Wolverines' season ends at Super Regional once again

By: Michael Eisenstein Michigan Daily

May 29, 2007

Ann Arbor, MI (CSTV U-WIRE) -- Baylor 4 Michigan 0

Baylor 0 Michigan 3

Michigan 0 Baylor 9

WACO, Texas - It was something nobody saw happening, quick and nearly invisible.

Yet, it was the most crucial part of Saturday's sold-out softball doubleheader.

Michigan and Baylor weren't on the field for the Waco Super Regional. The fans weren't in the stands watching the game and enjoying the luxurious confines of Getterman Stadium.

What was it?

The 30-minute layover between games.

After losing the opener of the Super Regional (a best-of-three series) 9-0 to Baylor, the Wolverines bounced back in Saturday's rain-delayed opening game. Freshman Nikki Nemitz started her first NCAA Tournament game and gave up just two hits. Nemitz got the nod in favor of senior Lorilyn Wilson, who was shelled early and often Friday night.

But the break after Michigan's series-tying 3-0 victory separated two games that felt as similar as a Michigan winter and the smoldering heat in Texas.

"(Nemitz) came out and she was on fire (in the first game)," Baylor coach Glen Moore said. "(But) fortunately I think she had thrown enough pitches to where that break stiffened her arm enough to where her speed came down a little bit because (her pitches) didn't seem to be as crisp."

The Lady Bears came out completely refocused after the layover. In its first two at bats, Baylor was all over Nemitz (who also started the second game). The Lady Bears matched their game-one hit total and put two runs on the board. Wilson replaced Nemitz after the leadoff hitter sent a deep shot over the left-field wall in the second inning.

Any momentum Michigan gained from responding to its first run-rule defeat in more than four years instantly disappeared once the Wolverines went down 4-0, which proved to be the final score, after the first two innings.

"They'd seen Nikki a lot, and Nikki doesn't have a lot of tools yet, doesn't have a lot of pitches," Michigan coach Carol Hutchins said. "We were certainly concerned that that could happen. It happened right off the bat, unfortunately for us."

The Wolverines' pitching put them in early holes in the first and final games of the series - their offense showed up for just the middle game. Michigan produced three runs and eight hits as a rare diamond in the rough 16 scoreless innings on the weekend.

Baylor (50-14), which will be making its first Women's College World Series appearance, outscored the Wolverines 13-3 over the weekend, thanks to four homeruns (eight runs). The closest Michigan came to a longball was flying out to the warning track. This after the Wolverines hit five homeruns (10 of 16 weekend runs) en route to winning the Ann Arbor Regional last weekend. Baylor also matched Michigan's three-run weekend total in two different innings.

"In the second game (Saturday) I didn't feel we set a very good tone at the plate," Hutchins said. "We were down 2-0 and didn't have a real good at bat to start the game (Alessandra Giampaolo struck out swinging). And that's where we needed to have a good at bat, whether we got a hit or not. We weren't able to string it together.

"You just have to give Baylor credit, because sometimes a team comes out and just beats you. And they beat us."

After being eliminated, Michigan (47-13) has a much longer break. Maybe this one will produce a different result when next season rolls around.