12

Thursday, May 24, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

The end of the road

Call it a collapse.
Maybe that’s what it was. Losing 
four out of your last five games — the 
fifth by squandering a one-run lead in 
the sixth inning of an elimination con-
test — certainly qualifies.
But maybe the end for the Michi-
gan softball team was less of a collapse 
and more of an inevitability, a train 
barreling out of control with noth-
ing to stop it until its unceremonious 
crash. Maybe this was where the sea-
son was destined to head. Maybe the 
issues that plagued the Wolverines 
were always there and just hiding in 
the periphery.
In NCAA Regionals, it was Notre 
Dame’s Alexis Holloway who outdu-
eled freshman left-hander Meghan 
Beaubien twice — holding Michigan 
to two runs on seven hits across the 
two games. That’s a tough spot for any 
ace.
Maybe it isn’t such a shock. Hollo-
way, Michigan State pitcher Kristina 
Zalewski and Ohio State pitcher Shel-
by McCombs all beat the Wolverines 
down the stretch. All have something 
in common: a devastating changeup. 
Each time, Michigan could do nothing 
with it. It was a weakness the Fighting 
Irish were happy to exploit.
And when the hits don’t fall in, 
it’s easy to get in your head, to press, 
to have your courage dissipate until 
there’s nothing left except a mark in 
the loss column. For the Wolverines, 
it’s been a common theme.
“They’ve spent a lot of time worry-
ing about all the worst things that can 
happen, and I think that makes bad 
things happen,” said Michigan coach 
Carol Hutchins after Friday’s defeat. 
“ … We were a little paralyzed by our 
fear.”
Anyone would be if they weren’t 
used to losing. And the Wolverines’ 
real problem wasn’t that they had 
weaknesses — every team does — but 
that winning concealed the cracks in 
the foundation.
During conference play, Michi-
gan feasted on Big Ten pitching, a 
crop that was mediocre at best and 
outright terrible at worst. Even then, 
there was some vulnerability. In one 
game against Penn State, the Wolver-
ines failed to score until the seventh 
because the changeup kept them off-
balance. And the Big Ten Tournament 
wasn’t their first look at Zalewski — 
the first time, she also gave the bats 
trouble in an eventual 1-0 Michigan 

win. But even if the Wolverines knew 
of their flaw, most opposing pitchers 
lacked a consistent changeup, giv-
ing them little opportunity to adjust 
before that pitfall was exposed on the 
biggest stage.
And throughout the season, the 
refrains were there, the signs that 
Michigan’s struggles had never really 
gone away.
“I think the biggest thing that was 
getting us was her changeup,” said 
freshman designated player Lou Allan 
after the series against the Nittany 
Lions last month.
Junior center fielder Natalie Peters 
expressed the same after Friday’s 
game when Holloway’s changeup 
generated nothing but weak contact.
“They try too hard,” Hutchins said 
after the Texas Invitational in Feb-
ruary — a tournament that included 
losses to Virginia Tech and Texas. “ 
… They’re making hitting more than 
it is.”
Following an April defeat to Indi-
ana — in which the Wolverines 
struggled to come through in clutch 
situations and left 11 runners on base 
— her sentiments were remarkably 
similar.
“(In our losses) we were not confi-
dent,” Hutchins said after the Texas 
Invitational. “We had too many dis-
tractions in our head.”
And again in the postseason, 
Michigan fell victim to a lack of trust 
in itself.
The signs were easy to ignore as the 
Wolverines tore through the confer-
ence, but looking back, they were there 
all along. They were there in Michi-
gan’s early-season struggles, there 
against the Spartans and Penn State, 
there in narrow late-season escapes 
against the Buckeyes and Hoosiers.
And ultimately, they were weak-
nesses that other teams picked up on. 
The Big Ten Tournament was the first 
domino and from there, it only cas-
caded. It showed in the hitters, frozen 
as another changeup whizzed by. It 
showed in the defense, so rushed to 
make plays that it made uncharacter-
istic errors. It showed in the way Notre 
Dame looked like a more poised and 
prepared team every step of the way.
Maybe it was a collapse. It was cer-
tainly a fall from grace.
But more than that, it was a simple 
realization that maybe, just maybe, 
this team wasn’t as good as it seemed.
Gerson can be reached at amger-
son@umich.edu or on Twitter @
cyan_sunshine.

