It was the Michigan softball team’s freshmen who were the stars in yesterday’s doubleheader at Western Michigan (14-4).
Freshman Grace Leutele hammered out three of the Wolverines’ four homeruns against the Broncos, while fellow classmate Jennie Ritter tossed her first complete game shutout in the second game of the day.
Scoring early seems to be a pattern for Michigan (21-8), as once again the Wolverines pounced on Western Michigan, 3-0, in the first inning of game one. The route continued into the second inning, when the Wolverines scored seven more runs, putting the game out of reach. In her first action of the season, Ritter closed out the game in the fifth inning, and Michigan took the win, 11-2. Leutele became just the sixth Wolverine in program history to hit two homeruns in a game, and her six RBIs were the highest total for a Wolverine this season.
But Western Michigan was not going to let up so early in game two. The Broncos’ star, Laura Stewart, stepped to the mound in this game to compete against the freshman, Ritter. And it was the fellow youngster, Leutele, who hit a solo homer late in the game to close out the scoring and extend the Michigan lead to 2-0, helping the Wolverines squeeze out a close victory.
Ritter played brilliantly, striking out nine and allowing just two base runners on a walk and an error.