NORMAN, OK — In the bottom of the second inning, junior two-way player Erin Hoehn rocked a shot to left center field, sending the ball over the outfield wall and notching the Michigan softball team’s second hit of the game.
Unfortunately for the Wolverines, it would be their second-to-last.
On Sunday, Michigan had a chance to advance to its first NCAA Super Regional since 2016, but it would need to get through Oklahoma first. Facing the best offense in the country, the Wolverines were going to have to score to keep this one close. After a 12-run, 14-hit showdown against Kansas Saturday, it looked like Michigan might be able to carry that momentum to the regional final — but the Wolverines couldn’t, and it cost them big in what proved to be their last game of the season.
Michigan started off with marginal success, but it was the only success it would see all game. In the bottom of the first inning, junior left fielder Ella Stephenson reached base first off a single down the right field line. After Hoehn’s home run marked the second hit in the bottom of the second, a single by senior third baseman Maddie Erickson in the same frame marked the third and last hit of the game.
For the next five innings, the Wolverines’ bats were silent.
The rest of the game saw a multitude of one-two-three innings in the Sooners’ favor. No Michigan runners reached base, stripping the Wolverines of any chance to close the ever-growing gap between them and Oklahoma.
“We have those days,” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said. “… And that was the result of a really good pitcher hitting her spots, and us just not adjusting just enough. It’s a game of inches, and those inches are at the plate as well.”
The Wolverines’ lackluster offense was largely in part due to the Sooners’ dominant pitcher, left-hander Audrey Lowry. Her deadly offspeed pitches caught Michigan batters offguard, unable to make contact. When the Wolverines could put bat to ball, they were measly hits, typically resulting in groundouts — of which Michigan totaled 13 on Sunday. Lowry was too strong for the Wolverines to handle.
“Audrey Lowry,” Tholl said about the reason for Michigan’s offensive struggles. “Right, she’s a talented pitcher, lucky pitcher, it’s the reason we recruited her as well. We didn’t make the adjustments needed to square balls up, like I think we certainly can.”
If they can square those balls up — which the Wolverines have shown in the past with dominant offensive performances — they weren’t able to Sunday, and it cost them big on a postseason platform with little room for error. The Sooners jointly led the country in home runs in the regular season, breaking the single-season record with 162, while also leading the nation in team batting average. While it would’ve been extremely difficult for Michigan to keep up even on a good offensive day, three hits and five innings without runners on base meant there was no chance for the Wolverines to hold on in the regional final.
Even without Lowry in the circle, Michigan struggled. She was pulled in the bottom of the fifth inning, and the next two pitchers that Oklahoma brought in held down the fort for the last 2.1 innings. Lowry laid the blueprint that the other Sooners pitchers followed, locking down the Wolverines to close out the game.
If Michigan wanted a fighting chance against a dominant Oklahoma team, it needed to produce offensively. The Wolverines weren’t able to do that Sunday — arriving at the plate just to turn and head back to the dugout, taking their postseason hopes with them.
