Michigan SB to play in Louisville Regional as the #2 Seed.
The Michigan Wolverines received a #2 seed today playing in the Louisville Regional. The other teams in this Regional is:
#1 Louisville (15)
#2 Michigan
#3 Kentucky
#4 Valpo
We played Kentucky last year but lost. Ky is a speedy team this year too. Jessica Mendoza said this is the toughest regional in the bracket. She said this on the Selection Show.
The Tuscaloosa Regional is the other Regional on our side of the bracket. The teams are:
#1 Alabama
#2 GT
#3 Tenn-Martin
#4 South Alabama
Congrats to Northwestern for making the tourney as well.
Notre Dame gets a #3 seed vs Hawaii in the Tuscan Regional
Matchups
1 Louisville (15)
4 Valparaiso
2 Michigan
3 Kentucky
Really glad the ladies can get redemption from the loss last year. Looks like a good draw for Michigan, getting a lower national seed in louisville. Did not want to see tennessee.
I was just about to post the pairings. This is a double elimination bracket with 4 teams. So 1 plays 4 and 2 plays 3.
Tough regional; tougher than many. And, if UM wins they face the #2 regional - Alabama is the likely winner of that region.
This will be a good experience for the team. They can win the regional, but it would be an upset if they do.
We lost to Louisville on 10MAR this year 2-1. However, if we continue to hit, we will win this Regional.
Alabama is the only team that scares me. Traina is as good as Haylie and Sara. So we better not stop hitting.
Congrats to my good friend Jordan Stevens who is the coach of Valpo. Jordan is a good guy and an awesome coach (although he never beat me in any games haha).
Jordan hails from Marysville Michigan and has been coaching at the college level for about 5 years now. He was announced as the HC of Valpo (his first D1 School) about a year ago.
Michigan is 66-36 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
They are 12-17 in games on a neutral field, 3-4 on the road and 52-14 at home.
Go Coach Hutch and the whole team!
Nebraska was robbed baby How can the Selection Committee leave out a team who challenged for the League Title. They did not get a chance to play Michigan, its not their fault, they deserve to be in this tourney.
It is truly a shame that Nebraska did not get in. They played well enough to get in.
Our conference is weak this year so almost contending for the conference title doesn't count for much.
The selection is based quite a bit on RPI. Northwestern, which had a pretty miserable conference record, ends up getting in, based on their better RPI.
I don't like lots of the match-ups. It seems as though the NCAA is trying to hype the tournament based on past opponents rather than just letting the seeds fall into place more naturally.
UM is matched up against KY, who we played in the SR last year. Likewise, the year before we were paired with TN in the SR. That was the team we had to beat to get into the World Series back in 2005.
the B1G is down this year.
Actually we beat Tennessee in the World Series to get into the finals against UCLA. We had to beat Monica Abbott to do it.
All games in the regional will be on ESPN2 according to the softball twitter.
ESPN picks 2 regionals to televise. Are you surprised that they televise us? (My arrogance is leaking out of my pores),
But seriously, we have a huge TV draw. Louisville is in the middle of the county. KY and Valpo are not a real draw.
Congrats to Coach Hutch and her Staff. Coach Hoke for President, Coach Hutch for VP.
Well, it'll be a tough challenge, but if we're at our best, we're up to it. Gotta assume Haylie will be shouldering most of the load here. Hope the bats stay hot!
Good news with the TV coverage, at least. Everything will be on ESPN2 or ESPN.
Friday 4:30 (ESPN2): Michigan v Kentucky
Friday 7:00 (ESPN2): Louisville v Valparaiso
Saturday 1:00 (ESPN): Friday winners
Saturday 3:30 (ESPN): Friday losers
Saturday 6:00 (ESPN): 1:00 loser v 3:30 winner
Sunday 1:00 (ESPN2): Final game 1
Sunday 3:30 (ESPN2): Final game 2 (if necessary)
much appreciated if anybody can find it for me. I've tried finding it on NCAA.com but it's not posted yet
like our chances in Louisville.
dog $hit when we played Louisville. We had only 4 hits but we had 10 Ks. You cant win very many games when you cant hit the ball.
Louisville pitcher Tori Collins is good but not THAT good. L'Ville cannot stop the small ball either.
So with a 3 game series, I really like our chances now that we are hitting the ball.
If anyone is coming down here and needs helpful tips, let me know.
if were not playing at home this is about the best we could ask for. Its a Regional we are certainly capable of winning...
I'm not trying to belittle the talent Michigan has, or imply that I have anything but high hopes, but this regional is hosted by a Louisville team with three losses. All three were to tournament teams, and they've beaten about seven other tournament teams based on my quick count. We're traveling to their field to play them where they have a 25-0 record (and beat us two months ago).
Yes, ND and Valpo are very winnable, but Louisville is one of the last teams I would want in a regional.
One aspect you are missing is that we played them head to head. We only had 4 hits in a 2-1 loss. Haylie pitched well but did not get the run support. Louisville plays in the Big East which is traditionally a weak conference. So all those conference wins are suspect in my mind.
They lost twice to a weak DePaul team and split with a weak Kentucky squad. They lost to a ranked Tennessee. So over all, Louisville does not have that one or two impressive win. We are very well matched with Louisville. Of all the regionals, I like this one best.
BTW: Kentucky is in our Regional not ND. ND has to travel to Tuscan.
I was curious about the pitching rotation in the non-conference part of the season, and I still am. Jordan Taylor was awesome, but I think that by this time last year she had already pitched too much. Haylie Wagner may be fresher as she starts the post season than Jordan was last year. IME-it is good to find innings for other pitchers all season long.