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

‘M’ loses in Regionals

The Wolverines’ season culminated 
in a pitchers’ duel.
Coming off of a 6-0 victory against 
Illinois-Chicago, it seemed as though 
the Michigan softball team’s bats 
had finally come alive after scoring a 
total of two runs over their previous 
three games. Senior utility player Tera 
Blanco hit her first home run in over a 
month and drove in her first runs since 
April 22 against Maryland. JAnd fresh-
man left-hander Meghan Beaubien 
nearly tossed a no-hitter, surrendering 
her first hit in the final inning against 
the Flames. Even the two errors com-
mitted by the Wolverine defense were 
covered up by the pitching and offense. 
 
However, nothing that came easy 
against Illinois-Chicago came easy 
against Notre Dame. This time, there 
was no room for error.
On Sunday afternoon, Michigan 
took on the Fighting Irish for the sec-
ond time at the Lexington Regional. 
The two teams squared off in the open-
ing game of the Regional which saw 
Notre Dame defeat the Wolverines 4-1. 
Unlike before, however, both teams 
were playing for their postseason lives 
— having already used up their leeway 
for losing.
Right-hander Alex Holloway—who 
gave Michigan trouble on Friday— 
took the circle again against Beaubien. 
The two freshman pitchers battled, 
keeping the game scoreless through 
five innings—thanks in-part to the 
stingy defensive play of both teams.
In the top of the second, sopho-
more outfielder Haley Hoogenraad 
launched a ball deep to left field. Rang-
ing back towards the warning track, 
Ally Wester reached up at the wall and 
made the catch as she robbed Hoogen-
raad of a home run to keep the game 
scoreless.
In the bottom half of the inning, 
third baseman Melissa Rochford led 
off and drilled a ground ball between 
Blanco at first base and second base-
man Faith Canfield. Canfield ranged 
to her left and laid out to make a diving 
stop, throwing out Rochford from her 
knees.
The two teams struggled offensive-
ly through five innings –– threatening 
but never scoring.
The Wolverines finally broke the 
scoreless tie in the sixth inning, start-
ing with a one-out walk. A single to 
right field by sophomore third base-
man Madison Uden advanced Can-
field to third base. She crossed home 
plate on a sacrifice fly from freshman 
designated player Lou Allan.

Their first lead against Notre Dame 
in the Regionals didn’t last long.
The Fighting Irish led off the bot-
tom half of the inning with a double. 
Then Michigan’s defense, which had 
been shaky in recent weeks, continued 
its struggles. A pop fly from shortstop 
Morgan Reed was hit to shallow left 
field behind freshman shortstop Nata-
lia Rodriguez. Rodriguez ranged back-
wards and Hoogenraad and junior 
outfielder Natalie Peters sprinted 
forward, converging in no-man’s land 
where a lack of communication result-
ed in the ball dropping between the 
three players. There were now runners 
on second and third with no outs.
“Defense has been our strength 
all year,” said Michigan coach Carol 
Hutchins, “and I don’t know where it 
went. I guess I’ll spend some time try-
ing to figure it out. We’ve done a lot of 
great things this year, but these last 
couple of weeks has not been our best 
ball.”
A sacrifice fly drove in the first run 
to tie the game, 1-1. And a single by 
Rochford gave the Fighting Irish a 2-1 
lead.
Just as quickly as the Wolverines 
took the lead, they saw it slip away.
They escaped the inning, though, 
keeping the deficit to one run— but 
they now needed to score a run to keep 
their postseason alive.
Senior right fielder Aidan Falk led 
off the seventh inning with a double to 
left field in what was her final at bat for 
Michigan. Senior utility player Nikki 
Wald was called out of the box on a sac-
rifice bunt attempt, and Peters flew out 
to the shortstop in foul territory. With 
their backs against the wall, one out 
away from going home, Blanco stepped 
up to the plate.
For the Wolverines, you couldn’t ask 
for anyone else at the plate with the sea-
son on the line –– the star dual-threat 
senior who has come up with several 
big hits in her career. But Blanco fouled 
off several pitches, getting herself in a 
1-2 count, before watching strike three 
catch the outside edge of the plate and 
the season come to a close.
For the second straight year and the 
third time since 2004, the Wolverines 
did not advance past Regionals.
This time they are losing a pair of 
starting seniors in Blanco and Falk.
“I think it was a tough way to go 
out,” said Uden. “I am extremely grate-
ful for the senior class that we had. 
They contributed a lot to turn the pro-
gram around, from losing a couple key 
players – they stepped it up. You know, 
that’s all you can be thankful for, you 
know, to be here and play for the Big 
Blue and the people around you.”

JORGE CAZARES
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN / DAILY

COLUMN

