Sobczak's Big Bat Not Enough for Wolverines in NCAA Regional Championship Game
5/20/2019 9:30:00 PM | Softball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Senior first baseman Alex Sobczak had done so much to keep the University of Michigan softball team's season alive -- coming up a triple shy of hitting for the cycle and making the championship game a one-run affair with a solo home run in the seventh inning.
But the Wolverines couldn't force another extra-inning classic with James Madison, and their dream of reaching Oklahoma City and the Women's College World Series ended Monday (May 20) along with a 16-game win streak.
The Dukes had to beat Michigan twice in the same day of the double-elimination event to win the NCAA Regional, and did so by taking the opener, 3-0, and the championship game, 2-1.
Sobczak was emotional while going through the hand-shake line following her final game at Alumni Field, and was asked about the bittersweet nature of her day.
"It was a little bit more bitter than it is sweet," she said. "You know that in the postseason you don't know what game your last game is. I just wanted to leave it all (on the field) for the team, and it just sucks that today it wasn't enough."
Sobczak
Sobczak ended 13 innings of shutout frustration for Michigan by lining a homer to the left-field corner with one out in the bottom of the seventh, and Madison Uden followed by looping an opposite-field single to left.
Pinch-hitter Morgan Overaitis then put a charge into the Alumni Field crowd by hitting a frozen rope to center field that was perhaps the hardest-hit ball by Michigan in the tournament. But it was directly at center fielder Cambry Arnold, who reached up to grab the rising drive.
That left it up to senior pinch-hitter Mackenzie Nemitz, who struck out swinging and was retired at first base by the catcher after the ball got away.
"Timely hitting is the name of the game in the postseason," said Wolverine head coach Carol Hutchins, "and we just needed one more."
Hutchins was asked for her strategy in having Overaitis bat for freshman catcher Hannah Carson and Nemitz hit for junior right fielder Haley Hoogenraad.
"Honestly," said Hutchins, "I thought both of them could get the job done. I certainly felt that Morgan could put it out of the park -- which is kind of why I put her in there -- and she did a fantastic job. And, honestly, Kenzie's more of a double-play risk. We felt we definitely needed to avoid that. So, that's why we stacked them the way we did."
Meghan Beaubien (30-6) took the two losses against Megan Good (21-6) two days after beating Good in a 12-inning pitching duel.
The duo put on quite a show of excellence and endurance. Beaubien (four earned runs in 24 innings) threw 392 pitches in the three games against James Madison, while Good (two earned runs in 25.2 innings) had 374.
Good ended up being slightly better, but Beaubien put Michigan in position to rally by getting a fly out and strikeout with two runners in scoring position in the sixth.
"The first one went our way," said Beaubien. "It was a great pitchers' duel, and I felt really good, and I don't think I felt bad today. I missed a few pitches and they took advantage. But really, in that sixth inning I knew we were down but it was my job to give our hitters the best opportunity to come back."
Beaubien
The Wolverines were just one big hit away from doing that against Good, who used a surprise pitch Monday.
"Megan put a drop ball into her mix," said James Madison coach Loren LaPorte, "and I don't think Michigan knew she had it in her back pocket. And she bought into it, and she was lights-out today … It was phenomenal."
Sobczak said she didn't see that pitch much, but Wolverine tri-captain Faith Canfield said, "My two swing-and-misses in my last two at-bats were the drop ball."
Canfield was 1-for-3 in the game and got a single in her final at-bat leading off the sixth inning. She batted .404 on the season, just below team leader and freshman Lexie Blair's .406.
So, the Wolverines lost what ended up being a best-of-three series to the Dukes, taking the opener and dropping the last two in games where runs were precious. James Madison had a 5-2 edge over 26 grueling innings.
The coaches agreed that their tug of war had a Super Regional feel to it.
"Absolutely," said Hutchins. "I think they're a Super Regional-worthy team, and I certainly think we are. We played them three games and you've got to win two of them, and with the amazing crowd we had today and Monday, I'm really excited about that. But it had a great feel to it -- very exciting, very intense feel."
LaPorte said, "It did remind me of our Super Regional in 2016 with LSU and Megan can say the same because she was in that. Michigan is an amazing team. They are so fundamentally sound, and I knew this was going to be a dogfight. So, hats off to them. That coaching staff is phenomenal and does a great job with this team.
"I knew this was going to be a battle, and it was that Super Regional feel for sure."
The Dukes (51-8) rode a pair of solo homers to victory in Monday's opener and had just enough to hold on in game two. Their reward is advancing to the Super Regional round this weekend against No. 2 seed UCLA in Los Angeles.
Sobczak stepped up big in her final game, but couldn't spark a rally with her opposite-field double with one out in the second inning or score the tying run with a line-drive single in the fourth.
Sophomore designated player Lou Allan, getting her first start of the season in game No. 58, got hit by a pitch with two out in the fourth. Hutchins had her replace Nemitz, who had struck out all three times she faced Good in the tourney, and batted Allan in the cleanup spot. She won confidence as a quality pinch-hitter by taking good cuts and knowing the strike zone.
Allan jogged to first after getting plunked and top pinch-runner Grace Chelemen, a freshman from Riverview (Mich.) High, took first base. Chelemen stole second on a one-one pitch with a slide that dislodged the ball from the glove of shortstop Sara Jubas.
Sobczak nearly brought her home. She hit a pitch from Good with authority up the middle, and center fielder Arnold charged the ball like a shortstop, coming up throwing home. It was a perfect throw, and arrived with Chelemen two strides from home plate. She tried to elude catcher Kierstin Roadcap with a fade slide, but was tagged before she could get a hand on the plate.
Chelemen
So, the score remained 1-0 for the Dukes after four. Good's 16th homer of the season in the top half of that inning remained the difference in the game, and James Madison added the all-important insurance run in the fifth.
Sobczak made a bid to get Michigan on the scoreboard first with a fading, opposite-field double just inside the right field line with one out in the second. However, Uden, who got the game-winning hit Saturday to beat James Madison in the 12th inning, struck out. Carson grounded out to Good to end the threat.
Carson, a freshman from Mount Pleasant (Mich.) High, replaced injured senior starter Katie Alexander in the second inning of the NCAA-opening win over Saint Francis and was impressive. She was 5-for-12 (.417) in four NCAA games and got four hits against Good, while working very well with Beaubien.
"She stepped it up," said Hutchins. "She did a fine job, and that's a tough role to come into at this time of year. I thought she did a great job for us."
Overaitis has the talent to replace the All-American, Canfield, at second. Carson (.296 with 10 RBI in 54 at-bats) has shown what she can do as the new starting catcher, and Allan will very likely replace Nemitz. The pitching will remain in great hands with sophomore Beaubien and freshman Alex Storako, while battles will take place to replace Natalie Peters, a great all-around center fielder, and Sobczak.
When asked for their advice to next year's team, Sobczak said, "You just remember what you play for, and you play for the young girl that started out and did it for 14 years, and you remember your teammates -- every single time they've been with you and around you. You just have fun, and you don't make any moment too big."
Canfield added, "Obviously, not every year's going to end with a 'W.' But I'll remember the feeling of thinking there's always something more you could've done. Remember that feeling, and walking away from here, we could've done more, obviously. But you try to leave it all out on the field."
Michigan (45-13) should be very competitive again on a national level. But for this season, it had to settle for winning the Big Ten regular-season title outright and taking the conference tournament as well. Those are pretty great accomplishments, though.
"We never seemed to be able to get it going," Hutchins said of the scoring problems against James Madison. "We didn't get things together until late. But it was a great team. Team 42 was everything I could've asked for, and our senior class was amazing."
