IOWA CITY — The 10-0 score of the Michigan softball team’s run-rule win over Maryland in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament paints the affair as an absolute drubbing packed with offensive highlights over just five innings.
But scores can be deceiving.
Because for four of the contest’s five frames, the Wolverines and the Terrapins were locked in to a grueling rock fight, a pitching-duel featuring two of the best in the Big Ten. Michigan’s done this before. It’s what happens when an offense that can be fiery one day and dormant the next combines with a pitcher that controls the strike zone and sits down hitters with ease.
Of course, that pitcher is Lauren Derkowski. The Wolverines haven’t handed out their end-of-season awards yet — but while Derkowski is waiting for hers, she’s adding more impressive outings to an already stellar résumé. The most recent installment of Derkowski’s dominance came Thursday, in Michigan’s quarterfinals matchup against Maryland.
“Just going in with the goal (of), coming off of two tough losses, being ready to go,” Derkowski said. “I think everyone was fired up, and from the first pitch, we brought the energy and it was all the way through the rest of that game.”
Derkowski pitched in the latter of those two painful losses to Ohio State. The two runs she let up — both solo homers from the same Buckeye — marred what was otherwise a solid performance of four strikeouts over seven innings. Derkowski threw 125 pitches in that defeat. Entering Thursday’s contest, where a win would mean another game tomorrow and a loss would put the Wolverines’ postseason in flux, Derkowski knew that a 100-plus pitch game wouldn’t be ideal.
An undemanding yet lethal performance from Derkowski would be key for Michigan’s success.
That urgency was apparent from the first inning. Apart from a full-count walk, Derkowski dealt with the Terrapins’ bats with ease. Forcing a ground out in two pitches, a pop-out in four and relying on her deadly off-speed ball to close the inning, Derkowski pitched like she had a flight to catch.
Derkowski saw some mishaps in the second frame, but escaped them without allowing any runs before rebounding in the third with another trio of forced outs. At this point, as both teams remained scoreless, the game evolved fully into a pitching duel. Even as rain began to fall in the fourth inning and the possibility for Derkowski’s grip to falter arose, she remained steadfast.
“I was really pleased with her,” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said. “Especially when it started to rain a little bit, because the grip of the ball can change the game. She didn’t let the elements get to her at all.”
Derkowski remained sharp in the fourth inning, unaware it was the penultimate one, continuing to carve her changeup through the zone and force poor contact in Maryland’s at-bats.
Derkowski’s day ended early — after a routine fifth inning, she returned to the dugout and watched as the Wolverines’ offense exploded for 10 runs in the bottom of the fifth. Perhaps even more important than guaranteeing a victory by holding the Terrapins scoreless, Derkowski kept her pitch count to just 64, the lowest amount she’s pitched in over a month.
While Thursday’s run-rule victory was won by the Wolverines’ offense, the security their ace provided gave Michigan its best chance to win.
Because when Derkowski was needed, she delivered.