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Thursday, May 13, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

A battle between the top two 

teams in the Big Ten conference 
ensued over the weekend, with 
No. 23 Minnesota (26-10 Big 
Ten) playing host to the No. 19 
Michigan softball team (32-6) in a 
four-game series. 

With the Golden Gophers only 

four games behind the top spot 
entering the series, the stakes 
were high, but the Wolverines 
prevailed. They clinched the Big 
Ten regular season championship 
by winning the first three games 
of the series, before dropping the 
finale on Sunday. 

“I think (winning the Big 

Ten championship) is a great 
accomplishment by this group,” 
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins 
said. “It’s a great accomplishment 
in a season that was difficult.”

Senior first baseman Lou Allan 

opened the series with a bang on 
Friday night. She clobbered an 
inside pitch from Minnesota’s 
Amber Fiser in the top of the first 
inning, redirecting it high over 
the left-centerfield fence for a 
solo home run to give Michigan a 
lead it would not relinquish, going 
on to win 3-0. 

“As soon as she hit that we 

were like, ‘man this is going to 
be a great start to everything,’” 
sophomore second baseman Julia 
Jimenez said. “We just wanted to 
attack right after that … so it gave 
us a good start.”

Despite the early miscue, Fiser 

held her own throughout the tilt. 
She allowed only four hits in the 
complete game performance, but 
each mistake she made proved 
costly. 
With 
the 
combined 

performance of the Wolverines’ 
co-aces, who pitched a 14 strikeout 
shutout, the three runs were more 
than enough. 

Senior 
left-hander 
Meghan 

Beaubien, who saw action in each 
game of the series, started the 
game and commanded the circle 
early. After allowing a leadoff 
single in the bottom of the sixth, 
junior right-hander Alex Storako 
came in for relief. She struck out 
all six batters faced, securing 
the opening game victory for 
Michigan. 

The series shifted to a double 

header on Saturday, where the 
Wolverines took care of business, 
winning the first game 10-4, and 
the second 3-1. 

A two run home run to right field 

by Jimenez put the Wolverines up 
3-0 in the top of the third inning 
in the day’s opening game, and a 
two RBI single up the middle by 

Allan gave Michigan a sizable 5-0 
advantage in the fourth.

In the top of the sixth, freshman 

catcher Keke Tholl recorded the 
first RBIs of her career, pinch 
hitting with the bases loaded, and 
dropping a single into right field 
to score two. 

The Wolverines led 10-0 when 

Minnesota responded offensively 
in the bottom of the sixth. Storako 
— who posted nine strikeouts 
in her five innings— and senior 
right-hander Sarah Schaefer saw 
four runs (two earned) come 
across in the frame, leaving 
Beaubien to close the door in the 

seventh. 

Saturday’s second game was a 

pitcher’s duel between Beaubien 
and the Golden Gophers’ stud 
right-hander Autumn Pease. 

Although 
Minnesota 
struck 

first, jumping to a 1-0 lead in the 
second inning, Beaubien went 
the rest of the game unscathed. 
The Michigan offense slowly got 
to Pease, and a sacrifice fly from 
Blair in the sixth proved to be the 
winning run in the conference 
title clinching affair. 

The Wolverines, though, were 

unable to carry their momentum 
into the series closer on Sunday. 

They fell 7-3 in a wire-to-wire 
defeat — losing their 11-game win 
streak in the process. 

After an Allan double put 

Michigan up 1-0 in the top of the 
first, Minnesota took control, 
handing Storako her worst outing 
of the season. After allowing four 
total home runs all season prior 
to the game, the Gophers blasted 
three home runs off the right-
hander in the first two innings to 
go up 4-1. 

Storako 
then 
hit 
Natalie 

Denhartog with the first pitch 
of the top of the third, and 
walked Katelyn Kemmetmueller 
the very next at-bat, ending 
her uninspiring day. She went 
two plus innings, allowing five 
earned runs in her third loss of 
the season. By the game’s end, 
Minnesota would end up plating 
seven runs, and the Wolverines 
were unable to rally. 

