No. 4 seed Michigan takes on unseeded Virginia Tech today at Alumni Field in a super regional matchup. The Wolverines swept through the Ann Arbor Regional last weekend, while the Hokies upended No. 13 seed Tennessee in the Knoxville Regional.
These two teams last met last year in the regular season. Michigan beat Virginia Tech 1-0 on a Samantha Findlay home run. Michigan coach Carol Hutchins doesn’t expect the Hokies to give Findlay too much to hit this weekend. Findlay walked five times in the Wolverines’ three regional games last weekend, and Hutchins is more than pleased to allow her star second baseman to reach base via the base on balls.
As of late yesterday afternoon, Hutchins didn’t know who she would start in the pitcher’s circle, but freshman Jordan Taylor is listed as the starter. Hutchins said she typically knows her starter that close to game time. Sophomore Nikki Nemitz started the first game last weekend, but was relieved by Taylor in the third inning. Taylor pitched the entirety of the final two games.
All-American senior Angela Tincher pitches for the Hokies. She no-hit the U.S. National Team earlier this year, which beat Michigan 5-1 earlier this month and outscored opponents 399-12 on the way to a 36-1 record in its Bound 4 Beijing tour.
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Middle first: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 0
Taylor got into a bit of trouble, allowing an infield hit then hitting a batter to start the game, but got out of the jam unscathed. Hutchins said Taylor pitches better when the pressure’s on or she’s in a jam, and it definitely showed there.
End of first: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 0
Michigan went 1-2-3, but put each batter put the ball in play. Sophomore centerfielder Molly Bausher, who usually tries to put the ball on the ground and beat out the throw, laced a shot to center, but it was tracked down by Jessica Everhart.
Middle second: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 0
Taylor set the side down in order, but hasn’t seemed to find her groove yet. As No. 8 hitter Whitney Davis worked a full count, the crowd, which packs the infield bleachers and fills about 90 percent of the outfield bleachers, really started to get behind the Michigan pitcher, who struck out Davis.
End of second: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 0
Tincher struck out the side, but walked sophomore designated player Nikki Nemitz between. The Michigan bench got pretty excited about the eight-pitch walk, showing they understand how tough it will be to get base runners against Tincher.
Middle of third: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 0
Another 1-2-3 inning for Taylor, but I still don’t think she has hit her groove yet. She has thrown first-pitch balls to five-of-11 batters. This is going to be a low-scoring weekend, and as the game stays knotted at zero, Taylor is likely to improve under that pressure.
End of third: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 0
Junior Teddi Ewing had a one-out infield hit. Ewing, the No. 9 hitter, entered the game hitting .348. Hutchins said she has felt tempted to move her up in the lineup, but hasn’t because she likes the shortstop as a table setter. That didn’t work this inning though, as senior leftfielder Alessanda Giampaolo hit into a 5-4-3 double play.
Middle fourth: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 0
Taylor sets down the Virginia Tech hitters in order again. That’s 12 straight retired. She’s closer, but I still don’t think she’s found her groove yet. She’s allowed a few fly balls to rightfield. Last weekend she retired batters mostly on strike outs, pop-ups and ground balls. Still, a nine-pitch fourth shows shows she’s close.
End fourth: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 0
Sophomore rightfielder Angela Findlay poked a single into right, but was stranded. Samantha Findlay struck out for the second time today. Hutchins said she noticed the U.S. National Team grew frustrated against Tincher and pressed. Findlay has been prone to do the same at times and looks likes she’s doing that today.
Middle fifth: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 0
Fifteen straight. Taylor has becoming more agressive going after hitters as the game has gone on. The crowd has quieted a bit with the lack of baserunners, and I expect that to continue.
End of fifth: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 0
Tincher threw first-pitch balls to all three hitters, but struck out two (eight on the game). Neither team has threatened since Virginia Tech had two runners in scoring position with two outs in the first. And both pitchers have gotten better as the game has hit the middle innings.
Middle fifth: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 0
A little clarification because the ESPN announcers had some confusion on this half inning. Here’s what really happened:
Caroline Stolle led off the inning with a strikeout. Jenna Rhodes fouled a pitch off her leg, and wasn’t put out unassisted by Dorian Shaw. Although the ESPN announcers though Erin Ota was up, Rhodes, back in the batter’s box, had an infield hit. She was then caught stealing (now 41-for-48 on the season) with Ota up. Ota singled, the Charisse Mariconda flew out to center.
