Softball: Week 2, Another Sweep

Last week, I wrote that we'd learn a lot more about Michigan's 2024 team this week.

They played a mid-week game against Toledo, then traveled to Bloomington for a three-game series at Indiana.

They succeeded. A six-inning win over the Rockets, 12-3. Then they swept the Hoosiers, 15-6 (six innings), 7-1 and 10-1 (five innings). They're off to a 6-0 conference start (24-11 overall) and have outscored opponents, 56-13 in those six Big Ten wins. They have won ten straight games.

Shades of Wolverine teams of the past. Is it real? The Big Ten is unquestionably down this year, not that it has ever been a top conference. Indiana, though, has wins over Oregon and Louisville and for a week or so there, was the only Big Ten team collecting top-25 votes. On the other hand, the Hoosiers are now 0-6 in the league, and were swept by Penn State last weekend. Penn State has the best RPI in the league.

Indiana entered the weekend 38th in the country in team ERA (2.45), behind only Michigan (25th, 2.27) and Northwestern (16th, 1.95) in the Big Ten. They also led the Big Ten in runs per game (20th overall, 6.38). Michigan was 119th (4.44 per game).

Real, then? Hard to say, but it's not the emphatic "no" I would have answered as March began with shutout losses to Oregon State and UCLA. The young offense is seemingly improving every week. Coach Bonnie Tholl is running this team very differently now - patience with the youngsters, far less reliance on small-ball - and that seems to be paying off.

Power, you ask? Michigan hit 13 home runs this week, increasing the total this year to 34. Keke Tholl, Maddie Erickson and Jenissa Conway each hit three. Lilly Vallimont added two. For the year, Erickson and Conway have eight, Tholl 7 and Vallimont 4. Erickson and Conway each improved their OPS this year to over 1.000. Tholl has added about .200 to hers (now .840 on the year) in the last two weeks. Ellie Sieler has stopped bunting, moved to the leadoff spot, and is up to .948 OPS with three home runs. Ava Costales has taken over at designated player and is at .958 in limited play.

To put this in perspective, with 35 of the scheduled 54 games played, the 34 home runs this season exceeds last year's total of 25 (11 by team leader Tholl). The previous six years - 36, 40, 9 (Covid), 56, 44, 54. They had 86 in Sierra Romero's last season (2016). No player has hit more than 12 in a year since Romero in 2016 and the team has not had more than two players reach double-digits in a season since 2016.

It's just a month of better hitting and the new approach, but it's been a very good month. This isn't about just the long-ball - after the two shutouts on March 1, they were averaging 3.00 runs per game. They have averaged 7.44 since.

This week, they remain on the road, traveling to Notre Dame for a single game on Wednesday and then three at Northwestern over the weekend. Another test, as Northwestern was the league's best team last year and was expected to be ranked this year. The Wildcats got off to a slow start, but are now getting top-25 votes. They are 5-1 in the league, losing for the first time today.