Michigan Softball: Wolverines get no-hitter in NCAA tournament win

Michigan softball shut out Seattle in a first-round win on Friday thanks to a no-hitter from pitcher Meghan Beaubien. 

A talented pitcher can mean a lot in softball and on Friday, Michigan softball’s Meghan Beaubien put the rest of the region on notice as she no-hit Seattle in a 2-0 win for the Wolverines in the opening-round game of the NCAA tournament.

It was the third no-hitter of the season for Beaubien, who stuck out 12 batters in the game, including the final two of the game to wrap up the win for the Wolverines, who were the No. 2 seed in the region, which also features Washington and Portland State.

Despite winning 15 of its last 16 games, and winning the Big Ten championship, Michigan softball was given a No.  2 seed in the region. The top seed is Washington, which is the team U-M is likely to face Saturday, barring an upset.

In the first game of the double-elimination, four-team tournament, Michigan softball notched six hits but it had a hard time scoring runs. The first one came in the third as Lexie Blair got one of her two hits and eventually scored on a passed ball to make it 1-0 Wolverines.

The score stayed that way until the bottom of the sixth when Taylor Hammers hit a solo home run, giving the Wolverines an insurance run they didn’t need.

Michigan softball has the pitching to advance

Winning in the postseason really is all about pitching. Obviously, you can’t win if you don’t score runs, but manufacturing offense is a lot harder to do against an ace, especially in softball, a sport that puts less pressure on the arm and allows pitchers to throw a lot more pitches.

Beaubien has won her last three starts and is fresh off a five-inning perfect game in a win last weekend over Rutgers. However, she wasn’t even the Wolverines best pitcher during the regular season.

That was Alex Storako who is sixth nationally in ERA (0.88) and leads the nation at strikeouts per inning at 13. She will likely get the start tomorrow in what will be a crucial game.

If Michigan wins, the Wolverines will need just one more win to advance to the Super Regional. And if say it’s Washington, the Huskies, if they lost to U-M, would need to win another game, then defeat Michigan in two consecutive games to advance.

It pays to stay in the winner’s bracket and the team that wins the game tomorrow has a much better shot of advancing to the final 16. Michigan softball plays at 6 PM EST Saturday.