The Michigan softball team’s offense has been the story of its season’s turnaround. Since the start of Big Ten play, its bats have lit up, hitting a new level that has been the main reason behind the team’s recent extended win streaks.
On Saturday, though, its bats went quiet. The Wolverines (38-15 overall, 19-4 Big Ten) recorded just 3 hits as they fell to Ohio State (30-19, 11-11), 6-0. The loss is their first since April 6.
“We have to get back to believing that we see the ball well, we strike the ball, we’re prepared,” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said. “Really turn off our brain and just allow our prepared self to react.”
The Wolverines’ struggles started at the top of the lineup — which is usually the catalyst for its success at the plate — as its first four batters all went hitless. In the first inning, Buckeyes right-hander Lexi Paulsen quickly set down Michigan’s first three batters in order.
Paulsen even got sophomore third baseman Maddie Erickson a rare strikeout in the first, just Erickson’s tenth strikeout on the season. The third strike just barely caught the outside of the plate, a sign of Paulsen’s precision indicative of what was to come.
“(Paulsen) has a skill set,” Tholl said. “It’s not throwing super hard but it’s keeping the ball away from hitters and mixing speeds a little bit. … We really took too many pitches and I think it was because she nipped the edges of the plate.”
The Wolverines’ defense wasn’t perfect, but it kept Ohio State’s offense at bay early on. Freshman right-hander Erin Hoehn allowed two runs through her 4.2 innings, and the defense made some key plays behind her, including a highlight-reel diving catch by sophomore second baseman Indiana Langford that saved an extra-base hit in the top of the second inning.
With Michigan’s offense getting shut out, though, no pitching performance or defensive highlights would be enough for a win.
The Wolverines’ struggles at the plate continued through the following three innings. Paulsen pitched back-to-back one-two-three innings in the third and fourth, once again setting down the top of Michigan’s order. The Wolverines were getting under the ball too often, driving balls into the outfield, but couldn’t come up with the flatter, line-drive contact to drop for hits.
And while Michigan faltered on offense, the Buckeyes — who rank second in the conference in batting average — were bound to take advantage. In the top of the third, three singles and a sacrifice fly-out gave Ohio State a 2-0 lead.
After quiet fourth and fifth innings, a sixth-inning leadoff single by junior shortstop Ella McVey gave the Wolverines an opportunity to build momentum. McVey turned to the dugout after the play, asking them to get loud, and they did — along with the home crowd.
Four batters later, the Wolverines had runners on first and third with their biggest power threat in senior first baseman Keke Tholl up to bat. But Tholl grounded out, and Michigan missed out on another rare scoring opportunity.
That bottom of the sixth inning, with Tholl getting a chance to turn things around for the Wolverines, felt reminiscent of key moments in some of their recent comeback wins. With their backs against the wall time and time again in these kinds of games, it felt like all they often needed was one chance to make a run and they’d take it.
Saturday was different, though. Tholl missed her sixth-inning opportunity, and Michigan didn’t get as many scoring chances as usual throughout the whole game, either. And with so few runners on base to begin with, there was less margin for error in each opportunity. Unlike in their prior comeback wins, the Wolverines weren’t able to make the in-game changes needed for a late offensive surge.
“Yesterday, we were able to make adjustments to the pitcher, and today we just fell short in making those adjustments,” Tholl said. “And that really was the simplicity of the game.”
And in the top of the seventh, the Buckeyes pulled away for good. After they had already scored one more run in the inning, center fielder Kirsten Eppele blasted a three-run homer just over the right field wall, extending Ohio State’s lead to 6-0.
The Wolverines had no reply in the final frame, getting one runner on early with a single but nothing else.
In a second half of the season where the Wolverines’ offense has so often been the reason for its wins, it was the reason for its loss on Saturday.