Softball wins season opener, freshman pitcher saves the day

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on February 8th, 2019 at 2:09 PM

#19 Michigan opened the 2019 season this morning with an early bird special game against NC State in the lid lifter of the USF Wilson-Demarini Tournament.

The game was quiet until the 3rd inning when Michigan had bases loaded and Masion Uden dropped one into center field for an RBI single to put the Wolverines up 1-0.

NC State answered immediately, tying the game with a leadoff home run in the top of the 4th inning on the first pitch. After a diving catch for an out by sophomore 1B Taylor Bump, NC State managed to score two more runs with a ball down the left field line to go up 3-1.

After Michigan failed to respond in the B4, Hutch made a surprising decision and took Meghan Beaubien out of the circle and inserted true freshman Alex Storako while down 3-1. It worked because she struck out the first batter she faced and went 3up, 3 down. 

NC State had a meltdown in the circle in the same inning with a leadoff walk and consecutive hit batters loaded the bases with Wolverines. Haley Hoogenraad made it a 3-2 game with an RBI single and then NC State hit ANOTHER Michigan batter with bases loaded to tie at 3-3.

Michigan took the lead for good on an NC State infield error with bases loaded to make it 4-3.

Storako was solid, striking out 6 batters and allowing 0 hits in just 3 innings pitched. 

Michigan wins their season opener over NC State, 4-3. 

In about 20 minutes, the first real test of the season comes when #19 Michigan will face #7 Arizona. 

Wolverine Devotee

February 8th, 2019 at 2:19 PM ^

*Madison Uden. 

Ugh. Wish I could edit the OP.

Here's the starting lineup for this game. Wonder if we'll see any changes in this next game.

  1. Natalie Peters (CF)
  2. Faith Canfield (2B)
  3. Madison Uden (3B)
  4. Haley Hoogenraad (RF)
  5. Katie Alexander (C)
  6. Taylor Bump (1B)
  7. Thais Gonzalez (DP)
  8. Lexie Blair (LF)
  9. Natalia Rodriguez (SS)

LHP- Meghan Beaubien

Alton

February 8th, 2019 at 2:19 PM ^

The good:  Storako's performance.  9 batters faced, 9 outs, 6 by strikeout.  All with a 1-run lead.

The bad:  Michigan at the plate.  Only 4 base hits, all singles.  Left the bases loaded in 3 of their 6 innings.  Needed 5 HBP, 2 walks and an error to get anything going--would probably have only scored 1 run without those 5 batters getting plunked.

The scary:  Beaubien's second time through the order.  The defense bailed her out; that 4th inning could have been a disaster--she was hit hard that inning.

Wolverine Devotee

February 8th, 2019 at 2:25 PM ^

She's coming off of some kind of injury. She's had a cast on her non-throwing arm that caused her to miss fall practice & the exhibitions. 

I don't think there is anything to worry about with her in the long run. The bigger news to me is Storako doing so well. 

Yessir

February 8th, 2019 at 2:46 PM ^

Off topic to the game question...  

Don't we typically open a top 15-ish team every year?  Or do we even open the season unranked at times? 

Thanks in advance. 

Squeezebox

February 8th, 2019 at 3:50 PM ^

MGoBLue.com lists the AZ start time as 2:30 PM, while failing to mention that it's CET.  The AZ team site has it down right.  Looks like football profits could be better used just to keep the site up to date.

Start time of the 2nd game now set for 3:56.

UM radio link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw3CY1ZyqRk

Live stats from the AZ site:
https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=252124

rob f

February 8th, 2019 at 4:36 PM ^

In Columbus, I believe most tailgate parties have someone assigned as "designated lid lifter", the person responsible for determining which coolers hold the beer and food and which ones are used for "squatting"

snowcrash

February 8th, 2019 at 6:47 PM ^

More on the second game: Storako's control deserted her and she threw 5 walks and a wild pitch in 2 innings, after going 3 innings in the first game without a walk. She did manage to strike 3 batters out, though. Beaubien gave up next to nothing (no runs, 3 hits, no walks) over the last 4 innings, but M lost because we were unable to generate much offense against UA's pitcher, Taylor McQuillin. M had just 4 hits and 2 walks.

MGoBlue00

February 8th, 2019 at 7:51 PM ^

I was at both games today, wasn’t drinking, and don’t think I had heat stroke, but I swear Schaefer pitched an inning in the first game. It’s not mentioned in the game story, on Twitter, or in the box score. Maybe someone spiked my pop.

outsidethebox

February 8th, 2019 at 8:41 PM ^

It is tough having to practice inside then head south and begin your season against a couple teams who have been outside a lot...it is very different in every way.  

Solecismic

February 9th, 2019 at 4:41 PM ^

Hmm. No Lou Allan in the first weekend. She's one with power, but missed or was recovering from injury most of last year. Hopefully she'll be back.

Storako is off to a nice start. They could use depth at pitcher.

Yeah, I worry about the offense. Everything else is there. But in softball, that's still a good 40% of the game. These tournaments are critical for NCAA tournament seeding since the Big Ten schedule is imbalanced and very weak in the east.

But Hutch knows what she's doing and there are some promising new recruits.