Softball overcomes horrendous B1G umps in comeback win over Maryland

Balls and strikes has never been softball's strong suit. Or umpiring in general. Good to see them dig it out, well done ladies.

Not surprised we won. Also not surprised WD can't make a post without some incredibly overly-dramatic and hyperbolic statements. Don't worry though, he'll out scream himself with his next post.

Since I can't see the ball, I can't tell if the batter was safe or out. Lay off the officials. They are not trying to ruin your day.

To be fair, the BTN commentators also differed to several calls, including the strike zone. As a pitcher dad, the zone was never big enough for me.

Hard for me to imagine them missing a call what with all the money they are undoubtably paid to do a game. As a matter of fact I had a meeting, just last week, with the M & A team at our firm and I asked one if he planned on staying in corporate acquisitions or moving in. He said "man....someday, if everything breaks right for me, I really hope to get a gig in college women softball umpiring. THATS where the really big money is"

noted 4 questionable calls that went against Michigan. The replays don't even do a good job of showing the play and usually don't give you a close up or slow motion for the correct call. In addition to the play WD shows above, there was a run down with a phantom tag and and a play at the plate that looked like the runner missed the plate. Balls and strikes are hard to see on TV so I can't confirm, but the announcers did question them.

I watched the last few innings of the game including when Maryland got three runs to go ahead of Michigan.  Even with a few calls that could have gone either way, Betsa wasn't pitching great that inning and you can't blame the umps when Maryland gets several hits including a triple.

Michigan is a young team without the batting prowess we have seen over the last several years.

Over B1G softball umpiring today...Please accept that refs/umps etc. are flawed and make mistakes and move on.  Wants some cheese with that whine???!!  Good grief.

Nice victory!

I see the Asshole Association decided that Easter was a good time to all show up in the same thread.

I just watched the Tigers, Indians game.  This is a level where in theory the best umpires in the land are trained and paid to be perfect.  Yet over and over again the Fox Cam showed pitches that were balls called strikes.  Yet none of the hitters on both sides seemed to be bothered.  Perhaps if it was a September pennant game they may have had a different attitude.  But if highly paid professionals are unable to consistantly call balls & strikes, what chance umps being paid peanuts?  From the written account it sounds like it was a poorly called game.  But nothing outside the standard deviation of what is normal for baseball or softball.  Fortunately unlike Football one badly called game is not as big a deal.  Even in playoff situations it is a multigame situation unlike football where there is no recourse.

This was the worst officiated game both ways that I've ever seen in my life.

Until the next game where things don't go your way

I'm sure your count is more accurate, but the announcers kept making a big deal about that stat being 0-7, and that was before this game. Either way, this year's squad doesn't have the hitting prowess to fall behind late in games. I'm more concerned about that than the umps having an erratic strike zone in 1 game.

I watched the game on television and the umpire was dreadful, yes, but I think it hurt both teams pretty much equally. You can't assume momentum is real or that individual at bats gained or lost from questionable calls would have resulted in changing the outcome. Betsa smiled and shook it off. She's done it before. She bore down and struck out 12. Maryland was surprisingly game this weekend. Good to see Big Ten teams making progress. I honestly don't think a game won or lost at this stage makes a lot of difference. They won't be hosting a super-regional, regardless. The only way they host a regional is by winning the Big Ten tournament and going through Groenewegen - and that still may not be enough. However, some of the younger players are breaking through. We've seen Canfield explode over the last month. The last week or so, it's Courtney Richardson with some power. She's taking her spot in the starting lineup back. That's fun to watch. And I like seeing a local kid who wasn't a huge prospect (Katie Alexander behind the plate) play an unexpectedly large role. Betsa looks very comfortable throwing to her.

I enjoy watching Michigan compete in women's softball, especially come tournament time. Michigan played in the regional out in Tempe one year, and I was able to watch those games up close and personal. Sat with Romero's family for a couple of the games. I did not see the Maryland game. I will say though that I have seen some horrendous umpiring in the sport, especially during the tournament last spring. I am of the opinion that camera angles sometimes make it tricky to criticize an umpire; however, the balls and strikes calls during the NCAA tournament last year bordered on ludicrous. So I do not find it all that unbelievable that any given game could be I'm tired very, very poorly. The job seems to be a lot easier than refereeing men's football or basketball, but the umps are sometimes nowhere near up to the task. As was pointed out elsewhere in this thread, it most certainly is a function of the lack of pay for umping the games I am sure. Dissatisfied fans could always send a letter to Jim Delaney's office, but that seems like a waste of a stamp.

Nice comeback win. 

For some reason the tag Montemarano(sp?)3rd base put on the Maryland runner going to 3rd cracked me up.  Runner was NOT going to get by her. 

Good job young lady!

I too was blown away by how poor those umps were. Lazy is more of how I would describe them. It's like they didn't even put an effort into their job. On the double play you mention, I don't think the catcher ever touched home plate, I thought both runners were safe.

The strike zone was all over the place the entire game. Great job by the ladies to fight through and get that last win.

The use of video stills to protest a very close call only makes sense when video replay is used in the game itself. Otherwise, you are comparing two different ontologies. Or using using oranges to complain about apples. Or something like that.