Because you cant have one without the other, M SB mercies Lil sister again; JT Throws a No No
The Michigan softball team took a second game in a row against lil sister 8-0. It was also back to mercy rule wins. We did the same earlier against tosu. What a great time dominating our rivals by back to back mercy rule wins against both teams.
The win clinched the Big Ten Title outright. It was the 4th straight Big Ten Title. No other team has accomplished that feat.
The game was a no hitter for JT, she struck out 6 and walked 2. It was the 8th career no no for JT in her career.
Ashley Lane went 1 for 2 with 3RBI and a run scored off a tater to RF. Chiddy went 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs and a run scored.
Now we must wait to see what the TC thinks of the strong finish this year and reward us with a #2 National Seed.
Blue Dragon? How about one more for the final regular season game?????
1-0 after 1 inning. These girls need to wake up!
Line shots!
Get it done, ladies.
Michigan is leading 1-0 off Chiddy's RBI single to score Bree.
JT struck out 2 and walked 1 in the bottom half.
I just saw a commercial for this too. Real nice touch. +1 to you good sir.
Woo - Woo! Up 4 zip!
4-0 and a pitching change. wooooo
Woo - Woo! Up 4 zip!
Woo - Woo! Up 4 zip!
HOME RUN! 7-0
Game. Blouses.
Pure dominance! Come on lil sister.. you might as well just roll over!
It keeps talking to me.
...be ruled an error.
And it was.
....works out of a jam in the 4th.
Strands two base runners after a questionable 2-out walk and a 2-base error.
On to the 5th. Shhhh.
Why doesn't Taylor bat for herself? She is a beast on the mound and I bet she can hit as well.
This question is one for the ages. The general theory is that as a coach, I do not want to risk an injury.
Typically teams have a dominate, #1 pitcher. If a pitcher turns an ankle, that could be 2-4 weeks out. That is 1/3 of the season. A much serious injury could put a pitcher out for the rest of the season.
There are many teams that allow their pitchers to bat. Indiana's Morgan Melloh and MSU's Lauren Kramer bat.
I have battled this question many times in my coaching career. If I have a deep pitching staff, I will allow my pitchers to bat. Many times pitchers will surprise you with their base running or quick bat speed.
It is a case by case situation on a day to day basis. I tried to look up some data or video on JT batting. I checked with a few sources close to the situation and there doesnt seem to be much video out there of JT batting.
From what I understand, she did bat a little playing travel ball, but that was 5 years ago.
That makes alot of sense and I also want to thank you for your hard work covering the girls team! They have had a heck of a year so far! Go Blue!
Other than my family and job, there are two passions: Michigan and Softball. So when I get the opportunity to combine both and watch Michigan Softball, its like Christmas in Apr/May.
Many people do not understand softball, or assume it is like baseball. They prefer the revenue sports, which is fine. Many disagree that softball should get the same attention as any men's sport, and that is a shame. I do not agree with Title IX but it does have value
I am fortunate to have former players that play D2 ball and D1 Club ball. I hope someday that one of my girls will get a call from Hutch. That would be the best.
Go Blue
Game over Big 10 champs!
...no hitter for JT. The 8th of her stellar career. More impressive JT stats:
- This was JT's 41st career complete-game shutout moving her ahead of Sara Griffin (40, 1995-98) into 2nd on the all-time Michigan leader list. She needs just two more to reach record holder Jennie Ritter (43, 2002-06).
- With 105 career wins, Taylor is one game short of tieing Ritter's Michigan record (106)
- With 1,181 career strikeouts, she needs 24 more Ks to reach Ritter's 1,205 standard.
What makes these even more impressive is that, for the first three years of her career, JT was pitching with Nikki Nemitz, and essentially splitting time. It was great for the team to have two bonafide aces, but it also meant that JT didn't have as many opportunites to rack up the stats as she would have if she'd been the only ace. The fact that she's in the top two or three of all the major statistical categories despite splitting time for three years is just plain ridiculous.
What a great way to put the stamp on the regular season! A mercy-rule no-hitter against little sister is just the kind of high note you want to end on to get confidence high heading into the playoffs.
But I thought this post was about two new recruits committing.
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<br>Still, big ups to the ladies.
Awesome performance by the ladies in blue. Very happy for the team...well deserved B1G championship.
If that doesnt sew up a top 8 national seed then nothing will..
...the "Because you can't have one without..." the other, and I was really hoping it wasn't a sequel to the "gold poop" thread.
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<br>But Congrats to the girls for their continued dominance. Found out they win last night when one of the ladies came into China Gate with her family post game.
We won't get a #2 seed in the post-season. Hutch is expecting something between 6 and 11. Ideally, it will be 8 or better so they can host the Super-reigonal as well. Last I looked our RPI is 10 and our poll rank is 2.
That said, the most important thing to look at once the regionals come out is what regional we are paired with. I'm hoping for a PAC-10 team rather than an SEC team. Team speed is tough to play against and there is a lot of it in the SEC.
Congrats ladies on a great finish to a great regular season. Keep up the momentum!
Did I hear one of the commentators say that Colie has a torn acl?
MGoSoftball just want to thank you for all the SB updates! JT looked great today!
very welcome H2V. Thank you for all your insightful posts too. +1 to you
Blue Dragon, you have outdone yourself with this post good sir. +1 to you. Thanks for your contributions.
Tennessee just won the SEC championship game against Georgia with a walk off homer in the 8th inning. TN came back from a 4-0 deficit.
This could mean that TN could end up the 8th seed and we could have the 9th. That would mean that we travel to "Old Rocky Top" for the super regional. Lets just hope we get a higher seed so we dont play them.
Softball seems very screwed up. How can we be #2 in the polls with the best record in the nation and end up worse than an 8 seed? Shouldn't we be vying for a 1 or 2 seed? I just don't get it.
Pardon my ignorance, but something seems very wrong.
Dont beat yourself up too much because no one really knows what the Tournament Committee is really thinking.
We are #2 in the USA Coaches poll. We are 10th in the RPI. The Big Ten gets zero respect in the counrty as the #4 ranked conference. Pac10, SEC and Big XII get all the love. We have not beaten a ranked team in weeks. So it is possible that we would get a #2 National Seed but I doubt it. We will most likely be around 5-8. I would not be surprised if we get a 9-12 seeding; however, anyting below a #12 seed would be a crime akin to a National Emergency
Also, geography plays a huge roll in National Seedings. The TC does not list its criteria nor rationale for the National Seedings but they usually get it right overall.
It certainly be interesting to see where we land up at. I am still holding out for a seeding around 5 or 6 with a super regional with ND, Kentucky, Louisville or a Pac 10/SEC team playing in Bloomington.
I would prefer ND myself. That is an easy road trip for them.