4B -April 7, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 48 -Aprl 7 201 Th Mihiga Daly micigadaiyco SOFTBALL sM' sweeps OSU Hutchins earns outfielder Nicole Sappingfield and Romero ran home later in 500th Big Ten win, the inning. The Buckeyes quickly took out Wolverines allow right-hander Olivia O'Reilly and put in Kasie Kelly to pitch, hoping only one run to salvage the inning before it was too late. By KELLY HALL But Kelly couldn't stop the Daily Sports Writer Wolverines either, and junior catcher Lauren Sweet hit a In Michigan softball grand slam to end the game in coach Carol Hutchins' 500th the bottom of the fifth for a 10-0 conference win on Sunday, junior mercy-rule victory. right- Two freshman pitchersfaced hander OHIO STATE 0 off against each other in the Sara MICHIGAN 1 back half of the double-header. Driesenga Freshman right-hander Megan led the OHIO STATE 0 Betsa and Ohio State's Shelby Wolverines MICHIGAN 10 Hursh both earned no-hitters into hot earlier this season - Betsa last water early. OHIO STATE 1 Wednesday against Detroit, In the MICHIGAN 9 and Hursh against Utah Valley first half of in February. the Wolverines' double-header The Wolverines easily against Ohio State (5-4 Big dominated the second game Ten, 17-18 overall), the junior as well, in which Betsa threw sacrificed a double to the leadoff 10 strikeouts in the following hitter. She struck out the two innings. The Buckeyes saved following batters, but ended up themselves from being shut out walking the Buckeyes' next two for the entire weekend when to load the bases. Michigan (9-0, Cammi Prantl, who reached first 29-6) escaped potential disaster base when Betsa hit her, scored when a grounder to senior first later in the inning. Betsa struck baseman Caitlin Blanchard out the next two batters to end ended the top of the firstinning. the second. That was the biggest threat the Sweetresponded to Ohio State's Wolverines faced all weekend, one-run lead by hitting a homer to eventually shutting out Ohio right center. The bats came alive State 10-0 in the first game and once more, asDoyle and freshman allowing only one run in the next second baseman Abby Ramirez game in a 9-1 win. both reached home. By MAX BULTMAN Daily Sports Writer At thestart ofthe fourth inning Sunday, the fans at Alumni Field inched forward in their chairs, almost in unison. Usually, a none-on, none-out at-bat in the middle of a game wouldn't cause astir. But this one was different. This was Sierra Romero coming to the plate. The sophomore shortstop fouled off a high fastball on the first pitch, then watched an outside pitch go past her. Ohio State's pitching had stymied the Michigan softball team the day before - it gave up just five hits and one run - and was on its way to more of the same on Sunday. The Wolverines had mustered only one hit in the first three innings. Romero, who struck out in her first at-bat of the game, was just happy that Buckeye right- hander Olivia O'Reilly was throwing her strikes. The day before, O'Reilly had walked her twice to start the game. "I get so excited when I get a strike," Romero said. "I know I'm not going to get on every time, but it's nice to get a chance to just swingthe bat." She did more - than just swing , on the 1-1 pitch. It' sfnl She crushed it into the pine a chanc trees beyond " the left-center swingt fence for her 10th home run of the season. In that one swing, the sophomore turned the game on its head, as the Wolverines poured on nine more runs in the fourth and fifth innings to earn a 10-0 mercy-rule victory. "It was just one of those things where we needed one person to hit it hard,"said senior designated player Taylor Hasselbach, who homered three batters later. Romero turns tide in series UNANAARCH^Y/Daily Sophomore shortstop Sierra Romero is batting .512, but she helps Michigan win even when she's intentionally walked. "Hitting is contagious." It was a clutch hit. It was a spark for a slumping offense. And it was exactly the type of play Michigan coach Carol Hutchins has grown accustomed to with Romero on the roster. "She's our heart and soul," ce to get Hutchins said. "I'd take a .e to just millionofher." the bat. Every time the Wolverines need a big play, Romero seems to deliver - sometimes with a big hit or deep home run, other times with something intangible. Sunday she provided the long ball. Saturday, it was the latter. In the first inning, with two outs, Romero walked. Hutchins called for Romero to steal second base, which she did, easily. Early in the game, the steal didn't seem like much. But when senior first baseman Caitlin Blanchard singled through the right side of the infield, Hutchins waved Romero around third base and toward the plate. Ohio . State right-fielder Caitlin Conrad got a good jump on the ball, fielded it cleanly and fired a laser to home plate, giving Buckeye catcher Taylor Watkins the ball with Romero still five feet down the base path. It should have been an easy tag to end the inning. But in a split second, Romero dove headfirst for the corner of the plate, beating Watkins' tag and supplying the Wolverines with their only run of the game - the only one they would need in a 1-0 victory. "(Diving) was actually a last- second decision," she said. "I thought by diving I would limit what parts of me she could actually tag." Michigan's roster, from top to bottom, is filled with talent. It has players who are heady, players who are athletic and plenty of leaders. Romero is all of the above. Her fielding is deliberate and smooth, her base running tactful and her plate presence nearly impeccable. She's batting .512 and gets on base in a jaw- dropping 64 percent of her plate appearances. There's not an easy out in the lineup, and yet Romero is fourth in the nation with 1.03 walks per game. Teams pitch around her to face Blanchard, who bats .333 and has 25 RBI. They walk Romero so they can pitch to a player who gets a hit in