The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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14 THE WOLVERINE MAY 2020 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS FIVE YEARS AGO, 2015: Michigan softball shut down No. 5 Alabama to open the 2015 Women's College World Series with a resounding 5-0 victory May 28. The No. 3 Wolverines moved to 57-6 on the year. Sophomore pitcher Megan Betsa proved untouchable in the win, allowing only four hits and a walk while striking out six. She posted complete-game shutout number 11 on the season, boosting her own record to 31-4. Meanwhile, the Wolverines scored all their runs by clearing the fences at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City. Sophomore Kelly Christner's solo homer in the first gave Michi- gan a lead Betsa wasn't about to relinquish. Senior Lauren Sweet made absolutely certain in the fourth inning. She delivered a grand slam, her second of the season, to give the Wolverines an insurmountable advantage, given their pitching and defense. "I think it's a great effort by my team," Michigan head coach Carol Hutchins assessed. "I was really proud of them tonight. I thought we came out and played our kind of softball and stayed to our moment. And that's a great Ala- bama team. To shut them down, it's a great credit to Megan Betsa's performance and some of the great defense that we played. "Really, it was just one inning at a time. That's the way we play softball. It's why we have done what we've done all year. We told our kids tonight just come out and do what we do. They gave us their best effort and that's all we ever ask." 10 YEARS AGO, 2010: Michigan softball humiliated Notre Dame 12-2 in an NCAA Regional May 23, completing a two- game sweep of the Irish by a combined score of 20-2. Hutchins' 49-6 Wolverines completely dominated at their own Wilpon Softball Complex, blasting three home runs to cap- ture their seventh straight NCAA Regional title. Senior third baseman Maggie Vief- haus supplied two of those homers, driv- ing in four of U-M's dozen runs. Junior pitcher Jordan Taylor felt little pressure while moving to 26-3 on the sea- son, given the offensive avalanche. She scattered seven hits and struck out 11 Irish, shutting out Notre Dame over the final five innings. Notre Dame actually led early, match- ing Viefhaus' first-inning home run then stringing together three hits in the second to take a 2-1 advantage. The Wolverines then opened the offensive floodgates and didn't look back. Viefhaus hammered a three-run four- bagger in her next trip to the plate, and the Wolverines kept pouring it on. "Maggie has been dialed in all year," Hutchins said. "It's not really about the pitcher. She has done a great job in her career of hunting her pitch — pitches she can drive. She's locked in and has been all year. She waited for something over the plate. She's a great hitter because she has a great swing, but most importantly because she has a great approach." 25 YEARS AGO, 1995: The Big Ten softball regular-season and tournament champion Wolverines advanced to the Wom- en's College World Series by blasting Notre Dame 15-6 in an NCAA Regional championship game May 21. The Wolverines made it to the title game of the regional by shutting out both DePaul (6-0) and the Irish (2-0) leading up to the final. U-M then turned it on offensively, putting the cham- pionship game out of reach. U-M thus delivered its first Women's College World Series ap- pearance under Hutchins, who took over the program in 1985. — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY Senior third baseman Maggie Viefhaus blasted a pair of homers and drove in four runs to lead the way in Michigan's 12-2 NCAA Regional championship-clinching win over Notre Dame in 2010. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS