Texas
Michigan softball mercy-ruled by Texas in College World Series, but not eliminated yet
Michigan basketball coach Dusty May swings for the fences
Michigan basketball coach Dusty May swings for the fences in U-M softball’s charity fundraiser
Michigan softball’s perfect start to the Women’s College World Series came to an end Saturday afternoon, with the Wolverines lasting just five innings due to the run-ahead rule, losing 16-4 vs. Austin regional host Texas at McCombs Field.
Michigan will face the winner of UCF-Eastern Illinois at 6 p.m. in an elimination game.
On a scolding hot day with temperatures on the field reaching 110 degrees, according to the ESPN broadcast, the Wolverines were the first to get on the board when Lilly Vallimont singled to left to drive in Indiana Langford for a 1-0 lead.
It took the Longhorns almost no time to respond. In the top of the second inning, Katie Stewart led things off for Texas by slugging a home run to tie the game at 1-1.
Then in the third inning, the game got really crazy. Texas’ Reese Atwood smashed a three-run home run to take a 4-1 lead before Stewart hit her second home run of the game on the very next pitch to put the Longhorns firmly in control. But that was just the top of the inning.
In what will surely be one of the more unlikely plays of the whole College World Series, Langford laid down a bunt to start the inning that miraculously turned into a Little League home run when Texas launched the throw all the way into the right-field corner. Langford turned on the jets and just kept running before eventually sliding into home for a relatively easy score to make it 5-2. Three pitches later, Jenissa Conway blasted a home run to cut further into the lead, 5-3.
However, it was all Texas after that point. The Longhorns blew the game open in the fourth, hitting three more home runs to help them score nine runs in the top of the inning and jump out to a 14-3 lead.
Michigan added a run in the bottom half of the fourth inning, but Texas made it 16-4 in the top of the fifth and the Wolverines couldn’t get the game within seven runs by the fifth inning, so the game ended due to the mercy rule.
Since the regionals in the CWS are double elimination, the Wolverines are not out of the tournament, needing a win later Saturday evening.
Andrew Birkle is the assistant sports editor at the Free Press. Contact him at andrew_birkle on “X” or via email at abirkle@freepress.com.