Michigan Softball records broken in 2015
Said this post was coming yesterday just put this season and this team into perspective.
Here are the records that were set this season-
Lauren Sweet was also the first Michigan player to ever hit a grand slam in a World Series game when she did so in the WCWS First Round against Alabama.
Earlier today, the team was greeted by fans at Alumni Field as they arrived home.
My last pay check was $9500 working 12 hours a week online. My sisters friend has been averaging 15k for months now and she works about 20 hours a week. I can't believe how easy it was once I tried it out. This is what I do... www.jobs-review.com
So I guess it's safe to say this is the best Michigan team in the U's history to not win a title among all sports?
1997 hockey and 1973 football would be other prime contenders. The fact that '73 still stings nearly a half-century later, and even for people who weren't yet born, gives some indication of the rarified air softball's Team 38 is in.
Where do '92 and '93 basketball come in?
Those 2 squads didn't even win the B10 tho... I mean I guess the overall impact of the Fab5 places them right up there...
Wasn't trying to start a Fab Five discussion, although I guess I should have known better.
I was thinking along the lines of overall talent, especially considering what 3/5 of them would do in basketball after leaving Michigan.
There were more than five guys on those teams... And the rest of them weren't exactly the Fab Five.
I think the logic was more or less sound, but I do regret the post in the first place.
Depends heavily on how you feel about the Fab Five, I'd say. I don't want to turn this thread into a Fab Five discussion, so I'll leave it that - for those who remember the good parts of the Fab Five, they'd probably be right in there as well.
2008 hockey is up there as well, but really, that '97 hockey team was just sickeningly good. No question, better than the two teams on either side that won the tournament.
Thanks for putting this together, WD. The perfect WD tribute to a great (not just good, GREAT) Michigan team. The scary thing is that almost everyone who was involved with those records is coming back next year. If we can straighten out the catcher situation with someone with a good bat & figure out a 2nd pitcher, next season should be of very similar vintage to this one.
Softball pitching is vastly less abusive on the body than baseball pitching, so you don't use a big staff like in baseball. For a long time, the best teams would rely on one ace pitcher for almost all important games, especially in the tournament. Now it's becoming more of a staff sport a) as there are more good pitchers out there to recruit and b) as hitters are getting much better, and so the ability to give teams a different look from game to game or inning to inning becomes more valuable. Ideally, you want 3 pitchers who you can trust to face quality opposition, 1 or 2 of whom you'd like to be truly elite. There aren't really enough innings to go around for more than 3, certainly not more than 4. 2 is workable (Michigan did so this year after Driesenga's injury), but it puts you closer to the edge in the event of an injury or a team that gets dialed in to your frequencies.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
If she didn't get injured in 2013, she probably would have blown the record away.
She finished with 100. Only the 3rd Wolverine ever to get 100 wins along with record holder Jordan Taylor (107) and Sara Griffin (106).
It should be noted that Sara Griffin missed much of her junior year with a broken arm . Without that the record would be considerably higher.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
a trophy for second place.
I don't where you've been because the NCAA has been giving them out since the beginning of time.
If you go back and look at team photos from the 1964-65 Basketball team, they have a silver plated runner-up trophy.
The other 6 teams WCWS team that didn't make it to the championship series got bronze plated "World Series Participant" trophies as it was an NCAA tradition to give a bronze trophy to the 3rd place team. Michigan Basketball has a bronze 3rd place trophy from back in 1964 when they beat K-State in the NCAA 3rd Place Game when there was such a thing.
Some teams choose to throw them in a closet and never let them see the light of day. Which is stupid since the entire country wants to be in that World Series Championship Series.
I don't think he was commenting on the existence of a second place tropy, but was being a douche about not winning the National Championship.
When I saw the picture, I kinda thought the same thing... is he being a douche or lamenting a by-product of the participation trophy generation.
For me, it's the latter.
As Ricky Bobby would say, national runner-up = first loser.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Yes-
- 7.94 Runs Per Game--Team Record--Previous: 7.23 in 2010
- 1.74 Home Run Per Game--Team Record--Previous: 1.46 in 2010
- 15.57 TB Per Game--Team Record--Previous: 14.32 in 2005
- 4.81 Walks Per Game--Highest since 2005
- 7.41 RBIs Per Game--Team Record--Previous: 6.44 in 2010
Here's something to keep in mind: the 2010 played 57 games.
