#11 Softball blanks #25 North Carolina 4-0, sweeps road series
Michigan Softball won both games of their doubleheader in the ACC/B1G Challenge, beating Louisville 6-2 and then a tight game that was was won in the final inning against Challenge host #25 North Carolina. Michigan took that one 4-3. Very similar to Baseball's triumph over #1 Vanderbilt last night which had the same final score and was also won in the final inning.
#11 Michigan and #25 North Carolina faced off again today on the second day of the Challenge. This time Michigan had very little trouble and especially Meghan Beaubien. Yesterday Michigan got out to a 3-0 lead but UNC chased Beaubien and came back to tie it at 3-3.
Today, Beaubien was fantastic. 9 strikeouts and a complete game shutout.
Michigan went up 1-0 in the 2nd inning on a passed ball that allowed sophomore Morgan Overaitis to score. Just an inning later and fab freshman Julia Jimenez smacked a double off the wall to score Lexie Blair and make it 2-0 Wolverines.
Michigan stuck with the theme of stringing runs together by inning in the 4th with freshman pinch runner Audrey LeClair scoring on a Thais Gonzalez RBI single. Another RBI double by "JuJu" Jimenez gave Michigan a 4-0 lead which was the final.
UNC swept Michigan last year and outscored us 12-5. Tables were turned in 2020 as we outscored them 8-3. and swept the #25 Tar Heels.
Michigan is now 8-0 on the season and will face Louisville at 10am tomorrow to close out the ACC/B1G Challenge.
February 15th, 2020 at 2:47 PM ^
Hell yeah! GO BLUE! Good to see the bats swung in anger this early in the year. I was worried about them scoring runs with the loss of Canfield but...no!
February 15th, 2020 at 2:48 PM ^
I can't wait until conference play starts and I can actually watch softball again. This is exactly the kind of start we needed, though. Keep this up and they can earn an excellent seeding for the Regionals as long as they hold serve in B1G play. Hopefully Blair can work herself out of her slump. She and Jimenez have a chance to be a great 1-2 punch at the beginning of that lineup.
P.S. If anybody was wondering if Maryland's new coach would be able to make them not terrible, they're currently losing to Clemson 17-0 in the 2nd inning.
February 15th, 2020 at 3:27 PM ^
February 15th, 2020 at 3:29 PM ^
8-0 ,with 3 top 25 wins (all on the road/neutral site),looks like Michigan could be top 5 next poll
February 15th, 2020 at 3:42 PM ^
Love that this team is starting strong this year. These early season wins can be huge for tournament seeding.
February 15th, 2020 at 5:53 PM ^
Also good that they finally play Minnesota during the regular season. Something to keep them tuned against top competition once Big Ten play begins and a series that will attract attention from the NCAA committee at a time of year when they've become accustomed to ignoring the league. They also play at Northwestern and Wisconsin, likely the next two most talented conference teams. This year's schedule is a considerable upgrade over what they've faced the past few years.
February 15th, 2020 at 9:52 PM ^
Yeah, although Minnesota doesn't seem to be what they have been these last few years. But we'll see. While I don't think Northwestern and Wisconsin will be as good as people are predicting them to be, they are good by B1G standards so that'll be good.