By CHRIS CROWDER
Daily Sports Writer
Before the first pitch was
delivered, Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins
gave
junior
centerfielder
Sierra Law-
rence a fist
bump as she
stepped
up
to the plate.
The
gentle
punch was followed by a strong,
metaphoric one as the Wolverines
came out swinging from the start.
They didn’t wait around, sizing
up their opponent. The jabs came
quick and early.
On the third pitch of the ball
game, Lawrence lined the ball
just inside the right-field foul line
for a double. She came around to
score after two illegal pitches by
Pittsburgh right-hander Savan-
nah King. Junior second baseman
Sierra Romero and sophomore left
fielder Kelly Christner reached on a
hit-by-pitch and walk, respectively,
putting King’s start in jeopardy
already.
No. 3 Michigan (54-6 overall)
wouldn’t stop throwing the Pan-
thers (37-22) haymakers from
there, winning, 10-3.
Junior right fielder Kelsey Sus-
alla delivered the early knockout
punch with a three-run homer for
an early 4-0 lead. The uppercut
knocked King out of the circle,
ending her day without recording
an out.
“I don’t want to give away at-
bats,” Hutchins said. “I want them
to play hard every pitch.”
Three batters later, freshman
designated player Aidan Falk con-
tinued her hot streak, smacking a
double down the right-field foul
line to score senior catcher Lauren
Sweet to push the lead to five.
Sophomore
shortstop
Abby
Ramirez struck out to end the
inning. Nonetheless, the Wolver-
ines batted around the lineup in
the first frame, leading to a stand-
ing ovation from the crowd as they
headed back to the dugout.
Pittsburgh tried to counter with
two runners in scoring position in
the bottom of the first, but failed to
score after senior left-hander Hay-
lie Wagner earned a groundout to
get out of the
jam.
Michigan
also hurt the
Panthers
on
the defensive
side.
With
zero
down
and one on
first base in
the second inning, Wagner earned
a strikeout. Showing no hesitation
behind the plate, Sweet rifled the
ball to catch the Pittsburgh base
runner stealing.
With the bases loaded in the
third inning, Lawrence came up to
bat. And again, she delivered — this
time with a bases-clearing double,
hitting the top of the right-center-
field wall. Lawrence advanced to
third on an errant
throw
home,
as the last run
across the plate
put the game into
run-rule
terri-
tory, 8-0.
“I don’t think
I ever even real-
ized that I had
two
strikes,”
Lawrence
said.
“I’m just going up there to get a
hit.”
The Panthers’ offense came to
life in its half of the third inning.
Up to the plate with runners on
second and third, designated
player Jenna Modic hit a rocket
up the middle for
a two-RBI dou-
ble,
putting
the
score at 8-2. The
double would lead
to Wagner’s exit
from the game, as
sophomore right-
hander
Megan
Betsa took over in
the circle.
After earning a groundout,
Betsa would surrender another
run by way of an RBI single, cut-
ting the Pittsburgh deficit back to
five. The damage ended there, as
Betsa got the hitter to fly out to
centerfield to end the inning.
“(At that point) I thought we
were a little tentative,” Hutchins
said. “I just felt we were start-
ing to hold our
breath a little
bit to get to the
outcome.”
With a run-
ner
on
third
base
in
the
top of the fifth
inning, Romero
stepped up to
the plate. What
she
did
next
was inches away from another
statistic to add her name to in
the Wolverines’ record book.
She blasted a ball toward the
right-field wall. It was inches
away from a home run to give her
the Michigan individual career
record, falling just short, hitting
the top of the wall, allowing her
to leg out a RBI triple. Christner
followed with an RBI of her own,
giving the Wolverines a 10-3 lead.
Christner’s RBI was the last
run Michigan would score, as it
couldn’t muster another blow to
push the game into a run-rule
win.
Betsa delivered the final hook
by earning a strikeout to end the
game.
Sunday’s Regional Final game
was the last punch Michigan
had to throw in the first round.
There’s one more round, one
weekend, between the Wolver-
ines and a trip to the Women’s
College World Series. The road
will only get tougher from here
on out. But if Michigan continues
to hit teams hard, there’s no rea-
son that its last fight won’t be in
Oklahoma City.
“I told our kids, ‘Congratula-
tions, you’re one of 16 teams in the
country that gets to have practice
Tuesday,’ ” Hutchins said. “It’s a
great accomplishment and we’re
very excited about it. It’s one of
our goals.”
12
Thursday, May 21, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Left: Junior centerfielder Sierra Lawrence will take on her team’s home state beginning Thursday. Right: The Wolverines are allowing a nation-best average of 1.01 runs per game during their 23-game win streak.
Wolverines advance behind super play
DELANEY RYAN/Daily
“It’s a great
accomplishment
and we’re very
excited.”
The Wolverines
came out
swinging.
OAKLAND
MICHIGAN
1
9
CALIFORNIA
MICHIGAN
1
9
PITT
MICHIGAN
3
10
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan Softball
59
Runs scored in the team’s six postseason
games this season.
9
Runs allowed by Betsa and Wagner in
thatspan.
.632
Freshman designated hitter Aidan Falk’s
batting average in the postseason.
112
Home runs by the Wolverines, first in the
nation and a program record.