Kornacki: Michigan Faces Tough Climb to Reach WCWS Finals
6/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 5, 2016
By Steve Kornacki
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- The come-from-behind spirit the University of Michigan's softball team has come to be known for was there. But the result it wanted was not.
The second-seeded Wolverines never completely dug themselves out of a four-run deficit and lost, 7-5, to third-seeded Oklahoma Saturday night (June 4) in a highly anticipated matchup between the highest-ranked teams remaining in the Women's College World Series.
Michigan must win two games Sunday (June 5) to continue its quest for a national championship.
"We have our work cut out for us," said Wolverines coach Carol Hutchins, "and we're in a really tough situation."
Michigan came close to pulling this one out of the fire and remaining in the winners' bracket, though.
The Wolverines had the bases loaded with two outs after scoring twice in the bottom of the seventh inning. So, the tying run was on second and the winning run was on first.
Abby Ramirez battled Sooners starter Paige Parker with everything on the line, but the game ended when Ramirez hit a comebacker Parker fielded and threw to first for the final out.
As wild a rollercoaster ride as this game turned out being, imagine what it was like for the Romero family. They had oldest daughter Sierra leading Michigan and younger daughter Sydney batting cleanup for Oklahoma.
"This has been a very emotional day," Melissa Romero, their mother, texted MGoBlue.com after the game. "We are so excited for Sydney but so sad for Sierra. I just don't know if I could sit through another game like that. I'm physically and emotionally drained.
"We knew what was going to happen. I just don't think we were really ever prepared. At the end of the day when it's all said and done I'm so proud of our girls, and to be in OKC on the biggest stage is priceless. We have memories to last a lifetime. Go Blue Boomer Sooner!!"
The outcome came down to the final swing of the bat with Wolverines fans chanting, "Let's Go Blue!"
Michigan catcher Aidan Falk, who hit a two-run homer earlier, knocked in the first run of the seventh inning with a single. Then third baseman Lindsay Montemarano singled to score another, and Amanda Vargas was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Ramirez.
All of this happened after Sierra Romero's leadoff walk was followed by a pair of strikeouts to put Michigan one out away from defeat.
It was Michigan's second attempt in the game to come back from a four-run deficit.
The Wolverines got three runs in the fourth inning to make up for the three runs starter Megan Betsa -- coming off a Series-opening shutout win over LSU -- allowed in the first inning.
"I didn't feel I had my best stuff," said Betsa, "and we never recovered from that first inning, and that was my bad. I didn't come out and have my best stuff, and I should have."
Hutchins felt her entire team came up lacking early.
"I was disappointed," she said. "I did not think we were ready to play."
Hutchins believed that her players forgot one of the major points she drills into them on a daily basis.
"Honestly," she said, "I think we were a little focused on Oklahoma. I think we were focused on them, and we focus on Michigan. That's when we're good. ... That's what it appeared from the dugout, so it's on me."
The long solo homer Sooners third baseman Sydney Romero hit in the third inning to make it 4-0 ended up being the difference after Michigan's first big rally for three runs in the fourth inning.
Sierra Romero, the USA Softball National Player of the Year, had an RBI in that charge by her team.
Their parents, Melissa and Michael, and brother and sister were the focus of ESPN much of the game.
Sierra Romero fields a popup as sister Sydney returns to second base.
The Romeros would sit behind the first base dugout with Sooners fans when they batted, and walk to the Wolverines fans seated behind the third base dugout when they hit.
Melissa wore a T-shirt split in half, saluting Michigan on one side and Oklahoma on the other. She wore a pullover from the corresponding team when on its side of the field.
Michael wore a Wolverines polo shirt and a Sooners baseball cap.
The entire family was interviewed before the top of the seventh inning, when Oklahoma would score two important runs as Sara Driesenga came on mid-inning to relieve Betsa.
Michigan rallied again in the bottom half of the inning but came up short.
"I just think we took a little while to get going," said Sierra Romero, "and they got the first punch in, and we should have just tried to come out a little bit better."
They came to life in the fourth inning, but it ended up being too little too late.
Falk broke Parker's streak of 11 scoreless innings in the WCWS by pulling a moon shot down the line in right that soared high and deep into the night.
The two-run homer, her seventh of the season, got Michigan going.
Sophomore Vargas continued the rally with a double in the left-center gap. Ramirez walked and Sierra Lawrence lined a single that Parker got the tip of her glove on to keep it in the infield, loading the bases.
Sierra Romero beat out an infield chopper to score a run, but Kelly Christner took a called third strike for the third out, and the Wolverines never got closer than the 4-3 deficit at that point.
Michigan, however, did show some outstanding defense in the sixth inning, after Nicole Pendley homered to make it 5-3.
Betsa fielded a comebacker that she immediately turned and fired to shortstop Ramirez for one out. Ramirez, with Kady Self sliding hard into the bag, completed a strong throw to first to get the double play.
Lawrence ended the inning by making a diving catch to rob Kelsey Arnold of a single and perhaps more.
However, none of it was enough.
Michigan (52-6) will play No. 8 Florida State (54-9) Sunday afternoon, and the winner of that game will advance to play No. 4 Auburn (2-0 in the WCWS) in a semifinal game Sunday evening. The loser of that early game is done in the double-elimination tournament.
So, the Wolverines face quite a challenge if they are to return to the championship series and a possible rematch with the Sooners. Michigan would have to beat Auburn twice, playing again Monday night (June 6), in order to get to the finals as it did last year against national champion Florida.
The Seminoles trailed UCLA, 4-0, in the first inning Saturday but recovered for an 8-4 victory that eliminated the Bruins. Alabama also is gone after losing to LSU and Oklahoma, reducing the field to six teams. Oklahoma faces the winner of Sunday afternoon's LSU-Georgia game on Sunday night.
Hutchins didn't commit to whether she would start Driesenga (22-1), who pitches more to contact, or Betsa (28-4), who is one of the top strikeout pitchers in the nation.
"I'm sure we're going to need everybody tomorrow," said Hutchins.
Betsa's back problems were a factor Saturday night.
"Felt fine," said Betsa. "I was a little tight, but it's something I can work through."
The game ended at 11:59 p.m., which was 12 hours and one minute before Sunday's scheduled first pitch.
"We just need to come out tomorrow and attack from the first pitch," said Betsa, "and you can never count us out. We have fight in us as you saw from the last inning, and we need to use that tomorrow."
• WCWS Central
