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Umps gave Cal two free base runners in that inning (missed third strike that turned into a walk two pitches later and an incorrect ruling on a collision on the base paths), and we still get out of it unscathed!  That last out scared me, but thankfully we tracked it down on the warning track.  Huge win, now let's root for the Ragin' Cajuns to down LSU!

GAH!  Oh, so close. :(

It's still too early for clock-watching, but I can't help it...

Sorry Cogs - loved watching you in the Maize & Blue, but no sympathy for that one. :)

I'm glad we get to face Wisconsin.  It's frustrating that, in a 23-game conference schedule we don't manage to play everyone at least once, although the 3-game series set-up does have its advantages.  The tournament creates the chance to rectify that a bit, though, letting us face some teams we haven't seen before.  If we beat Wiscy, I hope we get a new opponent in the final as well - partly because Nebraska scares me, but mostly just because I want to face someone new.

Any idea what it pays to play pro softball?  I have to imagine it's enough to get by on reasonably well or no one would do it, but of course it can't be huge money either.  Just something I was wondering about.

I hope you're right about that NC!  Always tough to say, because there are a lot of great teams out there, but we've got as good a chance as anyone, I'll definitely say that.  With Haylie & Sara in the circle for two more years and the Sierras here for 3 more, I am really, really excited about the future.  As I've been saying, B10 pitchers had better settle in, because it's going to be a long, rough ride for them trying to find answers for the foreseeable future.

Great game, glad it was on BTN for our viewing enjoyment!  Just an all-around team win.  Multiple home-runs, good pitching & defense, every single player reached base safely at least once.  Can't ask for more than that, although I would appreciate the announcers being a little less negative about Wagner - all she did was rack up her 18th win of the season, allowing only one run on 4 hits, but the commentators were ragging on her all day.

Romero continues to intimidate B10 pitching.  After jacking a 2-run shot in the first, she was walked 3 straight times, two intentional and one semi-intentional (once the count got to 3-1 and a passed ball opened up space at 1st, they just put her on).  The most remarkable to me was when NW issued a free pass with no outs and a runner on 1st.  That goes beyond respect, that is outright fear!  Having her services will be a huge boost to the team for the rest of this season as well as for the next three!

Hutchins continues to maintain softball as the gold standard of consistent excellence within the UM athletic department as well as within the Big Ten conference.  Just can't say enough about her or about the quality young women who come to play for her.  Yet another title, and we're just getting started!

Also, as a bonus for any Ann Arborites going to Evanston, there is a bar there that took their entire deli menu from our very own Zingerman's.  When they were opening, the Zingerman's guys let them come and observe them in their kitchen, etc., so they got all the inside info.  I've only been there in the evening, so I can't vouch for the food directly, but it certainly has good credentials.  The place is called Bat 17: http://www.bat17evanston.com/

Guh.  When will people learn that free advertising on Youtube is GOOD for your brand?

Incredible come-from-behind victory!  Gotta love the way this team plays - at any time they can come out and hurt you.  They are never out of a game until the last out is called.

Hate to say it, but that was one ugly at-bat to end the top of the 6th.  Chasing pitches way out of the strike zone. :(  At least we put one across - gotta get some outs here and see what we can do in the 7th.

Believe me, this problem absolutely predates the RR era.  As a student for the last 4 years of Carr, the top part of the student section was *never* full by kickoff, unlike the rest of the stadium.  It seems to have gotten worse since then, but it's been an issue for at least a decade now.

Additionally, going GA will substantially improve the crowd's intensity level.  One of the major issues we've always had is that juniors & seniors who don't really care about the team buy tickets just because they can get good ones, then some of them no-show, some sell their tickets (including to opposing fans), and when they do come, they don't get crazy.  I'd love to hear an explanation of why someone like that should get to sit up close while a kid who has been dreaming of coming to Michigan his whole life and loves UM football has to sit up in row 90 just because he's a freshman.

As a student, I longed for GA, and if I were a student now, I'd be celebrating.  Imagine, a system that rewards fans based on their intensity level!  This is really good news.

