Captain Angela Findlay came out, bat in hand, ready to finish off the Wolverines’ opening series of the Big Ten play at the Sharon
Drysdale Field in Evanston on Sunday.

But she couldn’t come away with a big hit — it had just been that kind of weekend for the Wolverines.

Michigan fell behind early in its first game to Northwestern on Saturday. The Wolverines fought their way back to a 5-5 tie before committing an error that allowed the Wildcats to score the winning run in Michigan’s 6-5 loss.

Sunday was a fresh start and Findlay got a hit on her first at-bat, giving her the confidence she needed early. She tallied the Wolverines’ second hit during her second time at the plate.

“As far as the team goes, hitting is definitely contagious,” Findlay said. “When one of us is hitting, all of us are hitting. Once one of us gets a hit, then it gives everyone else the confidence that they can do it too.”

Although she did register the first two hits for the Wolverines (20-9, 0-2 Big Ten) — the first a bunt in the first inning and the second a grounder in the top of the third — to lead her team in hits on Sunday, it wasn’t enough to take the second game of the weekend against the Wildcats (15-8, 2-0).

This weekend’s series against the Wildcats was the first time Michigan has been swept by Northwestern since 2000. The two teams, historically very closely matched, have split five of their last eight Big Ten series.

Despite Findlay’s early hits to boost her team’s confidence Sunday, a pitching dual ensued between Michigan sophomore Nikki Nemitz and Northwestern pitcher Lauren Delaney. Neither team had scored a run heading into the fourth inning.

When Nemitz gave up back-to-back home runs to the first two Northwestern at-bats in the fourth, the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead that remained until the seventh inning.

Nemitz quickly regained her rhythm and struck out the next batters after the Wildcats’ home runs to end the inning.

Meanwhile, Delaney, known for her occasionally wild arm, gave up only four hits all game on Sunday, one of which the Wolverines were able to convert into a run. She also hit three Wolverines on the weekend, but
luckily, all were able to ice their bruises and escape unscathed.

“When you are playing a team (with a wild pitcher), you just know that some people are going to get hit,” Findlay said. “And you hope that it’s not going to affect anyone for the rest of the season. You can’t think about that going into the box or you are not going to be able to perform.”

Finally, in the top of the seventh with two outs, Michigan got on the board with a home run by sophomore Dorian Shaw. But Delaney erased the Wolverines’ comeback hopes quickly, striking out the next Michigan batter.

“Our coach tries not to emphasize too much it’s the Big Ten, that now we have to win,” Findlay said. “We just try to treat every opponent the same. Obviously, we want to do well ,but you can’t have that in the back of your head when you are playing or else we aren’t going to do well.”