Anyway, a nice throw by catcher Roya St. Clair prevented the Hokies from threatening.
End of sixth: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 1
Giampaolo tied Michigan’s career doubles record with a one-out shot to the left-center gap. Freshman Marley Powers pinch hit for Bausher, but struck out on three pitches, all swings and misses.
Hutchins had pinch ran for the speedy Giampaolo with the speedier Michelle Weatherdon. Angela Findlay singled to centerfield, and Weatherdon slid into home just under the tag. Michigan is three out away from the win, but Taylor will face the heart of the order in the seventh.
Final: Virginia Tech 0, Michigan 1
Taylor came out dealing in the ninth, and set down the Hokies 1-2-3. Angela Findlay made a running catch to end it
Check back to The game soon for post game coverage.
Post game
Obviously Angela Findlay had the big hit, but they were a couple of smaller plays that had a huge impact on this game.
In the top of the sixth inning, Rhodes singled, but was caught stealing on a great throw by St. Clair. Virginia Tech coach Scot Thomas asked for an appeal on obstruction, but that request was denied. The next batter, Ota, singled, and Thomas said he would’ve sent Rhodes home on that hit.
And after Giampaolo doubled in the sixth, Hutchins was more concerned about pinch-hitting for Bausher with Powers that it was associate head coach Bonnie Tholl who called for Weatherdon to run for Giampaolo. Weatherdon scored on Angela Findlay’s single, sliding under a good throw from Everhart. Thomas said he though Giampaolo would’ve been out on the play.
Before the game, Hutchins said “We go as Sam goes,” but the elder Findlay sister was 0-for-3 with three strike outs. Hutchins said she noticed some of her players getting down when Tincher was dominate early, and I suspect Findlay was one of them.
Everyone expected a pitchers’ duel, and that’s what happened. Expect the same tomorrow. Tincher, who threw 104 pitches, had no hesitation about pitching tomorrow. Hutchins was mum on who should would send to the circle tomorrow, but expect Taylor, who had seven strikeouts and no walks, again. She’s going to ride the hot pitcher.
Quotes:
Hutchins:
“It’s a great win. It was a tight game. It was a very exciting game. And honestly, it was exactly as I expected. Ticher is as good as advertised, and I told our kids after the game, we’re sitting in the position we want to be in because we played great defense. Defense starts on the mound. And we didn’t let them score until we found a way to score. It was a very exciting day for us, and I expect tomorrow to be no less.”
“I like Jordan pitching every day. She stays within herself. She didn’t get some calls that we would have liked to have gotten. And she doesn’t let it get to her. And we play one-pitch softball. We just worry about the next pitch. The most important thing we do is control our emotion, control ourselves and she has to trust her team behind her. She doesn’t have to be perfect. She just needs to pitch to the hitters the way she does all the time. And let her defense help her.”
“I thought we had a couple moments (of being discouraged with Tincher’s pitching). I’d like to see a little bit better energy tomorrow. I told them after the game, I thought we did a pretty good job and I thought we had a lot of good at-bats. We had some good contact. I thought we prepared well this week. Really what got to us was her drop ball, and we got a little better laying off it later in the game. She’s a great pitcher. You’re not going to come out and overpower a great pitcher. Our game plan is we need to play defense. We need to hold them. We need to trust that something will happen and go our way, and we need to stay up.”
Giampaolo:
On her sixth-inning at-bat:
“I was just seeing the pitches really well. I might not have been swinging at all strikes, but I was keeping my head on the ball, and I was really focused on just putting it in play. And I felt like I was kind of in a zone. I felt like I believed that I was going to get a hit, and she just pitched it right there. So I took a good cut at it.”
“I think our main problem was we weren’t swinging at strikes all the time. She has a lot of movement on her ball, and we were swinging at her drop balls and her rise balls. I think the key is for us to lay off those pitches and make her put it in our zone, and I think we can beat her that way.”
Taylor:
Pitchers duels are always fun. But it’s more of a game where one pitch can change the whole game. And anybody can hit a home run at this point so it’s just not me going against Ticher, it’s me going against the Virginia Tech batters.
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