What a fantastic few weeks this has been for the entire athletic department.  I really hope we can keep things rolling with the last few sports left on the year!

Such bullcrap.  We were up 4-0 in the third, and have to leave with nothing to show for it.  There's plenty of time between now & the end of the regular season to finish the game, no reason not to.  I hate it when stupid rules get in the way of things.

Got my TV back in time to see us get an inning-ending double-play!  That's my kind of softball!

I was stupid enough to try to fit in a call to my cable company between the two games.  Now my TV is out completely and I'm missing this one!  Off to a good start, though, I like where this thing is headed!

Rain delay in the top of the ninth.  No one out and a runner on first for the Wolverines.

Edit: Getting really sick of these announcers.  We all get it, you want IU to win.

Strike zone is absolutely laughable right now.  IU is getting about an extra 5-6 inches off the edge of the plate.

Wagner gets out of a bases-loaded jam.  With only one out due to a questionable safe call at first base, IU's top hitter blooped out to the pitcher & then a long, battling at-bat turned into a strike-out for the Wolverines.  Still 4-0, going into the top of the 6th.

Seems like we've been doing a great job lately of jumping out to big leads and then cycling in some bench players to get them game experience.  It's great to do this, and also drives home how annoying the mercy-rule is (Hutch has expressed her opposition to it on a number of occassions as well).  A) Michigan at least is clearly not running up the score on anyone, we're playing through the bench, and those lost innings are coming out of playing time for players who don't see a ton of action, and B) if Michigan can score 8 runs in an inning, so can another team.  No lead is safe in modern softball, this isn't 1990 anymore, and softball no longer has soccer scores all the time.

Yep, this is the video you're thinking of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qktpA02TxlA .

Someone put that together after Denard demolished ND to the tune of 502 total yards to illustrate the superiority of European announcers.

Hristos voskres!  Voistinu voskres!

Something tells me this news is about to get overwhelmed on the board, but it's worth noting nonetheless.  Hutch remains arguably the greatest softball coach in history, and certainly one of the top three or so.  What she has accomplished, in the face of staggering odds, and with such rock-solid consistency, is nothing short of amazing, and we can be proud as Wolverines to support her & the team.

I'd say we have a solid chance, although we won't necessarily be on many people's lists of favorites to be in the final 8.  We've taken a couple of questionable losses, which is what's holding us back in the polls, but we also have some really impressive wins, most significantly over #2 Arizona State.

Our shot rests primarily on the arms of our two sophomore pitchers, Haylie Wagner & Sara Driesenga.  When they are playing their best, there isn't a better one-two punch in the nation, so if they both bring their A-game to the postseason, there's no limit to what we can do.  That said, I am pinning my hopes on next season & the year after, when we'll have an upperclass pitching staff & some of our young guns (Sierra Romero most notably) will have a little more experience.  This team is going to be fun, though, and can go far!

My one beef here is that I never like having the schedule printed on the back of the shirt.  Sure, it's great when you win most of the games, but sometimes it is just plain painful.  I might wear a shirt that reminded me in a general sense of the 2007 football season - we did have some cool moments that year.  That year's shirt lists the date of the App State game, though, and renders it unwearable.  I prefer the ones that have historical facts & figures about our program.

Coach Hutchins is the ace in the hole for sure.  May she coach for a hundred years!

None.  We're not even a team under consideration in the Pairwise right now, meaning there are >15 teams ahead of us.  We are still below .500 on the season.  It's championship or bust, just like 2010.

Best day of the season so far for the team.  Two wins over quality opposition, including a decisive one over a ranked team!  This moves us to 5-3 against ranked opposition.  Today I was really hoping for a split, hopefully with the win coming against ASU, since that would be such a high quality win.  To get both is awesome.  Have to be especially encouraged about the offense - dropping 14 runs over the course of 13 innings is fantastic.  Can't wait for the B10 season to start, we have a title to defend!

