When UCLA outfielder Jessica Clements blasted a ball into left field on the second-seeded Bruins’ first at-bat of the Big Ten Championship game against No. 8 seed Michigan, Wolverines senior left fielder Ellie Sieler was ready for it. Keeping her eyes on the ball above her, Sieler made the run into the foul zone, snagging the ball as it dropped into the dugout and fouling out UCLA’s leadoff hitter.
“When you have a dependable fielder, a four-year starter in left field, you expect that she’s going to make those plays,” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said.
And those plays have been what has made Sieler a key cog in the Wolverines’ machine all season long. The four-year starter and captain has provided Michigan with a steady, reliable presence all year, both at the plate and in the outfield — and the Wolverines will be counting on her to do more of the same in the NCAA Tournament and beyond.
At the plate, Sieler isn’t necessarily a source of fireworks. Her tally of four home runs, while respectable, is only the seventh-highest on the team.
However, the biggest strength in her at-bats comes in her quiet dependability. In four games started for the Wolverines at the Big Ten Tournament, she did not strike out once. Her .319 batting average and .420 on-base percentage both rank among the top five for Michigan on the year, reflective of her dependability in terms of making contact and getting to base.
In a role similar to that of junior second baseman Indiana Langford, Sieler functions as an auxiliary leadoff hitter for the Wolverines. She’s not a highlight-reel batter in the vein of sophomore center fielder Jenissa Conway or freshman designated player Lauren Putz, but her ability to regularly hit the ball, get to base and avoid striking out is a key part of what makes Michigan’s offense tick.
“I’m not sure she had any strikeouts in the past two or three weeks,” Tholl said. “She just gives us a hard nose at-bat. You know she’s going to compete, and you know she’s going to make something happen offensively. And we don’t need her to hit the ball over the fence, we just need her on-base percentage.”
But where Sieler’s sturdy presence for the Wolverines can be most easily observed is out in left field. There, she’s committed just a single error all year. Though not the fastest player, her aptitude for reading and tracking a ball allows her to make the simple catches that are crucial to Michigan turning opposing lineups over — and sometimes, it brings about the more spectacular ones, as her grab in the Big Ten Championship demonstrated.
“Our pitchers gain confidence from knowing that they have a team behind them that will make the plays and keep momentum on our side,” Tholl said. “That’s exactly what Ellie Sieler has done throughout her entire career. She’s made some really beautiful-looking catches. She’s communicated well with our center fielder. She’s just a really good upper-class presence out there.”
In addition to her on-field skillset, Sieler brings buckets of experience to the Wolverines’ lineup. She’s been a starter in left field all four years of her Michigan career, and this year, has served as captain alongside fellow seniors shortstop Ella McVey and right-hander Lauren Derkowski. Throughout her tenure as a Wolverine, she’s been a driving force for Michigan, and building on that experience has enabled her to improve her game year in and year out, culminating in an All-Big Ten first-team nod in 2024.
Throughout her four years, Sieler hasn’t been a home-run hitter like Conway, or a speedster around the bases like Langford. But that doesn’t nullify what she’s meant, and continues to mean, to the Wolverines. In her quiet but reliable presence at the plate and intelligence in the outfield, her game provides a sense of steady simplicity that has anchored Michigan all season and will continue to do so in the postseason, even when her contributions don’t jump right off the stats sheet.
