Maryland pitcher Courtney Wyche held 2-seed Michigan scoreless through four innings of the Wolverines’ quarterfinal matchup in the Big Ten Tournament.
Attempting to adjust to her powerful pitching style mid-game, not to mention the downpour of rain at the tournament, Michigan head coach Bonnie Tholl explained how her team needs to change their approach against the Maryland ace heading into the later innings.
“The message to them was that she’s going to get her swings and misses tonight,” Tholl said on the Big Ten Network broadcast. “She’s going to get her strikeouts, but we’re going to continue to pass the bat and take our aggressive cuts. I think that we’re on time with her, so we don’t have to worry about her throwing the ball past us right now.
“I think she’s not as fast as what our kids expected. Although 70 miles per hour is still 70 miles per hour. But we’re still able to catch up so I think we need to trust that we can see the ball deep. She’s keeping it on the outer half of the plate, and then when we had that opportunity we need to get to the back of the ball and drive it back up the middle.”
On the other side of the plate, Lauren Derkowski earned the start on the mound for the Wolverines. Through four innings of work she kept the Terrapins scoreless despite allowing two hits and walking two more. She logged three strikeouts over that stretch.
“We want [Derkowski] to be her,” Tholl continued. “So [associate head coach] Jen Brundage is going to call mostly to what [Derkowski’s] strengths are. And that’s, that’s how we’re going to roll. That’s how we’re going to get ourselves out of innings and get ourselves back in the dugout to crash the bat.”
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