Softball outscores Rutgers 25-2 in DH; Hutch gets 1500th win at Michigan

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

The final series of the regular season is here. Time absolutely flies. 

#19 Michigan took on Rutgers today on the road out in NJ. 

There was supposed to be a game at 3pm yesterday. However the weather forecast looked poor and Rutgers doesn't have lights (lol), so it was decided that today would be a doubleheader. 

This is a B1G "stadium". Yikes.

 

In the first game, the Rutgers hilarity ensued early setting the tone for the day.

With two outs and one on, Rutgers hit two Wolverine batters in a row to load the bases.

Katie Alexander then hit a routine groundball to 3rd that went between the 3B's legs. Two Michigan runs scored to give Michigan a 2-0 lead.

In the 4th, the local from Seaford, NY hit a bomb to LF. Monte put Michigan up 3-0.

Michigan added 3 runs in the 5th inning on a Blanco RBI single, a passed ball a sac fly by Monte. 6-0 Michigan.

Rutgers added an unearned run on a dropped strike three that would cross later on on a single. But it wasn't enough.

Michigan takes game 1, 6-1. Megan Betsa finishes with 12Ks.

This game was the 1500th win for Coach Carol Hutchins at Michigan. She already is the winningest coach in college softball history. She already was the first coach to hit 1500 career wins.

She's the winningest coach in Michigan Athletics history, and her 1500 wins and counting at Michigan will be very hard to top in the future.

30 minutes later, Michigan would again face Rutgers. RU coach Jay Nelson was on the record of saying facing Tera Blanco would be easier.

He thought.

After a Blanco sac fly gave Michigan a 1-0 lead, the rise of freshman Madison Uden continued. Her 2-run double made it 3-0 Michigan after one.

Rutgers coach Jay Nelson would get ejected from the game in the bottom of 1st after arguing a HBP no-call. He was filmed by the BTN+ crew angrily leaving the field with his bags and walking towards his car.

The floodgates opened.

Kelly Christner started off the 2nd inning with a 2-run shot to center field to give Michigan a 5-0 lead. After two singles, Aidan Falk cleared the bases with a 3-run blast.

8-0 Michigan, no outs.

Madison Uden hit another RBI double to make it 9-0. Then Katie Alexander hit a 3-run blast--the second for Michigan in the inning--to make it 12-0. Still no outs. An RBI single by Faith Canfield made it 13-0.

To recap the 2nd inning:

10 runs
12 hits
Two 3-run HRs
Batted around

RUTGERZ

After Michigan added another run in the 4th on a two-out RBI single by Tera Blanco, another big inning would happen in the 5th. Katie Alexander belted her 2nd home run of the game over the wall. A 2-run shot this time to make it 16-0 Michigan.

RBIs by Natalie Peters, freshman Haley Hoogenraad and Blanco made it 19-0 Michigan. All in the 5th inning.

Leah Crockett came in to get some reps in the circle, replacing Blanco. Rutgers unfortunately ruined the shutout in the 7th, but Abby Ramirez ended the game on a high note with a diving stop and putout to 2B to end it.

Michigan destroys Rutgers, 19-1 in 5 innings.

Michigan is now 40-10-1 and 19-3 in the B1G.

The regular season finale will be against Rutgers again, tomorrow at Noon.

Look at this line. 23 hits in 5 innings. That's Michigan Softball.

And that's why I'm continuing to just post game recaps. Because this team and ALL OF OUR TEAMS deserve your attention. 

Go Blue!

We are back

May 6th, 2017 at 4:19 PM ^

I'd pay to watch you take a ground ball, laughing at a young college player for making an error is disgusting to me I don't care if it's Rutgers or not

mGrowOld

May 6th, 2017 at 8:09 PM ^

WD is still chafed over the parody WD account making the parody WD apparel thread the other night and the fact the mods didnt pull it right away.  

In case you hadnt noticed.

rob f

May 7th, 2017 at 12:14 AM ^

What WD isn't giving the Mods any credit for, though, is the fact that they had already deleted 2 other parody accounts Wednesday night or Thursday morning that had crossed the line with their mockery of WD. And as of sometime early Friday, it appears that the "WDD" account has been red-locked.

