Following its first sweep of the year against Michigan State, the Michigan softball team is set to play a familiar opponent in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.
With a 11-13 record, the Wolverines secured the ninth seed and will face rival Ohio State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Having won the series against the Buckeyes earlier this year, Michigan enters the matchup with the necessary tools to subdue Ohio State. But in single-elimination format, the Buckeyes’ red-hot form and power at the plate may pose problems for the Wolverines.
After a regular season full of ups and downs for Michigan, its regular season ended on a positive note — comfortably dispatching the Spartans. While the offense stalled at times, the Wolverines utilized oppressive pitching to limit Michigan State to just three runs in three days.
“Our kids are in a good space,” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said Friday. “They’re willing to compete, they understand the significance of the games that we play moving forward. And I want them feeling good about what they’re doing and welcome the opportunity to have games on the line.”
In their regular season matchup, the Wolverines were able to narrowly defeat the Buckeyes 2-1 in the series. The rivals traded run-rule victories, as Michigan took Game 2 11-1, while Ohio State won 13-2 in Game 3. In Game 1, both teams traded blow after blow — culminating in a 8-7 lead for the Buckeyes in the seventh inning. However, junior center fielder Jenissa Conway unleashed a walk-off no-doubter over the bleachers to snatch a 10-8 victory over Ohio State.
But while Conway was able to steal victory before, the Wolverines will need to play at their highest level if they want to move on in the tournament.
The eighth-seeded Buckeyes come into the matchup playing their best ball. In its last two series, Ohio State overcame No. 25 Washington while also taking a single shutout 3-0 win over Oregon despite losing the series. The Buckeyes’ leaned on their explosive offense all season, and continue to show just how dangerous their batters can be. The numbers back it up, as Ohio State have crushed 119 home runs this season along with posting a .308 team batting average.
“(The Buckeyes are) a team that hits 30 more home runs than we do, so we know they’re a prolific extra-base hitting team,” Tholl said April 10. “They hit the ball over the fence, so we expected them to throw punches. The message was to throw a punch back.”
Junior right-hander Gabby Ellis was able to completely nullify Michigan State’s lineup. However, against a lineup as powerful as the Ohio State, the Wolverines’ circle may have their hands full.
This conundrum was on full display in Game 3 of the regular season series, as the Buckeyes ran rampant against Michigan’s struggling bullpen. The Wolverines cycled through four pitchers — Ellis, freshman right-hander Grayson LaMarche, junior two-way player Erin Hoehn and sophomore right-hander Kat Meyers — and still were unable to find an answer for the Ohio State power. Facing the likes of Ohio State shortstop Abbie Wilhelm,who went 3-for-4 with three home runs in her last outing against Michigan, and right fielder Hadley Parisien, the Wolverines’ defense will need to remain steadfast to circumvent Ohio State’s robust slugging.
The Buckeyes provide the Wolverines with the perfect test. If Michigan intends to make a deep run in the Big Ten Tournament and compete for its third consecutive Big Ten Tournament championship, it will need to overcome a formidable opponent first.
