Michigan Softball season is over after losing late vs Washington
Michigan softball saw its season come to an end very early Monday morning as the Wolverines were bounced by Washington in the Seattle Regional.
The Michigan softball team started so well in the Seattle Region that you started to believe the Wolverines were going to advance the Super Regional.
A win over Washington on Saturday night made it even more likely. That win meant the Huskies would need to win three consecutive games, including two more over U-M to advance, which is exactly what Washington did Sunday night, defeating the Wolverines 2-0, then 10-5.
In the first game, Washington struck first and added a run on a controversial obstruction call that Michigan head coach Carol Hutchins didn’t agree with.
Yet, the call stood and the Wolverines were unable to muster any offense and pushed the two teams to another game that would decide the regional winner.
In this one, the Wolverines were hot out of the gates and actually built a 5-1 lead over Washington. With Alex Storako on the mound, one of the NCAA leaders in ERA and strikeouts, it seemed like a good position to be in.
Yet, Michigan just ran out of gas. The first game started at 8 PM (Eastern) and the second game, started past 11 p.m. Washington took advantage, was able to put together a couple of big innings and that’s it for the Michigan softball season.
It’s a tough way to see the Wolverines go out. They certainly seemed poised to advance to the Super Regional, which would have been a best two-out-of-three against top-seeded Oklahoma.
Still, Hutchins and company achieved a lot this season. The Wolverines earned another NCAA tournament berth and of course, most importantly, won another Big Ten championship.
It’s been 16 years since the Wolverines won the softball national title, but as long as Hutchins is around, they will be contenders and will continue to bring home hardware.
Baseball could be on the bubble?
You have to wonder if things had been different if Michigan was awarded a host seed as it probably should have been?
I bring that up because after losing two of three games to Maryland this week and missing out on the Big Ten title, Michigan baseball needs an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolverines were a two seed last week and have been solidly projected in the field, but with just Big Ten games on their schedule, it’s fair to ask what kind of treatment Michigan and other Big Ten teams will get?