"[Wisconsin] won the tiebreaker for the fourth spot thanks to the Brust prayer and Michigan's lack of a return game."

I actually think that Norfleet is pretty good, but I'm not sure how that's relevant here...

:p

Big tests next weekend, I really hope we can seize the opportunity.  We've struggled against ranked teams, but we have also shown that we are in fact capable of bringing them down.  A couple W against teams like Washington, Arizona, and ASU would do a lot for us in terms of seeding come tournament time.

If we play well, this could be the high point of our season.......

"Her stats this year are better than Wagner's last year in every dimension."

Considering what a dominant campaign Wagner put together last year, that is truly, truly impressive.  Now I really can't wait to see what improvement Wagner has made in the offseason.  Once she's back from injury, our pitching will be downright horrifying.

MGoSoftball is definitely the leading light of the softball fan faction here on MGoBlog, but I always make sure to stick my head in when I can.  I checked & re-checked the boards a few times to make sure I hadn't missed the post, since I wouldn't want to double. :)

Driesenga's progress this season has been just plain outstanding - almost at the level of freshman Denard to sophomore Denard or Darius Morris to Darius "Stop calling me the butterfly" Morris.  Last year she was a decent pitcher, but very much took the back seat to Wagner, who had arguably the best freshman campaign in UM history in the circle.  Now Sara is mowing them down on one side, and lighting up the scoreboard offensively as well (which is where she made most of her contributions last season).

These two games were a great showcase of the progress she's made.  To get 25 Ks over the course of the 42 total outs available on the day is ridiculous.  Hopefully she can keep it rolling on Saturday!

Michigan wins!  ISU plates one in the 10th, but Driesenga gets the big K to end things there.  That was a lot closer than you want to cut it, but a win is a win, and I'm sure Hutch will find a lot of points to coach the team up on after that one!

Sierra Romero with the bomb!  A little breathing room now, just gotta hold on & not make the same mistakes we did in the bottom of the 7th.

I'm watching the gametracker, and it looks like in extra innings you start with a runner on 2nd?  I've never seen this before, is this new this season or have I just not followed things closely enough before?  I know we definitely didn't do it in our tournament games last year.

Yet, at least.  Those sports are much, much newer on the scene, and their athletes are much lower-profile.  Gotta give these things time.

I was wondering about this as well.  I figured we were giving Driesenga some opportunities in the first two games in order to bring Wagner in for this tougher opponent, but clearly that is not the case.  I'd be very interested to find out what the reasoning there is.

Frustrating in many ways, but I'm actually not worried at all.  We played the team that will take over the #1 ranking in a tight game despite terrible 3-point shooting and being on the road.  Get Morgan back, make our open 3s, and start a little smarter, and we win.  I'm betting on us in the rematch - it always sucks to lose, but this one doesn't really get to me.

Can't wait for another year of UM softball.  Haylie Wagner really impressed in her freshman campaign, so it will be tremendously exciting to see where she can go as she continues to develop.  The fall season exhibition win over the professional all-star team certainly sets the table for us to make some noise this year.  #15 seems about right based on last year's results & who's returning.  We're getting some respect, but with plenty of room to rise!

Not disagreeing with your analysis necessarily, but I love that we can not play our best game, be sloppy in a number of aspects, have our best player come up a bit short of his own high, high standards, and still win by 14 on the road in the B10 with the refs and a raucous crowd against us.  Just one year ago, a 14 point win like this would've been among our better Ws of the year.  Now it's just how we roll, meh.

Can't feel too bad about Kentucky.  Championships are forever (unless they get vacated :p), so I doubt there's too much worry about a slight down year.

I do worry a bit about sustaining a high level of success without 4 year players, but maybe that's just because in my bones I still don't believe we'll continue to pull down elite recruiting classes year in and year out.  It seems, though, that 1 and 2 year players are the way to go for teams challenging at the highest levels these days, like it or not.

Thanks!

Heaven forbid a college kid show some emotion while playing basketball.  Let's all hope no one has fun or gets excited, guys.  That just wouldn't do at all.