That parody apparel thread was still up earlier today. For the most part, I didn't think it was all that bad and was actually pretty funny up until the humor was largely replaced by drama and exaggeration.

FWIW, I don't agree with others in that thread who were getting worked up over perceived "bullying" of WD. Yeah, WD is a lightning rod on this blog; best way for him to handle it, though, probably is to either ignore it or laugh along with.

WD, though, chose the "martyr" route, which in turn, invites further escalation by those who are already inclined to go after him.

A suggestion that WD might want to consider is this: if he knows that certain types of threads are more polarizing than others, maybe it's best not to post them. I (like many others) think most apparel threads are just clutter that do nothing but push good threads and discussions to the 2nd page, essentially killing them for the vast majority of MGoUsers (one of the many web design flaws of Drupal).

Is it really necessary to post yet another apparel thread every time some Nike marketing executive decides to enhance company sales? Worse yet, do we all need to know WD's entire wardrobe? Simply put, he invites a lot of the criticism he gets.

While more often than not I just downvote apparel threads and move on, I am going to express my disdain for them when they become excessive.

Bottom line? I think the vast majority here appreciate WD's devotion to all things MICHIGAN. I know I do; I upvote most of the non-revenue Michigan sports coverage he provides. The ball is in his court, though, on a lot of the drama. Much---maybe even most of it--- is self-induced.

Then again, maybe he gets his jollies from all the attention, good or bad.

rposly

May 7th, 2017 at 10:17 AM ^

There's a faint whiff of sexism in this and some of the other replies here.  By "laughing at a young college player," I assume you mean "laughing at a girl who, doggone it, is trying her little heart out!"  

Would you have a problem chuckling at a Rutgers baseball or football player who made a mistake during a game?  I highly doubt it.  As someone else pointed out, these are all D1 athletes who have put themselves on the B1G stage, on TV, under the lights (or not). 

P.S. This is also why I (and others) can't stand when softball game recaps use first names.  

South Bend Wolverine

May 6th, 2017 at 4:28 PM ^

Congratulations to Minnesota on locking up the outright regular season championship today with a beatdown of Penn State.  First time since I've been seriously following the team that we have not won the conference regular season.  Here's hoping we can make a great run at Alumni Field next weekend and bring home the tourney crown at least!

Solecismic

May 6th, 2017 at 5:08 PM ^

I appreciate that you start these items. The minor sports deserve more attention. These women put in a lot of time and wear the maize and blue proudly.

You also understand what Hutch has done here. She has built a Program in a sport that had very little presence west of the Mississippi before she came along.

Softball is still expanding. Today, the SEC is a power along with the Pac 12. Not so much the Big Ten. Minnesota has a great program now. Nebraska is good at times. Not so much the rest of the league, though Illinois would be a nice challenge in a three-game series this year. It's too bad Michigan wasn't scheduled to play any of those teams this season.

Like UConn in basketball, Hutch can recruit players who simply won't consider a weak program that's just starting out with softball. Granted, the Rutgers coach doesn't sound like a great guy, but the women who are out there trying their best against a program like Michigan - knowing full well the odds are against coming within shouting distance of any wins this weekend - deserve more respect.

So I'd feel better reading these without "Rutgers hilarity" over an error or "Michigan destroys Rutgers." Since you understand Hutch's amazing accomplishments, you can also understand those who play for a Rutgers program that doesn't have that advantage.

Solecismic

May 7th, 2017 at 2:06 PM ^

They put up 20 today (and Betsa and Blanco combined on a five-inning no-hitter). The bats seem far stronger lately, but that could be a product of the schedule. We'll know more in a few days.

Certainly an interesting narrative if they can get to Groenewegen and win the tournament. Hutch wasn't shy about her frustration after the Maryland and Wisconsin losses. I can't recall her benching established seniors for a game before - but I hardly have an encyclopedic knowledge of the team.