Sierras Slug Wolverines to Doubleheader Split with Kentucky
10/4/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Oct. 4, 2014
• Boxscores: Game 1 | Game 2
• Photo Gallery 
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Event: Fall Ball Exhibition Series (Day 1)
Scores: Kentucky 6, Michigan 3; Michigan 14, Kentucky 6
Next U-M Event: Sunday, Oct. 5 -- vs. Kentucky (Wilpon Complex), Noon [ Free Admission ]
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan softball team pounded five home runs to overwhelm Kentucky, 14-6, in game two of a doubleheader Saturday (Oct. 4) after falling to the Wildcats, 6-3, in game one during an exhibition series at the Wilpon Complex, home of Alumni Field.
The two Sierras led the offensive hit parade in the nightcap. Junior Sierra Romero (Murrieta, Calif./Vista Murrieta) launched two homers in the game -- including a two-run shot two batters into the game -- and a three-run bomb in the fifth inning.
Junior Sierra Lawrence (Snellville, Ga./Greater Atlanta Christian) fell a triple short of the cycle. She hit a double in the first, a grand slam in the fourth and a single in the fifth. She also scored three runs.
With the game tied 2-2 after the first, Michigan put two on the board in the second, then exploded for six in the fourth and four in the fifth. The Wolverines took advantage of five walks issued by Kentucky pitchers in the fourth, plating four of those free passes.
Joining in on the home run hitting were freshman Tera Blanco (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina), who hit her first home run at Alumni Field, and senior Lauren Sweet (Corona, Calif./Santiago), who smoked a line drive homer three-quarters of the way up in the right-field grandstand.
The Maize and Blue's nine-hit attack backstopped starting pitcher senior Haylie Wagner (Orange, Calif./El Modena), who tossed four innings and earned the win. She was relieved by sophomore Megan Betsa (McDonough, Ga./Union Grove) in the fifth. Betsa gave up three runs, but struck out the side in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
In game one of the doubleheader, the Wildcats used a big fifth inning to separate themselves from the Wolverines. Both teams scored a single run in the first inning, and the game stayed knotted up until the fifth. Kentucky pushed five runs across against relievers Blanco and Sara Driesenga (Hudsonville, Mich./Hudsonville) in the fifth.
It looked the Maize and Blue would mount a comeback in the bottom half of the fifth. Romero and freshman Taylor Swearingen (Anaheim, Calif./Canyon ) both came around to score on a one-out double from senior Lauren Sweet (Corona, Calif./Santiago). But Sweet was stranded at second, and the Wolverines could not get the offense going in their final two at-bats.
Sweet was one of three Wolverines to tally two hits in game one along with Lawrence (2-for-4) and sophomore Lindsay Montemarano (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) (2-for-4, one RBI).
Betsastarted and tossed three innings. She struck out seven batters, including five out of six during a stretch from the first through the second inning.
The Wolverines will cap their three-game set with Kentucky on Sunday (Oct. 5). First pitch is scheduled for noon at the Wilpon Complex, and admission is free.
Contact: Michael Kasiborski
