Quick Start, Dominant Pitching Push U-M Past Maryland in Series Opener

Friday, April 20

Ann Arbor, Mich.

6:00 PM

Michigan

36-7, 11-1

Maryland

18-28, 7-8

Maryland

Michigan

Quick Start, Dominant Pitching Push U-M Past Maryland in Series Opener

4/20/2018 9:55:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

By: Leah Howard

» No. 14 Michigan scored three runs in the first inning to earn a 6-0 win in the series opener against Maryland and claim its 12th in a row.
» LHP Meghan Beaubien (26-2) lost her no-hit bid on a bunt single with two outs in the sixth; she settled for a seven-strikeout, one-hit shutout.
» Aidan Falk and Katie Alexander paced the Wolverines from the Nos. 5 and 6 spots with a pair of hits and five combined RBI.

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Scores: #14 Michigan 6, Maryland 0
Records: U-M (36-7, 11-1 B1G), UMD (18-28, 7-8 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Saturday, April 21 -- vs. Maryland (Wilpon Complex), 2 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 14-ranked University of Michigan softball team used a quick start and dominant pitching to earn a 6-0 decision in its series opener against Maryland on Friday evening (April 20) at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field. The win extended the Wolverines' streak to 12 games and was their first game in a week's time after poor weather wiped out three straight dates leading into this series.

Freshman left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien (26-2) held a no-hitter with two outs in the sixth inning before the Terrapins ended the bid with a bunt single. She settled instead for a one-hit shutout -- her ninth complete-game shutout of the season -- with seven strikeouts and no walks.

The Wolverines took advantage of Maryland miscues to push across three runs in the first inning. U-M loaded the bases with one out on a walk, hit-by-pitch and a fielding error before senior right fielder Aidan Falk drove a two-run single off the left-field wall -- a ball that likely would have found its way over the wall if not for a stiff wind blowing in. Junior catcher Katie Alexander also hung a fly ball up in the wind in the next at bat, driving in another run on a sacrifice fly to right.

Falk and Alexander both drove in Wolverine runs in their next plate appearances in the third. Falk followed back-to-back singles with a sac fly of her own to center field and scored when Alexander sliced a liner down the right-field line for her first triple of the season.

Michigan added one more in the fourth, again capitalizing on a Terp miscue -- and speed on the base path -- when freshman shortstop Natalia Rodriguez reached on a two-base throwing error and scored from second when junior center fielder Natalie Peters just beat out an infield single to short.

Beaubien lost her perfect-game bid on a throwing error in the fifth, then lost her no-hitter when Maryland bunted with two outs in the sixth. The Terps had attempted to lead off the inning with a bunt, but senior first baseman Tera Blanco made a great defensive play to field it and throw the runner out. Beaubien closed out the game with an eight-pitch seventh inning, including a swinging strikeout for the final out.

Michigan (36-7, 11-1 Big Ten) will continue its three-game series against Maryland tomorrow (Saturday, April 21) at 2 p.m. at Alumni Field. Tickets remain available through the U-M Ticket Office.