one-third of her at-bats. It's a ludicrous idea, yet it's the right decision every time. That's because when Romero gets a strike, more times than not, she's hitting it through the infield or over the outfielders - way over the outfielders. So when she steps to the plate, the crowd perks up. It would be silly not to. "I felt good just warming up," Driesenga "W e neE said. "That first inning, they loaded p the bases hard. up, but even during that, I is Contc had a couple of strikeouts. I just needed to come back." But Driesenga was just getting started. She collected six strikeouts over the course of the gaeinthe Wolverines' shutout. Hutchins claimssher team's hitting is contagious, and that runs always come in bunches. That proved to be true at Alumni Field in the bottom of the fourth. The game was scoreless until sophomore shortstop Sierra Romero hit a solo homer to left field. Later that inning, senior designated hitter Taylor Hasselbach hit a two-run home run and suddenly the Wolverines had the momentum they needed. "It was one of those things where we needed one person to hit it hard and we had that happen, and hitting is contagious," Hasselbach said. The next inning, Driesenga pitched a quick 1-2-3 frame for Michigan to lead into the bottom of the fifth, when things really started to pick up. Senior outfielder Lyndsay Doyle reached home plate off a sacrifice fly before senior In the bottom of eded one the sixth, the mercy rule to hit it was enacted again when H itting eight more Wolverines agious." crossed home plate. Hasselbach hit a grand slam - her third homer of the weekend - to bring in four of those runs. The senior, who became a regular starter in the past few weekshadeight RBI on Saturday. "I was just a little more aggressive today," Hasselbach said. "Usually when I succeed, I swing at the first pitch, second pitch. I was just aggressive today and it worked out in my favor." After Hasselbach struck out in each of her three at-bats Saturday, it gave her a vote of confidence when Hutchins put her in again Sunday. "Yesterday, she looked like the old Taylor," Hutchins said. "She struckout three times, not seeing the ball, not really swinging to hit it. I was really pleased to see her pull herself out of it ... She needs to know that I believe in her and she's beengettingit done forus." Michigan didn't rely on any one player to carry it to its series sweep of Ohio State. In front of its home crowd, the Wolverines relied on grandslams and pitching, outscoring the Buckeyes 20-1 over the weekend. Bats cool off, Wolverines lose twice By JASON RUBINSTEIN Daily Sports Writer With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Sunday's outcome looked promising forthe Michigan baseball team. Junior centerfielder Jackson MINNESOTA 7 Glines, the MICHIGAN 6 Wolverines'- best hitter, MINNESOTA 1 was at MICHIGAN 8 bat with the bases MINNESOTA 3 loaded. MICHIGAN 1 Down just 3-1, a lead was in sight But Glines grounded into a double play, to end the inning, leaving the Wolverines were in disbelief. Sophomore shortstop Travis Maezes stared into the dugout. Sophomore third baseman Jacob Cronenworth squatted, looking down into the turf. Freshman catcher Harrison Wenson had his hand on his hips, staring up in the sky. They all knew the opportunity was there, but nothing came of it. A day after tallying 11 hits, Michigan couldn't find enough offense on Sunday, losing to Minnesota, 3-1. Michigan (4-5 Big Ten, 14-17-1 overall) started the day's scoring when junior first baseman Kyle Jusick led off the second inning with a double to right-center field and scored on freshman left fielder Carmen Benedetti's sacrifice fly. Minnesota (5-4, 17-10) responded in odd fashion. With two outs in the third inning, junior left-hander Trent Szkutnik struck out Dan Mott, but a dropped third strike and a throwing error by Wenson left Motl in scoring position. He scored on the next play. It appeared that Wenson initially tagged Motl, as he reacted oddly to the umpires' no call on what appeared to be a routine dropped third strike. "I didn't have a great view, but I was justgoing off of (Wenson's) reaction," said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. "I think Harrison probably got him. "We've just got to learn fromit. We've got to be tough enough to where we can overcome that and not exacerbate the situation and give a two-out hit." The Golden Gophers took their momentum to the fourth inning, scoring two runs off a ground- rule double and an RBI single. Aside from Jusick's double, Michigan couldn't find any timely hitting. Minnesota forced four 1-2-3 innings and the Wolverines failed to provide any run support. Szkutnik entered the game 0-3, a meager record at face value. But it certainly isn't representative of how dominant he has pitched. With eight MLB scouts watching his outing, the junior threw six innings on Sunday, allowing just two earned runs while punching out five. "(Szkutnik) gave us a chance to win, and we didn't get it done behind him," Bakich said. Perhaps the most impressive part of Szkutnik's day was not succumbing to the pressure of scouts. "iT '-A,. -^ o w Monday's Dallas forecast: 700, WITH A ZERO-PERCENT CHANCE OF A STAUSKAS TREY 14 The Breast Cancer Summit Saturday, April 12, 2014, 10a - 3pm NEW LOCAIlON: U-M North Campus Research Complex 2800 Plymouth Rd. Building #18, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 FRE PARKING Breast cancer survivors, caregivers, and members of the general public concerned about breast cancer and risk reduction are welcome to attend. The summit is free and will feature medical experts from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. For more information, and to view the complete program, visit mcancer.org/breastsummit or call 734-998-7071. Hosted by the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center Breast Oncology and Community Outreach Programs with support from the Mid-Michig