Wolverines Fall to No. 5 Florida, Rebound Against Host South Florida

Saturday, February 9

Tampa, Fla.

10:30 AM

Michigan

1-2

Florida

2-0

Florida

Michigan

Haley Hoogenraad

Wolverines Fall to No. 5 Florida, Rebound Against Host South Florida

2/9/2019 7:05:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Photo Gallery (Florida)

By: Leah Howard

» No. 19 Michigan split two more games at the USF Opening Weekend Invitational, falling to No. 5 Florida, 6-0, before bouncing back with a 10-1 win against host USF.
» Michigan posted a season-best 10 runs and 10 hits against USF; Haley Hoogenraad went 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Katie Alexander tallied a seventh-inning grand slam.
» RHP Alex Storako earned the win over USF with a five-strikeout, three-hit effort over six innings; LHP Meghan Beaubien struck out 11 in the loss to Florida.

Site: Tampa, Fla. (USF Softball Stadium)
Event: USF Opening Weekend Invitational (Day 2 of 3)
Scores: #5 Florida 6, #19 Michigan 0; #19 Michigan 10, USF 1
Records: U-M (2-2), UF (2-0), USF (1-1)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Feb. 10 -- vs. Illinois State - USF Opening Weekend Invitational (Tampa, Fla.), 9 a.m.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan softball team split a pair of games on day two of the USF Opening Weekend Invitational, falling to No. 4 Florida, 6-0, before bouncing back with decision 10-1 decision against host South Florida on Saturday (Feb. 9) at USF Softball Stadium.

After a quiet morning at the plate -- and two quiet games yesterday -- Michigan's bats made some noise in the nightcap against USF as the Wolverines pounded out a season-best 10 hits, including seven across the sixth and seventh innings. Junior right fielder Haley Hoogenraad went 3-for-4 with two RBI to pace her team, while senior catcher Katie Alexander knocked out a seventh-inning grand slam -- U-M's first long ball of the 2019 season.

Freshman right-handed pitcher Alex Storako (2-1) allowed just one run -- on a fourth-inning solo homer -- en route to the victory against the Bulls. She struck out five and allowed three hits and three walks through six innings pitched.

Michigan broke through with two runs in the third inning and broke the game open with four-spots in the sixth and seventh. Hoogenraad pushed across the game's first run, following senior first baseman Alex Sobczak's leadoff walk in the third with a gapped double to the right-center field wall. Freshman left fielder Lexie Blair used her speed, beating out an infield single to short, to send Hoogenraad home with two outs -- her first collegiate RBI.

Blair also singled to lead off the Wolverines' four-run sixth and scored on a bases-loaded walk that earned fellow freshman Morgan Overaitis her first collegiate RBI the easy way. After Sobczak earned another bases-loaded walk two batters later and Hoogenraad drove in a run on a fielder's choice, freshman Hannah Carson secured her first collegiate RBI on a hard-hit sac fly to center field.

Alexander accounted for all of Michigan's runs in the seventh with her second career grand slam -- and 11th career home run. After U-M's first three batters of the frame reached on a single, walk and a throwing error, Alexander smashed a no-doubter deep over the left-field wall.

Michigan was on the opposite end of a late-inning breakout against fourth-ranked Florida, which scored a run apiece in the second and third before putting up four in the top of the seventh. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Meghan Beaubien (0-1) took the loss, allowing six runs -- four earned -- on 10 runs and two walks. Four of the Gators' hits came as part of their four-run seventh when Beaubien's pitch count surged to 162. She also posted 11 strikeouts.

The Wolverines did not provide Beaubien any run support, putting just three runners on base with two hits and a hit-by-pitch. Overaitis earned her first collegiate hit on a seventh-inning pinch-hit single.

Michigan (2-2) will close out play at the USF Opening Weekend Invitational on Sunday (Feb. 10) with a 9 a.m. slate against Illinois State at the Bulls' USF Softball Stadium.