Drawing a lot of fouls & grabbing a lot of boards.  This is something new.  I like this.

Line is always the place where it takes the longest to develop.  Linemen who perform at a high level before becoming upperclassmen are pretty rare.  I'm sure hoping we manage it, but I'll be skeptical until I see them mashing some fools.

Amazing win!  Hope they can keep this rolling into the Final Four!

Great news - certainly looks like our pitching is in good hands for a while now, with Wagner, Driesenga, and now Betsa as well.  With pitching like we'll have in the years to come, there's no limit to what this team can accomplish.

Upvoted for large and strange sig.  Whaa?

The badminton decision was a horrible one, though.  I believe the players were absolutely right to tank the games, and I would've done the same thing - if the IOC didn't like it, they should have structured the competition differently.  The goal of an athlete or team is to win the championship in their sport.  Other wins are subordinate ends.  If sacrificing one win will help you to achieve more wins in the long run, that is what should be done.

On the Lewan issue, I think he gets the prize for single weirdest stat.  He has one rushing TD and one rushing yard on zero carries (per postgame stats at MGoBlue.com).  His YPC are undefined.

Goodness, I had completely forgotten that that was Doc up there in the press box!  I am not a math person by any stretch - I'm a liberal arts grad student now - but Doc was a phenomenal teacher.  If you can see me of all people through to a 4 on the Calc BC exam, you've done a hell of a job.  His classes were just so well ordered and organized, he had everything down to a precise science.

Amen!  Already this is arguably the greatest season in school history.  First 10 win season ever, 2nd district title ever, SEC Red title.  I got to see us pound Pioneer's face in last Friday (first game I've made it to in years), and I was really impressed.  Coach Palka absolutely has us headed in the right direction.  The defense was dominant until we put in the scrubs late, and the offense was a very sophisticated spread-running attack.  Hope we can keep it going against the Cass Tech machine.

Not gonna lie, I thought this thread title meant "Angry Michigan QB Hating God" and that some sort of horrible accident had taken place off the field.

Brendan Gibbons may be the greatest redemption story going in college football.  By the end of 2010, I felt it was just plain cruel to keep putting him out there to do something everyone knew he couldn't do.  Now, we send him out to win Sugar Bowls and rivalry games with B10 title implications and he wins awards.  Has any player made a bigger turnaround from total scrub to hero?  None that I know of.

I always miss Hunwick.  Literally my favorite athlete of all-time, any sport, any level of competition.  It will forever break my heart that we didn't win that National Title for him.

Another K in the 6th.  Keep it going, As...

Edit: And a K to end the 8th.  Finish it off, As, and don't give him another shot!

Edit edit: that'll do it.  Let's have no shenanigans tonight, and keep it together.

As explode for 4 runs in the 4 to tie it up - this is turning into some pretty entertaining baseball.

Edit: 6 runs - two more come across on a horrible, horrible error.

1 Josh Hamilton at bat up, 1 down.  C'mon, As pitching staff...

"I love Michigan more than I hate Ohio."

Yep, it really is as simple as this.  Every time someone in our division loses to OSU, that moves us one step closer to getting to the B10 title game ourselves.  Consequently, every true Michigan fan should be hoping that MSU loses this one.

For those who may have trouble with this, check out the video of our b-ball team going nuts watching OSU beat Sparty last year to hand us a share of the B10 title.

WOW FACTOR!

I really don't get why folks are so worked up about the "You suck" chant.  Yeah, it's not especially clever.  Neither are most chants.  It's hardly the most offensive thing you'll hear at a UM sporting event (just try Yost if this one bothers you).  I'll agree that it's a little silly when we do it right before an obvious go-for-it 4th down or after a long drive ending in a FG, but that's on the band for playing it at the wrong time, not the students.  Seems someone's wine has turned to vinegar and their cheese has gotten moldy.

The fact that the injury came on a block in the back that wasn't called is just the shit cherry on top of this shit sundae.

