The Michigan softball team’s 33rd win of the season was far from its prettiest. It was Michigan State’s own blunders that allowed the Wolverines to clinch their first Big Ten series sweep.
“It’s not my favorite type of game,” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said. “But we made some plays when we needed to.”
The first key error of the game belonged to the Spartans in the top of the third. As sophomore right fielder Lauren Putz stepped to the plate, Michigan State looked to prevent the star slugger from doing what she has done all season — hit home runs. As Putz lined a base hit through the gap, it seemed that the Spartans had limited her to “just” a triple.
But as the ball continued to trickle through, it eventually got stuck in the outfield wall. Trying to pry it out, Michigan State right fielder Kendall Smiley fumbled the ball as Putz already rounded towards third. With her baserunning ability, Putz easily capitalized on the error to put the Wolverines on the board first.
“(Putz) spends a lot of time on the ball field watching the game and studying the game,” Tholl said. “She recognizes that we’re going to run until the defense stops us.”
That mindset remained apparent the very next inning with Michigan holding a 1-0 lead. With junior center fielder Jenissa Conway leading off, the Wolverines knew the havoc she could wreak getting on base. And she did just that.
After drawing a leadoff walk, Conway forced the second Spartans error of the game, hustling on an infield grounder and forcing an errant throw to get her out at second base. By virtue of the error, Conway advanced to third and put herself 60 feet away from extending the lead. With her speed, a routine fly out from senior first baseman Madi Ramey was enough to get Michigan its second run.
“(Conway and Putz are) so effective, not just because of their pure speed, but because their first three steps out of the box are harder than anyone I’ve seen on our team,” Tholl said.
Thanks to errors, the Wolverines were able to build a commanding 2-0 lead. And yet it was similar mistakes that nearly lost their advantage.
Following four innings of comfortable defense, Michigan unraveled in the fifth. A leadoff walk from Michigan State third baseman Natalia Kenyatta put pressure on a typically solid Wolverines infield, leading to back-to-back errors from seniors in shortstop Avery Fantucci and third baseman Maddie Erickson. Kenyatta managed to reach home and cut the deficit to 2-1, but if not for more inopportune hitting that followed, these errors could have been more costly.
This exact trend was repeated the very next inning. Another phase of consecutive errors from Fantucci and Erickson put the tying run on second and nobody out. But despite four Michigan errors in two innings, strong pitching from right-hander Gabby Ellis allowed the Spartans to cash in only one run. Meanwhile, both of Michigan State’s errors directly contributed to two Wolverines’ runs.
“A few more plays would have kept the score at zero, but it’s just kind of how the ball bounces,” Tholl said. “We’re a good fielding team.”
Although Michigan was more error prone on the day, the Spartans’ bad bounces proved more costly, leading to a Wolverines victory.