The 2015 team played 68 and STILL beat those averages.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
I REALLY hope they can put it all together next season for a WCWS Championship.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
They kept that B1G Tournament Championship loss in 2014 in their heads and came back this year and tore through it.
Let's hope they do the same with the WCWS Championship Series.
The biggest question right now is Driesenga and a possible medical redshirt.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
Mlive had a story a few hours ago about it and Hutch is pretty confident in it happening!
HUGE!!!
That was pretty interesting that you said that Aidan Falk hadn't played catcher before prior to this season.
Thanks for linking - if they're confident enough that it'll work out to put it in print, I have to imagine it would take something last-minute to derail it at this point. Having Driesenga back is a game-changer, and would immediately put us in the thick of the WCWS title discussion for 2016.
Also interesting in that article is Hutch not pulling any punches on Blanco & Crockett. Long summer ahead for those young women, hope they're ready to attack the art of pitching with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind!
In the article Coach Hutchins says that Blanco and the incoming freshman pitcher (Crockett?) are not yet ready to compete at this level.
What are the issues involved here? Technique? Strength? Speed? Ability to throw specific pitches? Other issues? Is it realistic that they can be ready by the beginning of next season, or is there a longer development phase involved? Also, what is the normal training regimen for the women during the summer?
Those are some great questions, I wish I had the information to answer them better! I haven't seen any video of either Blanco or Crockett, so it's hard to say. Blanco pitched a few innings for us this year in relief against inferior opposition in blow-out situations, so it's tough to extract much from that, information-wise, and Crockett still just played at the HS level.
Hutch's comments about Crockett don't worry me too much, since she hasn't even gotten coached by our staff directly yet - she isn't expected to be able to just walk straight onto a college field & pitch tomorrow. The Blanco comment seemed a little more pointed ("we didn't bring her here to play 1st base"), and makes me wonder. I don't want to speculate too much, though, just on one comment, which could just be motivational.
The one thing we do have going for us is that our pitching coach is one of the best in the nation. She's churned out All-American after All-American over an extensive career. I wish I knew more about the training regimen, but I'm sure that if anyone knows how to draw quality pitching out of an athlete, it's her. She could have one or both of them ready by next season; if Driesenga is back next year, though, that basically buys her another year to work with, at which point I'd be really confident that she'd have things in order.
There is; unfortunately it doesn't usually get covered very well, even by MGoBlue.com. We usually play the directional schools & beat the tar out of them. This past year we had what was billed as a "fall super regional" - a three game set with Kentucky, which we got the better of. It would be nice if, after all the attention the team generated this year, they could keep us a little better updated on the fall ball business - in the past sometimes we've had to wait days just to get scores of the fall games; box scores, recaps, etc. often never come through at all.
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
The team was #5 in ERA this season (one behind Florida) and there were few errors in the field. Lauren Sweet (catcher) had no errors this season (with 399 putouts and 28 assists). As a team they had a .974 fielding percentage with 44 errors on the season.
Would you say this team was better than the '05 NC team despite being runner ups?
Offensively, this team was a better team than 2005. But, relative to the average D1 team in 2015, I'm not so sure as all the offensive stats have improved with the shrunken strike zone.
Our pitchers were great in 2015 and had two almost equal pitchers wherein in 2005 Ritter was the go-to pitcher by the end of the season and Wilson more of a on-a-short-leash pitcher.
Ritter was a bull dog and wanted the ball late in the game. I think Haeger from Florida is very much that persona and the fact she bats makes her that much more valuable. Haeger wants to be batting in the 7th, wants to finsih the games she starts, etc.
So athleticism, talent, etc. I'd give the nod to 2015, but that's going to be true of college softball in general.
The 2015 team is very tight and is a team. But, Ritter was probably more of a go-to pitcher than either Wagner or Betsa were. However, I love the redemption story of Wagner who lost her hero role after her freshman year and only regained it at the very end. But, she and Betsa were also a team - supporting each other and wanting the team to win - not worrying that Betsa or Wagner ends up with the victory.
Could very well have that same scenario with Sara D and Betsa.
The prospects of having a staff that's 4-deep is just thrilling.
Comments