these teams makes it feel like there is only 2 months of offseason in June and July. It's great and I wish more people would see that.
They're currently ranked at #16/#17 in the polls, but 22 in RPI which is what decides post season setup. They won't host a super regional. I think they still have a shot at hosting a regional but that will require some things to happen amongst lower ranked teams.
The pitching has been great but they'll only go as far as their offense can take them. They seem to be hitting better with RISP this year (purely based on the eye test but I don't know where to find this stat) but the bats are still inconsistent against decent pitchers. The B1G is a sieve but they need to take care of business.
The only real test on their schedule going forward should be Ohio State (currently ranked #24 but truthfully I expect them to fall out of the rankings in the next few weeks). Really though, OSU doesn't seem to be very good this year. They have some bad losses and no good wins but so far no big ten team other than Michigan looks very good. Minnesota's swagger seems to have followed Sara Groenewegen out the door last year. Everything I've seen from the other conference teams tells me that Michigan should win both the regular season title and the tournament this year but the offense will need to be more consistent to get back to the World Series.
They're a very good team, but not yet elite. They have the potential to be elite in 2019 if Sarah Schaefer can settle into those flashes of greatness we've seen from her so far and the offense can be more consistent. Fortunately, down years for this team still involve a Top 25 ranking and basically guaranteed postseason play.
RoseInBlue, but don't get too optimistic. Michigan already lost to Iowa, and don't forget the loss to MSU last year in the BIG tourney. If Michigan wins both the regular season and BIG tourney titles, I will be impressed.
Well, yes. That's why I kept using the word "should". They absolutely should take the conference but as I mentioned, the offense needs to be more consistent to avoid any more bad losses (which unfortunately would be basically any in this conference).
is my Second favorite sport behind basketball..After last seasons football I stated on here that Football was dead to me and Basketball was number one..what happened Well basketball goes to the title game..Basketball has actually PRODUCED..Big 10 Titles, Final Fours, Sweet 16...I know this will pizz alot of people off but Football has produced NOTHING and until they actually do something they are dead to me..Football could learn from BBs Motto..DO MORE SAY LESS
We get it - you're a front runner.
To each, his own...
And get to the Super Regionals, and then Oklahoma City. Keep this final 4 theme alive. And psu is just horrible.