Season Review: 2017 Michigan Softball
7/14/2017 11:41:00 AM | Softball
• Team Captains: Kelly Christner, Abby Ramirez
• Record: 43-13-1, 20-3 Big Ten Conference (2nd place)
• Big Ten Tournament: Quarterfinals
• NCAA Tournament: NCAA Regionals
Under the direction of head coach Carol Hutchins, the University of Michigan softball team registered its 23rd straight 40-win season with a 43-13-1 overall record in 2017 -- the program's 40th season of intercollegiate play -- and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the 24th consecutive year. Michigan saw its streak of nine straight Big Ten titles come to an end, taking second place with a stout 20-3 league record -- its third straight year with at least 20 Big Ten wins. U-M also finished No. 20 in the final NFCA rankings. Every Michigan team since 1995 has finished in the top 20 in the national polls.
The Wolverines boasted three NFCA All-Americans in senior RHP Megan Betsa, senior centerfielder Kelly Christner and sophomore second baseman Faith Canfield, upping the program's totals to 39 individual honorees and 66 distinctions in 40 years. Michigan has garnered at least three All-America honors in each of the last three seasons.
Team Highlights
• Michigan ranked among the nation's leaders in several categories, none better than listing second with a .981 fielding percentage and trailing only NCAA runner-up Florida (.985). Six Michigan starters boasted fielding percentages of .970 or better, perhaps most notably sophomore second baseman Faith Canfield who has just two errors in 143 touches for a stellar .986 fielding percentage.
• The Wolverines' top single-game performance did not result in a win but rather a 5-5 tie -- U-M's first since 2001 -- against No. 1 Florida State at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic (Feb. 26). FSU scored runs in the first, fifth and sixth innings, but the Wolverines responded each time, taking the lead on a Tera Blanco two-run double in the sixth before the Seminoles again evened the score in the top of the seventh. RHP Megan Betsa issued 11 strikeouts through seven innings and added three more in the top of the eighth before the game was called -- without U-M getting a chance to hit in the bottom half -- due to Florida State's drop-dead time due to travel.
• The Wolverines ended the regular season on a tear, winning each of their last nine games and averaging 9.8 runs per game. The surge followed a significant lineup shakeup -- the temporary benching of five regular starters -- in the second game of the Wisconsin series; Michigan had averaged just 2.57 runs in the preceding seven contests. Michigan also went undefeated at home in regular-season play with a 17-0 record that pushed its Alumni Field winning streak to 36 straight games.
Individual Highlights
• Senior RHP Megan Betsa led the nation with a career-best 412 strikeouts this season and ranked third nationally with 12.3 strikeouts per seven innings. She boasted 21 double-digit strikeout performances, including a career-best 18 in the series opener at Wisconsin, and became the first Wolverine player in program history to record three straight 300-strikeout seasons and the third to surpass 1,000 career strikeouts. Betsa, who also tossed three no-hitters on the year, became the fifth Michigan pitcher to garner three All-America citations with her second-team selection.
• Senior centerfielder Kelly Christner returned to form in 2017, leading the Wolverines with a career-best .402 batting average -- an 89-point improvement on her 2016 average and a nine-point improvement on her previous-best 2015 average. Christner, who previously earned First Team All-America honors in 2015, garnered second-team accolades in her final collegiate season.
• Sophomore second baseman Faith Canfield enjoyed a breakout season in her first year in the everyday Wolverine starting lineup, earning NFCA Third Team All-America honors after posting a .398 batting average and team-best 72 hits, 56 run scored and .652 slugging percentage. She ranked second in the Big Ten with a .462 league average en route to All-Big Ten first team honors.
• Already the winningest coach in NCAA softball history, head coach Carol Hutchins became the first to reach 1,500 wins with the Wolverines' 11-3, six-inning decision in the first game of a home doubleheader against Kent State (March 19). Hutchins finished the season -- her 34th as a collegiate coach and 33rd at Michigan -- with a 1,527-490-5 career record.
Honors and Awards
Megan
Betsa
Tera
Blanco
Faith
Canfield
Kelly
Christner
Abby
Ramirez
National Fastpitch Coaches Association
All-America (Second Team): Megan Betsa, Kelly Christner
All-America (Third Team): Faith Canfield
All-Great Lakes Region (First Team): Megan Betsa, Tera Blanco, Faith Canfield, Kelly Christner, Abby Ramirez
Big Ten Conference
All-Big Ten (First Team): Megan Betsa, Tera Blanco, Faith Canfield, Kelly Christner
All-Big Ten (Second Team): Natalie Peters, Abby Ramirez
Sportsmanship Award: Morgan Swift
Big Ten Player of the Week
Player: Kelly Christner (Feb. 20), Faith Canfield (May 9)
Pitcher: Megan Betsa (Feb. 13, March 20, March 27, April 3, May 9), Tera Blanco (March 13)
Academic All-Big Ten
Katie Alexander, So., Kinesiology undeclared
Kelly Christner, Sr., movement science
Leah Crockett, So., LSA undeclared
Aidan Falk, Jr., psychology
Lindsay Montemarano, Sr., English
Natalie Peters, So., LSA undeclared
Abby Ramirez, Sr., communications
Alex Sobczak, So., biopsychology, cognition and neuroscience
Taylor Swearingen, Jr., business administration
Morgan Swift, Jr., business administration and mechanical engineering
Amanda Vargas, Jr., biopsychology, cognition and neuroscience
Nikki Wald, Jr., sport management
Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
Alex Sobczak, So., biopsychology, cognition and neuroscience
