Softball: Spoiling Hawkeye Dreams, Again and Again and Again

The Wolverines had a busy week, five games on the schedule. The good news - it was against the bottom of the Big Ten and the MAC. They swept all five. The interesting news - Iowa came pretty close to sweeping their three games in Ann Arbor. Michigan came back from multi-run deficits in the late innings three times.

I can't remember exactly how many games the Wolverines have won in this manner this season, but added up I'm sure it's more than the last several seasons combined. The offense has a way of saving its best for last - more like a movie script than reality.

Tuesday: Michigan 11, Michigan State (RPI - 108) 5

The week opened with the first of the split series against in-state rival Michigan State. The Big Ten schedule is unusual in that almost every matchup is a three-game weekend series. But everyone has a "permanent" two-game midweek series against a designated rival that's played mid-week. So the Spartans are seen every year, but for two games rather than three, with one game in Ann Arbor and one game in East Lansing (Tuesday's).

Keke Tholl tied a Michigan record with three home runs in this game, opening the scoring in a four-run second, extending the lead to 8-2 in the fifth, then upping the margin to 11-2 in the sixth. The Spartans picked up three runs in the bottom of the sixth to avoid the mercy kill. Ellie Sieler chipped in three hits, including a home run, and freshman Ella Stephenson had two doubles and a single.

All four Michigan pitchers saw action, Lauren Derkowski continuing a difficult stretch - allowing seven basrunners, but only one run in three innings. Jessica LeBeau relieved, walking two and hitting a third without recording an out. Her control problems have dropped her to fourth in the pecking order. Erin Hoehn allowed another eight baserunners in three innings, but she kept the Spartans from getting back into the game when LeBeau loaded the bases. Hannah George finished with a one-two-three seventh.

All told, Michigan State won the baserunner battle, 18-17, but were never much of a threat to win the game, stranding a remarkable 12 runners on base. Concerning, because the Spartans come into this weekend last in the Big Ten with 3.57 runs per game (213th of 296 Division I schools).

Wednesday: Michigan 5, Central Michigan (RPI - 229) 0

Next up were the fired-up Chips, featuring Michigan catcher Lilly Vallimont's sister, Michaleigh. I suppose it's fair to ask if their parents considered spelling Lilly's name Lilleigh, or why not, and, as mid-weekers against weaker MAC teams go, that's about as spell-binding as the conversation gets. A routine win, with Hoehn and Derkowski combining to strike out ten, allowing seven baserunners. The down-side was not putting the game out of reach in the first, with three walks and three hits leading to only two runs. That was half the Wolverine hit total.

Saturday (Game 1): Michigan 8, Iowa (RPI - 122) 6

We'll call this one the Hannah George Game.

If we look at improvement from last year to this year, here's a game that quite clearly the Wolverines would have lost last year. But they rallied late and stole this one.

The teams were playing a double-header Saturday because Friday's weather was, well, typical of spring in Ann Arbor going back to before Ann (wife of one of the city's founders) spotted the first grove of trees lining pretty much every patch of asphalt between Briarwood and the Bio labs on North Campus. As coach Bonnie Tholl probably remembers from her playing days, they used to tough these ones out anyway. But back then, there were just a couple of sets of risers for fans, who on days like Friday consisted solely of families, really, really good friends, and a couple of refugees from the sports information department huddled in the hut behind home plate to run the PA system and the scoreboard.

Marketing has since intervened, and Saturday's game/games were labeled "Bark in the Park". I assume your ticket would also grant admission to your pet dog, though probably not a nice sun spot in the outfield and most assuredly Michigan's clean-up hitter (Bonnie's niece, Keke) would not actually provide clean-up.

Saturday's opener didn't open well. Derkowski started and exited after 17 pitches and four hits. That's where George came in. She transfered from North Carolina to Michigan last season as a grad student with two years of eligibility remaining. She threw 7 1/3 innings last year in six appearances, all in mop-up. This spring started out that way, but she has persevered, and with LeBeau's control battles, has gradually moved up to first reliever in.

George threw a Michigan career-high 100 piches, lasting 6 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and no walks, striking out four. After Iowa struck for four first-inning runs and upped the lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning, this looked like far too many of last year's games. Iowa is just ahead of Michigan State for 13th in the Big Ten in offense, but they have some solid pitchers, and are second in the Big Ten with a 2.43 team ERA. Largely due to starer Jalen Adams, who was looking strong until the bottom of the fourth.

That's when freshman Ava Costales, who took over designated player duty a few weeks ago, hit a long home run. One back. In the bottom of the fifth, the Wolverines batted around the order and then some. They loaded the bases and Stephenson unloaded them with a double. Then Costales hit another home run to give Michigan the lead. Two more runs scored in the inning. Hoehn came in to finish when George allowed a run in the top of the seventh.

Saturday (Game 2): Michigan 9, Iowa 8 (8 innings)

Iowa did the barking Saturday, but Michigan had the bite.

Hoehn got the start, but gave up two runs in the first and two more baserunners in the second before Derkowski took over. Derkowski almost got out of it, but a two run single upped the lead to 4-0. The Hawkeyes kept pecking away, building the lead to 8-1 in the fifth as the Wolverine defense did Derkowski no favors.

Would there be another magic comeback? The Wolverines scratched back with two in the fifth (another Tholl home run) and three in the sixth, bringing Adams into the game to try and preserve the upset. Adams appeared tired, though, as Costales and Sieler worked the count full and earned walks in long at bats. Indiana Langford drove in a run after fouling off a couple of 2-2 pitches, Maddie Erickson sent the game to extras with a sacrifice fly.

The Wolverines won it in the eighth. With two out, Madi Ramey came to the plate for Costales, who had been replaced twice with pinch runners and couldn't re-enter the game a second time. The Michigan bench was empty - LeBeau was playing second base by that time. Ramey, you ask? I'm not sure I've ever mentioned her name in a post before. A sophomore from Allen Park who is generally a pinch runner and had 15 career at bats, two singles and six strikeouts over 54 game appearances in two years. Two outs. A 2-2 count. No problem - she sent the next pitch over the center-field fence to end the game.

Derkowski fared a lot better than she has recently, throwing seven innings and allowing nine baserunners with six strikeouts.

Two games Saturday. Two massive come-from-behind wins against an OK pitching staff. That simply would not have happened last year. The problem was giving up those big leads to a very weak-hitting team in the first place.

Sunday: Michigan 6, Iowa 5

Yeah, it happened again.

The third game started out more like you'd expect with two of the top three pitching staffs in the Big Ten. Derkowski set down the first nine in order and each team found a way to push across a run. It was 1-1 after five.

The Hawkeyes struck in the sixth inning, taking a 3-1 lead on some infield hits and some hit batters. The ball never left the infield, but Iowa scored two, with just six outs left for the Wolverines. You know what's coming.

Tholl led off the bottom of the sixth with her 12th home run of the season, fifth of the week. The Hawkeyes had been staying away from her, because she is hitting like an All-America candidate lately. They walked her eight times this weekend - 44% of her season total. But when they didn't walk her, she made them wish they had. With one out and two on base, Costales hit her third home run of the week. Adams returned to the circle to keep the game close.

A new twist, though. With a 5-3 lead in the seventh, maybe you breathe a bit easier. But Derkowski threw seven innings yesterday, has appeared in six straight games, and was wearing down. With her pitch count closing in on 100 today, she walked the leadoff hitter. With one out, she faced Jena Young, who had three of Iowa's four home runs this season (yes, the Hawkeyes are not a powerful bunch, or perhaps they mostly play in stadiums with 400-foot walls). Young hit her fourth and the game was tied. After another walk, George came in and got them out of the inning.

The bottom of the seventh didn't go as well for Adams, who had to be as tired as Derkowski. Tholl led off with a single, then Jenissa Conway drew a walk with one out. Stephenson loaded the bases on a fielder's choice and Costales poked a single through the left side as Michigan walked off with the sweep. George picked up the win in relief, second of the weekend and second of her career at Michigan.

Summary:

It's great to see these last-minute heroics. The offense improves weekly. They pounded Iowa for 23 runs in three games - and that's a real achievement. Adams was fourth in the Big Ten in ERA going into the series and they had their way with her, particularly with the game on the line.

Tholl is absolutely terrorizing opponents right now, and Costales isn't far behind, with five home runs in only 49 at bats this season along with a good eye (on-base percentage of .433). Moving Sieler to leadoff has turned her into an all-conference level player as well.

Michigan now has 45 home runs this season, the most since they hit 56 in 2020, with ten games remaining before the conference tournament (assuming the Notre Dame game is not rescheduled). Tholl's 12 tie for the most from a Michigan hitter since Sierra Romero was a senior.

The Wolverines are 29-14 overall, 10-3 in the Big Ten and sitting in third place. Last year, they were 26-25, 10-13. No illusions that they'll make the NCAAs without winning the league tournament as they were sitting at 57th in RPI entering the weekend, but they are an improved team.

Concerning, though, is Derkowki's performance. She has struggled the last two weeks, allowing 57 baserunners in 28 innings with a 5.00 ERA. She had entered this weekend third in the Big Ten in season ERA (1.99). She's being asked to do too much. George was the hero in relief this weekend, which is a terrific reward for someone who has given the program two years, but the reality is that the team lives or dies with Derkowski, and they can't get through the conference tournament without her at her best.

Next up: the second Michigan State game, this one in Ann Arbor, on Tuesday. Nebraska visits this weekend. The Huskers can hit, but their pitching is suspect with the oft-mentioned Jordy Bahl sidelined since the season opener. Keep a watch on senior Billie Andrews, one of the top hitters in the country.