Jessica LeBeau’s senior season hasn’t gone as planned.
The right-hander LeBeau and junior right-hander Lauren Derkowski were expected to make a formidable 1-2 punch in the Michigan softball team’s pitching rotation following their stellar campaigns last season. But after a strong start to the season, LeBeau has struggled throughout March. Entering Wednesday’s game against Toledo, her first appearance since March 16, LeBeau looked to turn it around.
Against the Rockets, though, LeBeau didn’t make it through a full inning. After Toledo’s leadoff batter reached via an error, LeBeau hit the next one, and then a flyout put runners on the corners for the Rockets. Then, LeBeau sent a pitch to the backstop, conceding a run. And another one followed, as a single through the left side scored Toledo’s second run, only one out and six batters into the game.
That was it for LeBeau. With Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl planning to ease her back into the circle following her recent struggles, her start against the Rockets was supposed to be a step in the right direction.
“We have a strategy going on … we’re going to bring her back into the fold on game day in small increments,” Tholl said Wednesday. “Today, we were going to limit her to throwing to four hitters.”
After posting a 3.54 ERA in over 100 innings last season, LeBeau was expected to be a reliable number two behind Derkowski this year. To start the season, she lived up to that expectation. LeBeau allowed only one earned run in over five innings each against Oregon State and Louisville, posting a stellar 1.47 ERA through her first nine starts.
But her production began to decrease in her appearance against UCLA March 1. LeBeau conceded seven earned runs in just two innings, including a six-run sixth inning that resulted in a run-rule loss for Michigan.
LeBeau was pulled after pitching a lone inning against Illinois State on March 11, in which she allowed two unearned runs and struggled with her command, walking two batters. Against South Dakota on March 16, LeBeau once again couldn’t find the strike zone, walking her first batter and hitting the second before being removed from the game.
“She’s trying to get some of her timing back down and get her feel back down.” Tholl said March 17.
After her short stint against South Dakota, LeBeau was on a ten-day hiatus before her start against Toledo. But following her first-inning implosion against the Rockets, LeBeau and Michigan’s coaching staff are still searching for answers to help LeBeau once again find her groove.
“We just have to get her in the right place,” Tholl said Wednesday. “She came out, was ready to roll, and we just have to make sure we’re not attaching big emotions to it at this time.”
In the interim, Derkowski’s dominance and the emergence of freshman right-hander Erin Hoehn have filled the void LeBeau has left in the Wolverines’ rotation. But as Michigan endures the grind of Big Ten play, it needs LeBeau to re-emerge as a reliable option in the circle.
“No doubt when we need it most, we’re going to go back in and make sure that LeBeau is ready to get in the mix,” Tholl said March 17.
The Wolverines’ recent offensive improvements, combined with their strong pitching from Derkowski and Hoehn, have put them in a strong position to finish near the top of the Big Ten standings and possibly receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament. But to make that happen, Michigan needs LeBeau to return to her early season form.
Her reliable pitching last year and the beginning of this season show the caliber of pitcher that she can be. And if she can return to that form, she can be a reliable part of a second starter committee behind Derkowski in the Wolverines’ rotation.