BY ZAK PYZIK
For the Daily
Published October 1, 2009
After the Michigan softball team scored three consecutive runs in the bottom of the fourth inning yesterday, the fans suddenly fell silent.
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What started as just a home exhibition against Michigan State had suddenly turned more serious.
Sophomore outfielder Bree Evans lay on the ground face down. After reaching a base on a triple, Evans took off toward home plate. She dove headfirst in a desperate attempt to score, but Michigan State's catcher positioned herself over the plate with ball in hand. At the moment of impact, Evans head collided with the ground and the catcher’s cleat.
Evans was motionless as athletic trainers rushed to her side. They nervously took off her cleats and socks and squeezed her toes to check for nerve damage.
Michigan head coach Carol Hutchins stood over Evans with a distraught look, and the team nervously trembled on the sidelines.
After more than 20 minutes, an ambulance finally arrived and drove directly to Evans on the field. Paramedics put a brace on her neck and strapped her into a stretcher, raising her into the ambulance while the crowd and her teammates looked on.
As of 10:40 p.m. last night, a spokesman for the University of Michigan Health System said Evans was in fair condition.
Led by junior pitcher Jordan Taylor, the Wolverines had been locked in a scoreless battle entering the fourth inning.
Junior first baseman Dorian Shaw produced the first Michigan tally after sophomore infielder Stephanie Kirkpatrick hit a grounder down the third base line.
Kirkpatrick was on third and junior outfielder Alycia Ryan was on first. That was when Evans strode to the plate. She smashed the pitch past the second basemen into mid-right field for the triple and two more runs to put the Wolverines on top 3-0.
After Evans' injury, the game was cancelled. As the ambulance left, the scoreboard turned off and the crowd filed out of the stadium. Some of the Wolverines, who had been jokingly chuckling just a few minutes earlier as Taylor threw her seventh strikeout in the top of the fourth inning, left the dugout in tears.
