Chidester Walk-Off HR; UM Wins 5-4

Submitted by MGoSoftball on

Amanda Chidester exploded last year.  She was an All-American selection.  This year she is on the "Watch List" along with teammates Ashley Lane and Bree Evans.  However, Chiddy has started a little slow during the first two games but she made up for all of that tonight.

Chiddy hit a walk-off HR to lead us to a 5-4 victory.  She went 3 for 4 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs.  This is almost mid-season form for her.  I am so happy for her.  Ashley Lane went 2 for 3 tonight as well.

Stephanie Spiereman was in the circle tonight and Caitlan Blanchard was her battery mate.  Stephanie gave up 3 runs (2 ER) off 5 hits, 3 BB and 1K in 4.2 innings of work.  Strike outs are not Stephanie's strong point.  She is more of a low ball pitcher that gets hitters to ground out instead of over-powering hitters.

Haylie Wagner came in to calm things down as Stephanie got into a jam in the 5th inning.  Haylie gave up 1 ER on 1 hit, 2 BB and 2K in 2.1 innings of work.

It is good to see Coach mix things up a little. The outfield is set with Bree sandwiched between Lindsay and Colie.  These three also are at the top of the order with 1, 2 ,3 being Bree, Lindsay and Colie.  I would not expect Coach to tinker much with this. 

The real question is what to do at 1st base.  We have so many options with Taylor and Mandy both capable of doing a good job.  Then that leaves Ashley as DP.  This is a good situation to have but it will take a few more games to settle in.  Typically it takes about 8-10 games to get everything situated.

We finish up tomorrow in a non-league game against Penn State, who lost to La Tech and LSU thus far. 

Congrats ladies on a 3-0 record.  Dont worry about the close scores thus far, Coach is just tryint to figure out WHO we are first.

btjabrone

February 11th, 2012 at 10:08 PM ^

3-0 is awesome, MGoSoftball, but we have all gotten a little spoiled.  With the close wins, is it time to start getting concerned?  With Nebraska in the conference now are we even at risk of not winning the B1G this year?  I am hoping we dominate the conference again and can focus on trying to have a strong postseason, but I am getting a little nervous.

MGoSoftball

February 11th, 2012 at 10:35 PM ^

Dont get nervous at all.  Sara is off to a great start.  As a matter of fact, I am getting giddy with the good pitching.  The bats are a little cold but that takes time to adjust.  A win is a win is a win.  Its all about strategy.

Coach will make it happen.  Nebraska is not very strong this year anyway.  I will post about the B1G in a few days but Nebraska is not going to hurt us.  We will still win the B1G.

jvblaha

February 12th, 2012 at 1:58 AM ^

Good game for Chiddy.  Wondering how she'll adjust without getting to bat behind Dorian, but I think she is ready to lead this team and maintain her production.

MGoSoftball

February 12th, 2012 at 2:11 PM ^

There are a few people on the Blog that downvote M Softball.  Brian has made it clear that anything related to Michigan Athletics are On Topic.  I have to use that word again but those people that think Michigan is only FB, BB and H are all W.W.

I enjoy reading about the Lax, Volleyball and Wrestling teams.  We are a family and we need to support each family member.  While I will agree that Football is King on this Blog and it should be, all those W.W. need to understand that we support All Things Michigan.