Ohio State junior Sam Hackenbracht (24) swings at a pitch during the Ohio State-Indiana game on March 25. Ohio State won 6-2. Credit: Katie Good | For the Lantern
It is officially rivalry week, as the series the Buckeyes have been preparing for all year takes place this weekend.
Ohio State (27-10, 7-5 Big Ten) will head up to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to take on the Wolverines (27-13, 7-6 Big Ten), looking to earn the series win against its biggest conference foe.
“Everybody is super excited because of the rivalry, and we do different stuff, like listening to the same song over and over just like the football team does — ‘It’s Time for War’ — and the girls really buy into that, which is super fun,” sophomore infielder McKenzie Bump said. “This whole week it’s just like, ‘This is what we’ve been waiting for.’ ”
Both teams are sitting in the middle of the Big Ten standings and look to extend their current winning streaks, as Ohio State beat Toledo and swept Iowa in a three-game series, and Michigan took two of three games from Maryland and beat in-state rival Michigan State.
The two teams both boast some of the conference’s best pitching staffs, but the Wolverines take the cake as they are ranked first in the Big Ten with a 1.90 team ERA, while the Buckeyes are sixth in the conference with a 2.87 ERA.
Senior right-hander Alex Storako and graduate lefty Meghan Beaubien are the team’s top-two pitchers, accumulating 1.56 and 2.24 ERAs, respectively. However, head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly said she believes her team may have the advantage because it has seen both pitchers the past few years, while her batting lineup isn’t one the Wolverines are familiar with.
“What’s interesting for us this year is looking at our lineup compared to last year even, it’s very different,” Schoenly said. “I think the nice thing about us is that we have a little bit more intel on their pitchers than they have on our hitters. Not as many of our hitters are fourth- and fifth-year players, so we are hoping that gives us a little bit of an advantage, as far as being a surprise in some ways.”
The rivals are similar offensively, as Ohio State’s team batting average is .292 compared to Michigan’s .290. However, one part of the game that sets Ohio State apart is power; the Buckeyes have crushed 40 home runs on the season — 13 more than the Wolverines’ 27.
Both teams have six starters hitting .300 or better, as the Buckeyes are led by junior catcher Sam Hackenbracht’s .380 average, while the Wolverines’ offensive leader is graduate outfielder Kristina Burkhardt, who is currently carrying a .410 average.
“We have quite a bit of information from when we scouted her and played against her when she was at North Carolina, so it’s good for us that we have that information. Obviously we will still watch a lot of film,” Schoenly said. “It’s not the kind of person you’re going to stop. You just have to limit the impact as much as possible. Just a quality player and tons of experience.”
Ohio State has five everyday players who will play Michigan for the first time and six, including Bump, who have never played in Ann Arbor before.
“I’m super excited. Obviously there’s nerves, but if there’s not nerves then I would imagine you wouldn’t really care that much if you weren’t a little bit nervous,” Bump said. “Just going to Michigan, obviously they’re a big rival, everybody knows that, not to mention their coach is one of the most well-known coaches in the game of softball, so it’s more like, ‘Go there, show her what the team’s about.’ It’s fun and it’s a rivalry.”
Michigan head coach Carol Hutchins is coaching her 38th season for the Wolverines. She is the winningest coach in NCAA softball history, accumulating a 1696-546-5 record entering this weekend.
Schoenly said she knows it will be a hostile environment and hopes the team will take that energy into the dugout.
While it will be Bump’s first time at Michigan, she said she knows the intensity of the rivalry.
“We prepared the whole year for this, so I think it comes down to the fact of having each other’s backs, bringing the energy and having fun while we’re doing it because I think that’s a really big key in our team as a whole,” Bump said.
First pitch will take place Friday at 6 p.m. All three games will be on BTN+.
