In Game 1 against Michigan State, the Michigan softball team and the Spartans recorded a total of 22 hits. On Sunday, they combined for just four.
The Wolverines (33-19 overall, 11-13 Big Ten) edged past Michigan State (17-34, 3-20), 3-1, to seal a series sweep. The low-scoring game was a duel in the circle, with both teams’ pitchers making it as difficult as possible for each other’s offenses.
The game started off slow, with no runs and only one hit by Michigan in the first two innings. Both defenses held strong, walking a handful of runners but stranding them on base. Multiple popups and groundouts drawn out by junior right-hander Gabby Ellis kept the Spartans from rounding the bases.
The Wolverines drew first blood in the top of the third inning thanks to sophomore right fielder Lauren Putz. With two outs, a strong hit to right-center field that should have been a triple turned into an inside-the-park home run when Michigan State’s outfielders struggled to get the ball in efficiently, committing an error in the process. After Putz slid into third base, Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl waved her toward home, and she had enough time to get up and score the Wolverines’ first run of the day.
Ellis’s potential no-hitter was spoiled solely in the third inning on a play that could have been counted as a fielding error instead, but she still prevented the Spartans from plating any runs.
“I was really consistent at hitting my corners,” Ellis said. “A couple of them leaked over, but that’s gonna happen. But, yeah, being able to hit my spots consistently is awesome.”
Ellis’s strong pitching left room for Michigan’s offense as the Wolverines added another run in the top of the fourth. After junior center fielder Jenissa Conway walked, an error by Spartans shortstop Payton Conroy — her 22nd of the season — allowed Conway to reach second before eventually rounding the bases and giving Michigan the 2-0 lead.
Through the first four innings, just three hits had been recorded, two of which were from the Wolverines. Ellis held strong in the circle, coaxing light contact that proved easy for the Michigan defense to clean up.
The same could be said for Michigan State right-hander Carsyn Cassady, who walked just three batters and allowed two hits through five innings. Both runs scored during that time were unearned, and she struck out three of the 20 batters she had faced up to that point. Forcing eight popouts and three groundouts, Cassady put up a solid performance that the Wolverines were barely able to overcome.
“Cassady, their pitcher, she does a really nice job with mixing speeds and has late break on her rise ball, so she gets mishits a lot,” Tholl said.
The Spartans found their first run in the bottom of the fifth inning off back-to-back Michigan errors. This brought the score to 2-1 with just two innings to play — a score closer than the Wolverines would like against the team sitting at last in the Big Ten.
Michigan’s infield continued to struggle towards the end of the game, loading the bases in the sixth inning before Ellis got out without allowing a run. A solo home run by freshman shortstop Kiley Carr extended the Wolverines’ lead to two, forcing Michigan State to respond in the bottom of the seventh.
And the Spartans couldn’t, landing only one runner on base and scoring none, falling 3-1.
“Gabby did exceptional in the circle,” Tholl said. “That’s what we needed today. Some days you need your offense to really pick it up and pull through, and some days you need your pitcher to really shut things down. And that’s exactly what Gabby did today.”
Pitching all seven innings, Ellis held down the fort for Michigan, giving it space to work with against a tough opposing pitcher. And with this win, the Wolverines earned their first series sweep this year and ended their regular season on a high note, placing ninth in the conference and locking down a spot in the Big Ten Tournament.
