Thirty-four.
That’s how many runs the Michigan
softball team scored in its four-game
sweep of Penn State this weekend.
Twenty-three.
The Wolverines’ previous best total
for runs in a series, recorded a little less
than a month ago against Ohio State.
The
offensive
explosion
for
Michigan was the catalyst to the four
wins it enjoyed this weekend and is
indicative of the team’s trend over the
past month.
In the first game in Saturday’s
double-header, Michigan came one
run short of their best single-game
run total of 11 in a 10-0 victory. They
followed that game up with their best
output of the season in a 12-2 victory.
Both games ended in a six-inning
mercy rule.
It wasn’t just one or two players
providing
the
offense
for
the
Wolverines — they got production out
of almost everybody on the weekend.
12 different Michigan players got
hits throughout the four-game set,
and 11 drove home at least one run.
Sophomore utility player Audrey Leclair
recorded her first collegiate hit and RBI,
showcasing the offensive depth that
was on display all weekend.
Despite the team’s overall offensive
success, some players stood above the
rest.
Senior first baseman Lou Allan was
the driving force behind the Wolverine
offense and was a constant presence in
the box score. Allan tallied two hits in
all four games, drove home nine runs
and hit her eighth home run of the year,
tying for the team lead with senior third
baseman Taylor Bump.
Bump also continued her upward-
trending offensive production over
the weekend. She tallied seven hits, six
runs, six RBI and two home runs in the
four-game set.
“I think that’s what your hope is
as a staff and as a program, that your
seniors play their best ball in their final
year. And, that’s exactly what we’re
seeing right now,” Michigan assistant
coach Bonnie Tholl said last week. “ I
think that … Taylor Bump and Lou Allan
have never been more productive in a
Michigan uniform than they have been
over the past month, and I’m super
excited for them. Because this is what
everyone hopes their senior year is like.”
It wasn’t just the seniors showing out
either. Sophomore second baseman
Julia Jimenez and junior outfielder
Lexie Blair had strong individual
showings of their own.
Jimenez secured a hit in all four
games — multiple hits in three of the
four — drove in three runs and scored
two runs herself. After only managing
one hit last weekend, Jimenez bounced
back with her strongest weekend of
the year.
Blair simply continued producing as
she has done all year. The Wolverines’
leader in batting average got four hits
and RBI, while also scoring six runs for
her team.
“We all just have one common goal,”
Blair said. “Just to be on time, play with
one heartbeat, and just focus on having
quality at bats, you can, if you’re fouling
off 8, 10, 12 pitches and you end up
striking out we still consider that quality
at bat because you made the pitcher
work, you’re seeing the ball.”
The
ease
at
which
Michigan
produced runs all weekend hasn’t been
there all season.
At the beginning of the year when
the Wolverines played their games
in Florida, they frequently struggled
to find consistent offense. To win
games, Michigan had to rely on its
stellar pitching, with final scores being
relatively low. But the Wolverines
have slowly righted the ship since
then,
finding
offense
not
only
more frequently but with a greater
consistency. That trend culminated in
their performance against the Nittany
Lions.
Michigan dominates Illinois, 19-4
EVANSTON – By the bottom of the
sixth inning, everyone in the lineup
had a hit besides senior left fielder
Danny
Zimmerman.
Zimmerman
finally joined the party, smashing a
two-run home run that extended
the Michigan baseball team’s lead to
double digits and put the game even
further out of Illinois’ reach.
In the second game of Sunday’s
doubleheader, the Wolverines (21-11)
not only beat the Illini (15-16) to secure
a 2-2 series tie — they posted one of
their most complete performances of
the year and dominated Illinois, 19-4,
in a seven-inning, run-ruled game.
Michigan coach Erik Bakich made
drastic changes to the starting lineup
from the first game. With fifth-year
catcher Griffin Mazur serving the
second game of his suspension, fifth-
year Christian Molfetta, who usually
plays third base, took his place. Junior
right-hander Willie Weiss, usually
the closer, made the first start of his
Michigan career.
“Willie’s been so good,” Bakich
said. “We wanted to try to keep them
off the scoreboard for a couple of
innings so we could try to score, but it
didn’t work out that way.”
Instead, the Illini got off to a hot
start in the top of the first against
Weiss, who struggled to throw
strikes. Weiss walked two of the first
three hitters he faced, both of whom
scored on a pair of singles later in the
inning. Illinois’ momentum would
soon disappear.
Michigan began to take advantage
of poor pitching by the Illini in
the bottom of the first, loading the
bases on two walks and a single.
Sophomore first baseman Tito Flores’
infield single scored one run and
reloaded the bases for sophomore
third baseman Ted Burton, who
cleared the table with a grand slam.
Fifth-year center fielder Christian
Bullock’s opposite-field home run
gave the Wolverines a commanding
7-2 lead after just one inning.
Weiss settled in at the top of the
second, striking out two, although he
consistently got behind in the count.
Redshirt sophomore left-hander Ben
Dragani relieved him in the third and
threw four innings of two-run ball.
“He does what he does: comes
in, gets the job done,” Bullock said.
“Good control of his change-up on
both sides of the plate, and he was
really huge for us.”
Dragani got hitters to chase his
offspeed pitches in the dirt, and the
defense handled everything put in
play, most of which was weakly hit.
In the third, fifth-year shortstop
Benjamin Sems fielded a ground ball
in the shallow outfield and threw to
first, just in time to make the out. In
the fourth, sophomore third baseman
Ted
Burton,
redshirt
sophomore
second
baseman
Jordon
Rogers
and Flores turned an inning-ending
double play.
JACK WHITTEN
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan’s upward trend culminates in an offensive explosion in
weekend sweep of Penn State
SPENCER RAINES
Daily Sports Writer
10
Thursday, May 6, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
TESS CROWLEY/Daily
Michigan’s Lou Allan was a key driving force in the team’s series sweep over Penn State.
BECCA MAHON/Daily
Michigan player Ted Burton scored a grand slam in the team’s throttling of Illinois.
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