Michigan Uses Late Power Surges to Beat Sacramento State, Northern Colorado

Saturday, February 24

Santa Barbara, Calif.

9:00 AM PT

Michigan

8-4

Sacramento State

7-5

Michigan

Sacramento State

Maddie Erickson (Michigan Photography)

Michigan Uses Late Power Surges to Beat Sacramento State, Northern Colorado

2/24/2024 6:28:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Leah Howard

» Michigan used sixth-inning home runs to power past Sacramento State, 4-3, and Northern Colorado, 4-1, on day two at the UC Santa Barbara Tournament.
» Ella Stephenson, Lilly Vallimont and Maddie Erickson all homered against Sac State, while Keke Tholl boasted her second collegiate grand slam against Norther Colorado.
» Both games were won in relief; Erin Hoehn claimed the first one after allowing one run on two hits and two walks over 2.2 innings, while Jessica LeBeau tossed three shutout relief innings with three strikeouts in game two.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The University of Michigan softball team belted four home runs and used late-inning surges to defeat Sacramento State 4-3 and Northern Colorado 4-1 on the second day of action at the UC Santa Barbara Tournament on Saturday (Feb. 24) at Campus Diamond.

Michigan earned all its runs from the long ball, coming from four different Wolverine players. Freshman Ella Stephenson, sophomore/freshman Lilly Vallimont and sophomore Maddie Erickson all homered against Sac State, while senior Keke Tholl blasted a grand slam against Northern Colorado -- the second slam of her collegiate career.

Tholl's grand slam followed a sixth-inning breakthrough at the plate for the Wolverines, who loaded the bases on a one-out single from junior Ella McVey and back-to-back five-pitch walks. The Bears forced a fly ball for the second out before Tholl connected on a 1-0 pitch and drove it just over the wall in straightaway center field. It was her first home run of the season after leading U-M last year with 11 long balls.

The Wolverines had trailed Northern Colorado since the third inning when the Bears used a single and two free passes of their own to load the bases and score on a sacrifice fly to right. Northern Colorado outhit U-M 7-2 and left 10 runners stranded on the game.

Senior right-handed pitcher Jessica LeBeau (2-2) earned the win in relief, entering with Michigan trailing in the fifth and allowing two hits and one walk while striking out three over three shutout innings. The Bears threatened with a leadoff double in the seventh, but LeBeau retired the next three batters, with three fly balls to the outfield, on just eight pitches.

Michigan also used a sixth-inning homer to plate the winning run against Sacramento State and avenge its loss to the Hornets on Friday (Feb. 23). After Sac State tied the game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth, Erickson lined a leadoff solo shot deep to left field on the second pitch of the next half inning. Erickson already boasts two clutch homers this season; she also tallied the game-tying home run in the seventh inning against Oregon State on Feb. 11.

Stephenson drove in the game's first run with a leadoff solo homer off the left-field foul pole in the third inning for her first collegiate home run, while Vallimont crushed a two-run no-doubter deep over the left-center field fence in the fourth -- after also hitting her first collegiate homer Friday.

Sac State capitalized on free passes and a pair of RBI singles to plate its runs in the fifth inning. Freshman RHP Erin Hoehn (4-0) entered to pitch amid the Hornets surge and earned the win in relief, allowing one run on two hits and two walks through 2.2 innings. She was stout after the Wolverines regained the lead, including a 1-2-3 seventh inning to close out the game.

The Wolverines (9-4) will close out the first leg of their spring break trip at the UC Santa Barbara Tournament on Sunday (Feb. 25), taking on host UCSB at 11:30 a.m. PST at Campus Diamond. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.