Michigan
21-6
Robert Morris
6-19
Schaefer Perfect as Wolverines Blank Robert Morris, Fort Wayne
3/18/2018 4:06:00 PM | Softball
» Freshman RHP Sarah Schaefer threw the eighth perfect game in school history against Robert Morris, retiring all 15 batters faced with six strikeouts.
» No. 19 Michigan earned shutout wins against RMU, 14-0, in five innings, and Fort Wayne, 7-0, to sweep its weekend Miami University Invitational competition by a combined score of 35-0.
» U-M boasted four home runs on the day -- two in each contest -- from Madison Uden, Taylor Swearingen, Tera Blanco and Katie Alexander.
Site: Oxford, Ohio (Miami Softball Stadium)
Event: Miami University Invitational (Day 2 of 2)
Scores: #19 Michigan 14, Robert Morris 0 (5 inn.); #19 Michigan 7, Fort Wayne 0
Records: U-M (22-6), RMU (6-19), FW (12-19)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, March 21 -- vs. Central Michigan (Wilpon Complex), 4 p.m.
OXFORD, Ohio -- Freshman right-handed pitcher Sarah Schaefer tossed the eighth perfect game in University of Michigan softball program history -- on her birthday, no less -- as the No. 19-ranked Wolverines defeated Robert Morris, 14-0, in five innings and Fort Wayne, 7-0, on the second and final day at the Miami University Invitational on Sunday (March 18) at the Miami Softball Stadium.
The Wolverines, who have claimed 16 consecutive wins, did not allow a run on the weekend, outscoring their four-game competition by a combined score of 35-0.
Schaefer's five-inning perfect game against Robert Morris was the first for a Wolverine pitcher since Jordan Taylor tossed two within a 12-day span in 2010. Schaefer (2-3) set down all 15 batters faced on just 49 pitches with six strikeouts and allowing just one ball -- a fourth-inning fly out -- outside the infield.
Michigan supported her from the plate with its greatest run total of the season as it pounded out 14 runs on nine hits and 12 walks. Sophomore outfielder Haley Hoogenraad boasted a career-best three hits, while junior designated player Alex Sobczak drove in four runs with a 2-for-3 effort.
Sophomore third baseman Madison Uden and senior first baseman Taylor Swearingen both knocked out their first home runs of the season in the opening frame -- both two-run shots into a pond beyond the left-field fence -- to put the Wolverines ahead four runs early.
Sobczak earned the bulk of her runs batted in on a bases-clearing double down the left-field line in the fourth inning, before the Wolverines drew four bases-loaded walks in the fifth. Hoogenraad also knocked an RBI single up the middle and Sobczak scored on a wild pitch to close out the six-run inning.
The Wolverines also started quickly in the subsequent slate against Fort Wayne, as they scored two in the first on a fly-ball fielding error and an RBI single up the middle off the bat of senior right-fielder Aidan Falk, who also walked in a run in the sixth.
Senior Tera Blanco, who battled illness throughout the day, entered to pinch-hit in the fourth and knocked out the second pitch deep to left field for a three-run homer -- her third of the season. Junior catcher Katie Alexander followed suit in the fifth with a solo homer -- also her third -- to left center.
Freshman lefty Meghan Beaubien (15-2) earned the complete-game shutout against Fort Wayne; she struck out nine and allowed four hits and three walks. Beaubien boasts five shutouts in just nine total complete-game outings this season and she has also combined for three more shutout wins.
Michigan (22-6) will kick off the home portion of its 2018 schedule on Wednesday (March 21), when it plays host to Central Michigan in Midweek MACtion at 4 p.m. at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Schaefer, Sarah (2-3)
L: CLARK, Kaitlyn (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Sobczak, Alex 2
HR: Uden, Madison 1 ; Swearingen, Taylor 1
RBI: Canfield, Faith 1 ; Nemitz, Mackenzie 1 ; Uden, Madison 2 ; Gonzalez, Thais 1 ; Sobczak, Alex 4 ; Swearingen, Taylor 3 ; Hoogenraad, Haley 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Canfield, Faith 1 ; Nemitz, Mackenzie 1 ; Peters, Natalie 1 ; Uden, Madison 2 ; Gonzalez, Thais 1 ; Falk, Aidan 1 ; Sobczak, Alex 2 ; Swearingen, Taylor 1 ; Hoogenraad, Haley 1 ; Skvarce, Abby 1 ; Rodriguez, Natalia 1 ; Bump, Taylor 1
SB: Rodriguez, Natalia 1
