Michigan softball finishes off Wright State in completion of suspended game
Michigan first baseman Dorian Shaw crosses the plate after hitting the game-ending home run in the Wolverines' 11-2 win over Wright State in the NCAA softball regional Saturday. (Angela J. Cesare/AnnArbor.com)
It may have taken two days, two rain delays and two home runs from Michigan first baseman Dorian Shaw, but the Wolverines finally won their first game of the Ann Arbor NCAA softball regional Saturday morning.
Shaw's two-run home run that cleared the field by at least 50 feet officially run-ruled Wright State, 11-2.
"Offensively, no doubt in my mind they have power numbers," Wright State coach Linda Garza said. "So when you get in a situation where you have to throw perfect pitches, it makes it tough on any pitching staff. Just the simple fact that they are going to put runs on the board.
"So you have to tell your team that it's not going to be a 1-0 game when you play Michigan for the most part."
Michigan moves on to face Notre Dame at 1 p.m. for a berth in the regional final on Sunday. Wright State will play an elimination game at 3:30 p.m. against Illinois State.
Shaw drove in four runs between Friday and Saturday and Wright State first baseman China Frost said Shaw's first home run was what broke the game open for Michigan (47-6).
The first Shaw home run came during Michigan's eight-run third inning Friday, which included four pitching changes from Wright State (30-29-1), three pitchers, two illegal pitches and a massive frustration for the Raiders.
Starter Sharon Palma started the third inning, was replaced by Allison Cox, Melanie Heyne and then Wright State went back to Palma. Cox ended up taking the loss.
"We had some illegal pitches called," Garza said. "That was more with the umpires if we're dealing with that. We had some illegal pitches being called on our pitchers and it's a tough thing.
"It's not something that we can control. We did the best job that we could with what we were given."
The illegal pitches, Garza said, played games with the psyche of Wright State's pitchers.
Michigan's players and coaches will speak after the Notre Dame game due to playing back-to-back games.
Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.