Michigan softball advances in first round of NCAA tournament

The Michigan softball team advanced in the first round of the NCAA softball tournament as the Wolverines knocked off South Dakota State. 

Pitching is always important in the postseason and on Friday, Michigan softball used a strong performance from starter Alex Storako, as well as some timely hitting from Lexie Blair to squeak past South Dakota State 2-1 in the opening round of the Orlando Regional.

Storako nearly went the distance and didn’t come out until the seventh inning. She didn’t allow a run until surrendering a home run in the sixth inning but allowed just three hits and struck out three.

Meghan Beaubien came in and got the save in the seventh as the Wolverines started the first round of the NCAA tournament 1-0.

However, the biggest play of the game came in the bottom of the fifth when Blair came to the plate. Up to that point, neither team had scored a run and there was only nine hits total.

Six of those came from Michigan softball and two were from Blair. She doubled and then brought home two runs on a single in the fifth inning that gave the Wolverines a 2-0 advantage.

From there, Michigan was able to make it stick. Storako walked just three batters and tossed only 87 pitches which bodes well for her next start. Kristina Burkhardt matched Blair with two hits.

The Wolverines will face the winner of Central Florida and Villanova next in the undefeated semifinal. That will be the most important game heading into the championship round because then the opponent would need to beat Michigan twice.

UCF is the nationally seeded team and the favorite but at 16th, the Knights are the lowest-seeded team, so Michigan softball shouldn’t be viewed as a big underdog.

The Wolverines are now 37-16 on the season.