BOOM!  Delmon Young rips one that got out in about 2 seconds.  Yikes!

Not getting the hate on this post.  The refs *were* horrendous.  Repeatedly missing blocks in the back on punts all the way up until we did one is just one thing on the list.  That said, with good officiating we would still have lost by 3 scores.  It's just frustrating to watch.

This, this, a thousand times this.  Last year on the metro, while Gopherquest was still very much alive, I actually saw a Minnesota fan still wearing a "Fire Mason" T-shirt.  I couldn't believe he still thought that was a good move.  That really has to go down in history as one of the worst hiring/firing decisions of all time.

No problem there at all.  Pro sports are their own thing.  I enjoy watching Wolverines succeed even if they're not play for my teams, but I have no trouble rooting for Lions/Wings/etc. players who came from schools I don't care for.  Chris Spielman was an awesome linebacker for the Lions, doesn't matter who he played for in college.

Good.  I don't care what anyone says, it's a terrible sports song.  Zero pump up factor.  Also, the band doesn't play it, which pretty much settles the matter.

Gotta give a little love to the women's soccer team, who started their season recently.  They have shot out to a 4-0-0 start, with and OT win and three shut outs.  On the whole, they've outscored the opposition 9-1, and they've done all of this with several top players out of the country competing at a youth World Cup competition.

Wow, that is harsh.  Hawk Harrelson ruins games worse than Pam Ward.

Can you exorcise a god?

Just so long as Hoke doesn't leave to go prospecting after the season is over ...

The most frustrating thing is how badly the coverage this year compares to the excellent coverage of the Winter Games just 2 years ago.  Theey commandeered a whole host of stations (4 or 5 in total, as I recall) and had tons of stuff available to watch.

As for the tape delays, I don't mind that at all - I get that things are happening in England and that creates issues.  What pisses me off is the salami slicing of events.  I don't want to watch part of a beach volleyball match, an overproduced recap of two British medals, the end of the same volleyball match, and then alternate between swimming and gymnastics for several hours and skipping the rings (one of the most incredibly impressive events) entirely.  Show me the whole volleyball match, THEN the whole British-winning events, THEN all the swimming, THEN all the gymnastics.  Guh.  I miss watching this stuff on the CBC as a kid so much, they knew what to do.

Thanks for keeping us all posted on this.  Great updates!  Delightful to see that we seem to be running the show like usual.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EC_Red_Bull_Salzburg

Looks like they're a pretty good team, too - they've won their league a number of times in recent years.

Edit: Austrian Hockey has the most facinating season/playoff structure.  The twelve teams play every other team, once at home and once on the road.  At the end of this, they have the Placement Round for the top six teams, where they do the same thing (the Qualifying Round), in order to determine playoff seeding.  Meanwhile, the bottom six teams also do this, and the top two get to go on to the playoffs, the rest drop out.

Here's where it gets really interesting - the #1 team from the Placement Round gets to *take their choice* of which of the bottom four teams (bottom two from the Placement Round and the two from the Qualifying Round) they wish to face.  The #2 team then gets to pick from the remaining three teams, and so on.  After that, they proceed to a best-of-seven format.

(For the information, check out "Infos zur Season" at the bottom of this page: http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/de_AT/EC-Red-Bull-Salzburg---Season-... )

Edit edit: Marty Turco played for this team briefly as well.  Wonder if he put in a good word for Hunwick?

In re: feedback, steviebrownforheisman makes a good point, and it can be expanded on a bit.  There is a bit of a tendency in this video to show the last two or three plays before a scoring play, regardless of what they were, as opposed to giving a sense of the overall plot of a drive.  We often skip straight to Michigan having the ball around the 20 yard line, doubtless leaving behind some cool first downs, big gains, etc.  On one occasion, we even watch a false start, which should pretty much never happen in a highlight video.

Overall, this is a pretty good effort, and it's great re-living this game.  I was a senior in HS at the time (Saline Hornets!) and went with a good friend who had never been in the Big House before, so a lot of cool memories.  Thanks for putting this together - I think you're well on your way, but could use a little polish.

