Softball sweeps IU
The softball team completed the three-game sweep of Indiana today at the Wilpon Complex, claiming all three wins in mercy-rule fashion.
IU pushed Michigan marginally harder today, plating 3 runs and pushing the game to six innings. Freshman Megan Betsa got the start in the circle and struggled, leaving IU with a surprising 3-0 lead before junior star Haylie Wagner came in. Wagner slammed the door hard, going the remaining five innings without giving up a run, conceding just 4 hits and one walk. IU would threaten in the fifth, loading the based, but a fly out and Wagner's lone K on the afternoon ended the danger.
On the offensive side, Michigan exploded after a scoreless first, scoring three each in the second, third, fourth, and sixth innings. Romero showed why IU had been running scared all weekend from her bat, going 2-2 with a home run and drawing two walks. On the weekend, Romero went 3-4 with two homers and drew a remarkable seven walks. It's a testament to her discipline as a young player to take the walks & trust in her teammates, and fortunately that trust has been rewarded.
Final scores: 8-0 (6 inn.), 9-1 (5 inn.), 12-3 (6 inn.)
Now for the basketball team to follow the trend.
another Softball Championship on the way!
IU is one of the weakest teams in the conference, so we shouldn't speak too soon - Nebraska and Minnesota might still give us a run for our money (they are playing each other this weekend, actually - a series to keep an eye on, with Minny taking game one last night). Still, there's no doubt that this is a great start. Especially encouraging was seeing Driesenga pitch a good game en route to her first win on the season.
March 24th, 2014 at 10:57 AM ^
Each Big Ten softball team plays 23 conference games including 7 three-game series and a mid-week doubleheader. Since there are 12 teams in the Big Ten, each team plays 8 Big Ten teams and doesn’t play 3 Big Ten teams. Here are the “don’t plays.” Michigan, PSU, and Purdue don’t play Iowa, Nebraska, and Northwestern and vice versa. Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin don’t play Indiana, MSU, and OSU and vice versa. To think about the implications of the Big Ten schedule, I would group the Big Ten teams into three tiers—Top Tier, Middle Tier, and Bottom Tier. Here are my groupings by team ranking within each tier. Top Tier: Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota, Northwestern and Wisconsin. Middle Tier: Purdue, OSU, Illinois and Iowa. Bottom Tier: MSU, Indiana, and PSU. Obviously, others may have differing opinions as to the composition of the tiers and the rankings within the tiers, however, I think most will see my choices as reasonable. As SBW pointed out in his/her Big Ten preview, Michigan has a relatively favorable Big Ten schedule compared to the other leading contenders. Michigan plays only 2 of the other 4 Top Tier teams and plays those 2 teams at home. Michigan plays all 3 of the Bottom Tier teams and 3 of the 4 Middle Tier teams. In contrast, Minnesota plays all 4 of the other Top Tier teams (2 at home and 2 away). In addition, Minnesota plays only 1 of the 3 Bottom Tier teams and 3 of the 4 Middle Tier teams. If Minnesota wins the Big Ten regular season title, they will have earned it. Nebraska plays 3 of the other 4 Top Tier teams (1 at home and 2 away). Nebraska also plays 2 of the 3 Bottom Tier teams and 3 of the 4 Middle Tier teams. Northwestern’s schedule is similar to Nebraska’s, except that they play 2 of their Top Tier opponents at home and 1 away. Wisconsin’s schedule is similar to Minnesota’s, except that they play 1 of their Top Tier opponents at home and 3 away. Michigan has one other scheduling advantage courtesy of the split series with MSU (1 game in Ann Arbor and 2 games in East Lansing). Michigan has 13 home games and 10 away games. All other Big Ten teams have 12 or 11 home games and 11 or 12 away games. Wisconsin has 11 home games and 12 away games. The other 3 Top Tier teams have 12 home games and 11 away games.
On the opening weekend of the Big Ten season, the Bottom Tier teams (Indiana, MSU, and PSU) upheld their status going a collective 0-9, losing to Michigan, OSU and Purdue. In Top Tier battles, Northwestern went 2-1 over Wisconsin at home and Minnesota went 2-1 over Nebraska at Nebraska. In a Mid Tier series, Iowa went 2-1 over Illinois at Illinois.