Sweet Indeed: Catcher's Grand Slam Powers Wolverines
5/29/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 28, 2015
Lauren Sweet's fourth-inning grand slam
By Steve Kornacki
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- A fan behind the Michigan dugout at the ASA Hall of Fame Stadium held up the sign: "How Sweet it is to be in OKC!"
Indeed.
As in Lauren Sweet, the catcher who put the Wolverines in control with a fourth-inning grand slam that powered Michigan to a 5-0 win over Alabama Thursday night (May 28).
The shot culminated Sweet's relentless, eight-pitch at-bat in the Women's College World Series opener and became an instant classic in Wolverines lore.
Sweet fell behind in the count, 0-2, and would've gladly settled for fighting off Crimson Tide pitcher Alexis Osorio for a sacrifice fly at that point. But she worked the count full, putting some pressure on Osorio, who now was in danger of walking in a run.
Something had to give.
Osorio fired a pitch right down the pipe that couldn't have been riper to hit, and Sweet did not miss it. She crushed it, and the neon lime softball rose with a high arc toward its destination in Section 19 of the right-field bleachers.
"The at-bat before that I obviously struck out on a rise ball," said Sweet, "and I swung at a bunch of rise balls. My adjustment was to go up there and use my timing swing and just really see a lot of pitches. Even though I got down in the count, I was able to come back and really see the ball and really see it down. So, my game plan worked out."
The three Michigan players on the bases raced home, and the rest of the team bolted for home plate to create a semi-circle of pure joy. Sweet rounded third base and thrust her right fist, shouting for joy.
What a moment.
Sweet. Indeed.
U-M celebrates Lauren Sweet's grand slam
"Playing on the biggest stage here is so awesome," said Sweet. "To do that here is obviously really cool. I'm just trying to help my team out as much as I can. The World Series is my dream, and I've got here, and I think it's awesome that could happen here."
However, it nearly wasn't a grand slam. Sierra Romero rounded third base on Kelsey Susalla's single to left-center and was headed home. Only she was going to be a dead duck, and Michigan head coach Carol Hutchins tried desperately to stop her. Hutchins and Romero both lost their balance and fell, but Romero got the message and quickly retreated to third.
They could laugh about it later.
"I made a really athletic move and almost tackled her because it would have been a really poor out at the plate," said Hutchins. "And fortunately Romo looked up at the right moment, because she was on her way."
Romero added, "We know Hutch likes to hold us late sometimes, so we kind of try to take a sneak peek up before we decide if we're going to go home. I just happened to look up as she was falling over on top of me at the same time. I just hurried up and planted my foot and tried to get back."
Romero got the rally going with a single up the middle, and then Kelly Christner, who lined a solo homer in the first inning, walked on four pitches, before Susalla hit the single.
Sweet bats fifth behind three All-Americans, and she sent two of them in to score. She's been the All-Big Ten second team catcher two years running, after earning first-team honors as a freshman.
However, Sweet, from Corona, California, has never been more productive than this season. Her homers doubled from six to 12, and her runs batted in rose from 35 to 56. The batting average is a career-high .325.
"Sweet has just been a fantastic player for this team and a team player her entire career," said Hutchins. "And she's having her best season as a senior. And you love to see that. And it's what we need. We need seniors to be the leaders out there. And she's just been fantastic all year long. And we just want her to keep playing as long as possible."
And she calls a great game, too. Her battery mate, Megan Betsa, was brilliant in a four-hit shutout.
"I think something that's really important is how well Sweet knows me," said Betsa, now 31-4. "So, when my ball is not moving as much, she comes out and (says), 'Hey, just spin it. That's all you need to do. Your spin is good enough.' Or if I'm moving, my pace is too quick, she comes out and tells me just to breathe. So I think the way that she's developed to know me really well is a big aspect in this season where we are right now."
What was Sweet's message to her against Alabama, which got only one runner as far as second base?
Betsa said, "She came out, and she told me just make the ball move, throw 80 percent, trust my spin."
Sweet and Betsa, like every Wolverine, received a letter of encouragement from a member of Michigan's 2005 national championship team during the pre-game meal.
"It's definitely something special because I received my letter from Jennie Ritter, who was obviously a pitcher, an All-American here," said Betsa. "She had some great words of wisdom, 'Let go of the good and be great' was something I really liked. And that was something that I focused on tonight -- just letting go of the good to be great."
Another catcher with a knack for timely hitting -- her two-run homer tied the second game of the '05 championship series with UCLA -- wrote to Sweet.
"Becky Marx wrote mine, and she was the catcher of the 2005 team," said Sweet. "So, it was kind of awesome to hear some words from her. And she was awesome. She wrote me a whole page. It was so cool to see them take the time to actually do that for us and show us their support. So, it was really awesome."
And now these Wolverines will also take on UCLA, which beat No. 2 seed Oregon in a rain-delayed game Thursday night, at 8:30 p.m. CDT Friday (May 29).
No. 3 seed Michigan (57-6) has won 26 consecutive games, and the long ball has been a difference-maker. It led the nation with a school-record 117 homers and has allowed only 29. Hutchins said the "vision training" the team returned to this year with hitting tennis balls has made a difference.
"We don't try to hit home runs," said Sweet, "and I think that's the key. We're just trying to hit the ball hard. We're never going up there to try to hit home runs. Like Hutch always says, 'They're going to come.' If you go up there to hit the ball, then home runs will come. That's been our focus all year."
Sweet is 5-5 and slight of build. She doesn't look like a power hitter, but she's one of the few to ever clear the right-field bleachers at Alumni Field in Ann Arbor. So, she's hit some longer than the one against Alabama, but she has never hit one bigger.
It was something to behold.
Sweet. Indeed.