Hard to believe that, despite a penalty being taken and a goal scored, the official only added 18 additional seconds of stoppage time and blew the whistle in the middle of a free kick opportunity.  Not that Germany deserved much better, of course.  Can't believe we're stuck with the two least likable teams going head to head in the final.

Great write-up, thanks for the background!  As for results, I don't want to jinx anything with my predictions.  All I can say is that if anyone out there is rooting for Italy (native Italians excepted), I do not at all understand how your mind works.

It's too bad that Italy will most likely get the W against Ireland.  It would be great if the Irish could manage a draw - Italian soccer is the most hatable thing in sports outside of Ohio.  Seeing them go down in the group stage of a second straight major tournament would be so wonderful.

Well, you can scratch "watch the Belmont Stakes" off of pretty much everyone's plans.

Definitely fun to attend, but I'm going to call "myth" on the Yost comparison.  The first volleyball game I went to, a friend hyped it up to me in exactly those terms, and I was pretty disappointed when I got there.  This isn't a knock on the volleyball crowd - they do a great job and really keep the energy level up.  It's just a fact of life that Yost is one of the best venues to watch any athletic event at in the entire country.

HUGE win, even if it took a bit of luck to get there.  Now if Haylie can just cut down those 7th inning mistakes, or if we can build up a bit bigger of a lead ...

As long as the refs are handling it well (and it sounds like they were doing reasonably), I'd say just leave it to them.  Better to just let their guy skate to the box, take the power play, and move on.

Rebuilding years when you win an undisputed Big Ten Championship are the best kind of rebuilding years.

Also, I was finally able to make it to Alumni Field this weekend and caught all 3 games.  Haylie Wagner is a great young pitcher, maybe the next in the Nemitz/Taylor mold of Michigan greats.  What really stood out to me was the fact that she attacked every single batter, went up 0-1 or 0-2 in almost every pitch count, and kept the pressue on the hitters.  Also, she had some absolutely nasty off-speed stuff.  The program is in great hands for the years ahead!

That's a good point, although with one major caveat.  "Chelsea Dagger" is an awful, awful, incredibly annoying song.  When we choose our own stuff to become unique, we should definitely not take repetitive and annoying as a template.

Can't wait for next Saturday.  I'll be back at Alumni Field for the first time in a year, hopefully to watch the ladies wrap up a B10 title!  Should be great!

Getting all 3 against Illinois would be huge.  After that all we have left is Wiscy & Purdue, and neither of those will be easy.  I'm really looking forward to that Purdue series - I'll be back in Ann Arbor for it, so hopefully we'll be able to clinch a B10 title while I'm there!

I know this is the rule, but doesn't it seem like something that should obviously be changed?  I mean, Verlander goes 8 scoreless innings and gets nothing (stats-wise), Valverde gives up a pair in one inning of work, and for some reason he gets the W.  In what world does that make sense?  In games that end up w/ 3 or more pitchers, I could see giving the W to the 3rd (or 4th, etc.) pitcher.  In games with only two pitchers, though, there really should at least be some discretion re: who gets the win.

Idiot play by Z there.  You absolutely have to be responsible for your stick, esp in a critical situation like this.  Game over.

GOTTA make something out of this PP chance.

Not to mention the fact that three defenders followed the initial shooter and no one even attempted to pick up the trailing man.  Just plain awful play all around.

GOAL!  If that doesn't stand up, then the world makes no sense.  Which is why I'm nervous.

I'm really looking forward to that series against Purdue.  I'll be back in town then and plan on attending the double-header we have against them.  If the standings continue looking like this, it might be a really big series!

Weber should not play again this season.  Absolutely disgusting and unacceptable behavior.

NBC announcers are idiots.  If you have a chance to end the game w/ the open goal, you have to take it.

Brady Hoke would've shot that puck.

Ok, I'll take the blame for that one.  DAMN.

Come on, Z!  I know you have our only goal, but you should have a hat trick!