Hours after watching the men’s basketball team move closer to winning a National Championship, Michigan softball coach Carol Hutchins speculated a similar result for her own program. The 12th-ranked Wolverines (9-0 Big Ten, 31-7 overall) used a combination of timely hitting and stifling pitching to sweep Ohio State, emphatically finishing the series with a 17-5 shellacking on Sunday afternoon.

The Buckeyes (3-6, 21-14) entered the series boasting the Big Ten’s third-best batting average, but struggled to put balls in play all weekend. Sophomore pitchers Sara Driesenga and Haylie Wagner commanded the circle, each launching complete games and surrendering just one run through the Wolverines’ first two contests. Wagner took to the circle for the final game of the series and cruised through three innings as Michigan built an insurmountable lead.

“We just go after every single game the same, no matter who the opponents are,” Wagner said.

While Wagner and Driesenga were solid and consistent in the circle, Ohio State’s pitchers had a nightmare series. On Friday, freshman phenom Sierra Romero blasted a two-run home run in the first inning, and the Wolverines never looked back. The shortstop added a pair of RBIs in the following frame, and Michigan held on for a comfortable 5-1 win. Saturday afternoon, the Wolverines jumped all over four different Buckeye pitchers to earn an 11-2 run-rule victory.

Ohio State completely fell apart on Sunday. The Buckeyes walked the first seven batters, gifting Michigan five runs before the Wolverines put a ball in play or recorded an out. Ohio State catcher Melissa Rennie struggled behind the plate, allowing two passed balls that cleared the bases and gave the Wolverines a commanding eight-run lead despite recording just one hit.

“It was a testament of our patience,” Hutchins said. “I don’t think it was a tight (strike) zone; I think it was us having a good eye at the plate.”

After the disastrous opening frame, Ohio State coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly — an All-American for Michigan in 1995 — marched her team out of the dugout for a brief conference. The meeting didn’t change much, though, as Wagner made quick work of the Buckeyes in the second inning before freshman left fielder Sierra Lawrence’s double and a Romero single helped extend Michigan’s lead to 14-0.

Caitlin Blanchard had a weekend to remember, turning on a fastball on Saturday to hit her first career grand slam. The first-baseman brought home three more runs on Sunday to complete a seven RBI weekend. The former catcher also played well defensively as the Wolverines held Ohio State to six runs total in the series.

The Buckeyes finally got on the board in the third inning thanks to designated player Leesa Gresham’s two-run bomb to centerfield, but Michigan got right back in the game during the bottom half with a two-RBI single by Romero. The Wolverines added a final run in the fourth frame to complete the blowout and extend their winning streak to 13.

With Michigan holding a commanding 14-run lead, freshman pitcher Alice Fitzpatrick took to the circle for the first time since March 5 against Boston College. The right-hander has seen diminished playing time since a rough outing against LSU in which she surrendered eight runs in four innings. On Sunday, she recorded a perfect fourth inning but looked shaky after a one-out error in the fifth. Despite surrendering three runs, she recovered to induce a game-ending groundout.

“It’s great that she got to go in there,” Wagner said. “She went after them in the first inning she was in there. She got a little rough in the second inning she was in there, but she came back just how she’s supposed to.”

After weather forced a cancellation of Michigan’s game against Western Michigan last week, the Wolverines will host the Broncos on Tuesday and Eastern Michigan on Wednesday.