Until last week, Michigan’s offense was mostly a promise.
Just when it seemed like the Wolverines’ offense had escaped mediocrity, their bats would flounder and the onus would return to the defense to carry the team. Michigan softball coach Bonnie Tholl would say that her offense was one adjustment away from greatness and that the tweaks they were making in practice would be apparent come game day.
Wednesday afternoon, the Wolverines’ offense came as promised.
Down 2-0 entering the second inning, the pressure immediately fell on Michigan’s bats. And on the first pitch, freshman center fielder Jenissa Conway blasted a homer over the center-field wall, reestablishing her position as the team home run leader with seven. Then, in the third frame, it was senior catcher Keke Tholl with another home run to tie the game, 2-2.
With two homers in two innings, the Wolverines’ power hitting returned after weeks of small-balling their way to wins.
To get a season-best team batting average, Michigan’s offense stuck to the techniques it’s been tweaking in practice: bringing the barrel through the zone, connecting the hands and hips and swinging at hittable pitches.
And in the bottom of the fifth, just when the Wolverines needed a boost once more, their offense delivered again — beginning with Maddie Erickson. The sophomore third baseman, who leads the team in hits and bats .350, rocketed a line-drive homer that cleared the left-field wall and scored the runner on first. While that home run gave Michigan a lead for the first time all game, the Wolverines weren’t done yet.
Facing the Rockets, who were riding a three-game win streak and eager for an upset, Michigan knew that capitalizing on its newfound momentum would be essential.
“There’s a shift in momentum, in energy, especially when we were down,” Conway said. “You’re like, ‘Oh, this is a close game,’ then their dugout was louder, and then we got louder and it just made everything a lot better.”
The Wolverines’ energy was contagious, and it translated to their batting. Two at-bats after Erickson’s homer, redshirt freshman first baseman Lilly Vallimont smoked a two-run bomb of her own — triggering a Toledo visit to the circle — and extended Michigan’s lead to 6-3.
The Rockets’ defense was getting desperate, and everyone in the Wolverines’ dugout knew. Especially sophomore second baseman Indiana Langford.
“I see the outfield play in on me and I’m like, ‘Just one, one,’ ” Langford said.
Toledo’s defense knew that she’s normally a slap hitter, so Langford did something she’d been wanting to do all season. With runners on second and third, Langford ripped a ball at the left wall that sailed past the Rockets’ left fielder’s glove as she dove backward. As she scrambled to throw it home, Langford sprinted around the bases just in time to record her first collegiate inside-the-park home run.
Up 11-3, Michigan needed one more run for a dominant run-rule victory and its seventh win in a row. So perhaps it was fitting that, after blasting the first pitch she saw for the Wolverines’ first homer in the bottom of the second, Conway stepped up to hit what would be the last.
“When you face a pitcher that throws a lot of balls — and especially balls in the dirt in changeups — an immature hitter or a young hitter can really fall into the trap of swinging at poor pitches,” Bonnie said. “Jenissa did a really nice job of taking those really poor pitches, fringe pitches, and waited for the pitch that she could drive over the fence — which she did twice.”
Driving the ball over the center-field wall, Conway’s walk-off was an exclamation point on a season-high number of homers — both in a game, and in a single inning. All but one of Wednesday’s 12 runs were the result of home runs.
But for Bonnie, this flurry of home runs isn’t the apex of Michigan’s offense, but instead, a result of fundamentally sound softball in action.
“I think still the best is yet to come,” Bonnie said. “… We’re just doing a lot of the little things well right now. And those things seem really simple when you’re winning, but to be able to win, you have to do those simple things on a consistent basis.”
After a 2023 season plagued by a lack of consistency and defined by an errant offense, the Wolverines are emphasizing technicalities and honing in on simple habits. Maybe their bats will cool off when they face more experienced pitchers in some upcoming Big Ten matchups, and focusing on more than just the “simple things” will be even more necessary.
But for now, after smashing six dingers, Michigan’s offense finally delivered on its promise.