Despite the lackluster final 

game, Michigan managed to win a 
key road series against the Golden 
Gophers 
to 
secure 
its 
third 

straight conference title. 

“The goal is to be able to 

compete and win against the 
quality 
opponents,” 
Hutchins 

said. “It’s what we’re trained to 
do, and we executed it three out 
of four … so (it feels) pretty good, 
pretty darn good.”

Frontline starters showcase potential against MSU

Redshirt 
sophomore 
left-

hander Steven Hajjar hopped 
out of the dugout to congratulate 
sophomore 
right-hander 
Cam 

Weston as Weston strolled off 
the field against Michigan State. 
The pair allowed just two hits 
between them as they dominated 
the Spartan hitters and led the 
Wolverines to 5-1 and 3-1 victories, 
respectively.

Hajjar has gotten much of 

the plaudits this season, but he 
put together his best outing of 
the season on Friday with six 
scoreless innings. Hajjar racked 
up a whopping 13 strikeouts, 
allowing just one hit and one walk.

a lot of strong arms,” Weston 

said. “We just have trust in 
our guys to put up zeros when 
it matters, to have shut-down 
innings, getting a lot of strikeouts, 

things like that.”

Yet his performance was one-

upped 
by 
his 
rotation-mate, 

Weston. Weston threw a complete 
game, allowing just one hit while 
striking out nine. He was dominant 
for large parts, including a stretch 
where he retired 20 consecutive 
batters.

“He throws hard,” Michigan 

coach Erik Bakich said. “He has 
good stuff and he usually is a guy 
that gets strike one and strike two 
very quickly. He’s one of the best 
pitchers in not just the conference 
but the country, so we’re very glad 
he’s on our team.”

Weston has had several strong 

outings earlier this year, including 
a three-game stretch in which he 
tossed 18.2 scoreless innings in a 
row. Weston now has a 2.93 ERA 
over 61.1 innings. Hajjar has been 
consistent as well, sporting a 2.88 
ERA and a 3-0 record over 56.1 
innings.

While 
Michigan 
dropped 

the final game of the series 
to Michigan State, 10-2, the 
performance 
of 
its 
top 
two 

pitchers was very encouraging.

“Hajjar’s 
just 
been 
very 

consistent, Weston’s been pretty 
consistent,” Bakich said. “Using 
those other three guys in Jacob 
Denner and Ben Dragani and Blake 
Beers, we’ve mixed and matched 
after (Hajjar and Weston).”

In 
the 
NCAA 
tournament, 

the first two starters are vital. If 
the Wolverines can stay in the 
winner’s bracket in the regional 
round, a 2-0 start in the double 
elimination format would force 
opponents into a tough spot. In 
the 2019 tournament, 12 of the 16 
regional champions started 2-0 — 
including Michigan.

“We know that Hajjar and 

Weston will go game one and game 
two,” Bakich said. “We’ll have to 
figure out, based on the numbers 
and the data and information that 
we have, who’s going to be the best 

third starter and who’s going to be 
best coming out of the bullpen.”

Those first two games — and the 

first two starters in those games 
— will prove vital, particularly as 
the Wolverines will likely face a 
higher-seeded team in the second 

round, based on current rankings 
and projections; Baseball America 
currently projects Michigan to 
be a two seed in the South Bend 
regional.

 STEEL HURLEY
Daily Sports Writer

Michigan wins three of four at Minnesota, clinching Big Ten title

PAUL NASR

Daily Sports Writer

TESS CROWLEY/Daily

Lou Allan was an offensive catalyst for the Wolverines in the series against 
Minnesota.

GRACE BEAL/Daily

Cameron Weston is one of Michigan’s aces who gives it a chance to win in the 
postseason.

Read more at michigandaily.com

