In the Michigan softball team’s game against Iowa on Sunday, freshman designated player Ava Costales always struck back.
After the Hawkeyes went up 3-2 on a string of infield singles, Costales turned the tide with one swing of her bat. In the sixth inning, she blasted a three-run home run over the left-field fence to put the Wolverines up 5-3. Despite her inexperience, the moment was not too big for Costales.
In the top of the seventh, the Hawkeyes responded with a two-run home run of their own, tying the game. But once again, Costales had an answer. Coming up with the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, she blooped a single to left-center field to bring in the winning run for Michigan.
Costales didn’t crack the starting lineup at the start of the year, with most of her at-bats coming as a spot pinch-hitter. After cracking the starting lineup on a regular basis at the start of conference play, Costales evolved from a reserve into one of the most formidable threats in Michigan’s lineup, hitting .327 with five home runs on the season.
And Costales came through in key moments in Saturday’s first game as well. After Michigan went down 5-0, she sparked its offense with a solo home run in the fourth inning. She struck again in the fifth, blasting a two-run shot over the center-field wall to give the Wolverines a 6-5 lead.
“(Costales is) learning to live in big moments,” Tholl said on Saturday. “I said last week, we’re going to learn in big moments. Today, we saw living in big moments pay off for us.”
But in the second game on Saturday, a defensive replacement double-switch forced Costales out of the lineup, and sophomore utility player Madi Ramey replaced her. Entering the double-header, Ramey had zero hits in her four total at-bats this season. In the second game against the Hawkeyes, that changed. And the lights couldn’t have been brighter.
With two outs and Michigan tied 8-8, Ramey blasted a home run over the center field fence, sealing the Wolverines’ second comeback win of the day.
As a true freshman last season, Ramey appeared in 30 games primarily as a pinch runner and recorded two hits on the year. While some expected her to see an increased role in 2024, the stellar play of the Wolverines’ freshmen has kept her out of the lineup. So Ramey wanted to take advantage of her opportunity.
“(Ramey) doesn’t complain,” Tholl said. “She’s one of the best teammates on this team … She doesn’t always have the most glorious role, but it’s incredibly important to us.”
But Ramey wasn’t the only Michigan player who stepped up in an unusual chance on Saturday. After junior right-hander Lauren Derkowski was pulled after just four batters in the first game, Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl put the game in graduate right-hander Hannah George’s hands. And George exceeded all expectations Tholl could’ve had for her appearance. Despite never pitching over 3.2 innings in a game in a Michigan uniform, George conceded just two earned runs in 6.2 innings. She held the Hawkeyes offense at bay while the Wolverines’ bats exploded, culminating in a miraculous come-from-behind win.
The sixth-year graduate student’s role has shrunk significantly since transferring from North Carolina before the 2023 season. In 2022 as a redshirt junior for the Tar Heels, she pitched over 100 innings, started a team-high 23 games and finished the season with a 4.64 ERA. But George pitched just seven innings last year for Michigan, and this season, she has been used sparingly behind Derkowski and freshman right-hander Erin Hoehn. In a game where Derkowski struggled, though, George stepped up to propel the Wolverines to a victory.
“I’m so incredibly happy for Hannah George,” Tholl said. “We needed her in the worst way today. And she stepped up.”
These contributions, emblematic of a strong culture being build within the Michigan softball program, propelled Michigan to three come-from-behind wins this weekend. The Wolverines did not shy away from big moments. Instead, they embraced the opportunities they had and found unlikely heroes in the process.