SB vs #9 Baylor Open Thread

Submitted by MGoSoftball on

The Softball Team got off to a good start today with a 9-1 Mercy-Rule win over San Jose State.  We play #9 Baylor at 8pm at the annual Jdi Garman Classic at Cal State Fullerton.

Yesterday we lost to #1 Florida and #21 ASU.  So another win today against #9 Baylor will certainly help the ole' spirits.

Premium Audio here: http://www.baylorbears.com/collegesportslive/?media=484096

Tonight's Lineup:

Lawrence-CF, Christner-LF, Romero-2B, Blanco-1B, Sweet-C, Susalla-RF, Falk-DP, Swearingen-3B, Ramirez-SS. Wagner at P

MGoSoftball

March 6th, 2015 at 8:12 PM ^

to be the best coach ever at spotting talent.  Kelly and Tera have been awesome so far this year.

Coach has not had a miss since Mandy Garder a few years ago.

ಠ_ಠ

March 6th, 2015 at 8:21 PM ^

Tera really fell into Hutch's lap. Her dad is a well known travel ball coach, as you know, and she was a big time prospect since before she even reached high school (I think she committed in 8th grade, though maybe it was her freshman year in HS). They are huge Michigan fans and she was never going anywhere else. I think they recruited Hutch more than the other way around.

Wolvie3758

March 6th, 2015 at 8:24 PM ^

ill take that...I know weve had some big games already this year but I think beating Baylor is Major...losing to #1 Florida twice isnt bad especially since we had them on the ropes both games so we know we can hang..Beating Baylor will give us another top 10 win and erase some of the pain from yesterday and solidify our top 3 standing..its a Big game for this team..Every season there are certain pivotal games that send your team in one direction or another and I just think a win tonight against a quality opponent will mentally lift the team moving forward..

Wolvie3758

March 6th, 2015 at 8:32 PM ^

somebody showed up to play!  Every run matters in these top 10 matchups

 

Good Girls 4 Bad news Bears 0

Wolvie3758

March 6th, 2015 at 8:43 PM ^

Consistency from the first pitch of the season...Even in our losses weve been in Every game..8 inning loss  yesterday to ASU which we swept in Tempe and two narrow losses to #1 Florida but weve come out and fought hard and played well every game...

ಠ_ಠ

March 6th, 2015 at 9:06 PM ^

Big chance for Falk to break out here with the bases loaded.

Edit: She gets the hit but Sweet thrown out trying to score from second.

11-0 through three innings.

tlo2485

March 6th, 2015 at 9:09 PM ^

does it seem like our pitchers have very few strike outs for how few runs we give up? anyone have a brief description of their styles?

South Bend Wolverine

March 6th, 2015 at 9:14 PM ^

Our 3 pitchers all use quite distinct styles.  Betsa is very much a strike-out pitcher, full stop.  She led the team in Ks last year, despite pitching many fewer innings than Wagner, and is doing so again this year as well.  She's giving up a few too many walks right now, but is a strong player.

Wagner, by contrast, is much more of a ground-out, pop-up pitcher.  She gets a few Ks, but does rely on her defense to clean things up.  Fortunately, she's good at making things easy on them - opposing hitters make contact, but rarely good contact.

Driesenga is a bit more in the middle.  We've seen her surprisingly little this year; overall, I'd say she's more of a balanced attack type, but I have less of a read on her.

South Bend Wolverine

March 6th, 2015 at 9:10 PM ^

HUGE 3rd inning for the Maize and Blue!  Baylor is a very strong team, having handed Oregon one of their few losses on the season.  We're now three outs away from decisively run-ruling them.  This is a massive, massive result for this team if we can make it hold up!

acnumber1

March 6th, 2015 at 9:16 PM ^

Honest question:

I know that it is spring break now, but it seems that the SB team has been in the warm weather for multiple weeks.  How is this managed?  Do they come back for classes M-Th and travel on long weekends?  Is it the same with baseball?

Thanks in advance....I'll hang up and listen (I know I'll get a detailed answer that all can enjoy)

South Bend Wolverine

March 6th, 2015 at 9:18 PM ^

Basically, they travel on the weekends a lot in the early season.  I suspect they try to schedule their spring term classes to have open Fridays due to travel needs.  This week & last were Spring Break, so they came down to Arizona for one tournament and then went straight to Cali for another.  It's a grueling grind for sure, and just one of the ways in which in takes a special kind of young woman to come play for our program.

MGoSoftball

March 6th, 2015 at 9:18 PM ^

blowouts is that Coach Hutch gets some of the Freshmen into the game.  It is difficult to get some of the other player in the game during close games and conference play.  

Vargas in for Silo and gets a single.  Nice job Amanda.

ಠ_ಠ

March 6th, 2015 at 9:26 PM ^

I'm glad Romo got a walk there at the end. Otherwise she would have reached base on only two out of three attempts, and a .666 OBP would have lowered her season numbers.

lol

Wolvie3758

March 6th, 2015 at 9:29 PM ^

I thnk this was THE most important game of the season to date....and to come out and looks like were going to run rule #9 Baylor is just GINORMOUS...There is little doubt in my mind that Michigan is a SOLID#2 behind Florida....Oregon may get the #2 spot but thatll only be because they are in the Pac12 and theres alot of voting bias towards them and their league strength...Our wins so far are way more impressive than Oregon and we both lost  to Florida..Our two losses we were in both in games we had our chances to win...Now we just have to have no letdown against San Diego St tommorow...For those who remember SDSU gaves us FITS last year in the Tempe Regional and is no slouch either

MGoSoftball

March 6th, 2015 at 9:32 PM ^

Hutch is that she will allow her pitchers to work out of jams.  Tera has 2 on and 2 out and gave up a RBI single.  I have seen many coaches over the year that would pull a pitcher who was having a bad inning.  

This is one of the "little things" that makes Hutch such a great coach.

South Bend Wolverine

March 6th, 2015 at 9:36 PM ^

Ball-game!  11-1 run rule blowout of a top ten team!  Last ranked team Michigan will face for a while, and what a fantastic result!  Michigan will go into Big Ten play with a 7-3 record against ranked opposition, including a 5-2 record against top-ten teams!