Cal Softball vs. Michigan (Michigan Regional) Open Thread

No. 18 Cal (36-16) vs. No.8 Michigan Wolverines (46-10)

Time: 9 AM PT

Online Video: WatchESPN.com

Live Stat: Gametracker

Twitter Play by Play: RookieBears1754

After a slowish start, the Bears' bat has finally woken up from their hibernation and blasted 4 homers against the Central Michigan "Chips" on Friday. Senior ace Jolene Henderson was stellar and appeared to be back in top form. Jo and fellow senior Lindsey Ziegenhirt (who hit a long homer over the scoreboard) will look to continue their Cal career beyond today by beating Michigan in the morning. Should the Bears falter in the morning, they would have to play an elimination game in the afternoon against the loser of Central Michigan and Valparaiso.

SCOUTING REPORT: NO. 7/8 MICHIGAN

The hosting Wolverines carry a No. 8 seed into the tournament, bolstered by their .339 batting average, which ranks fourth in the nation, along with the nation’s second-best 402 runs on the season. Leading the lineup is Sierra Romero with 62 runs, 66 RBI and 22 home runs for a .378 batting average. Sara Driesenga does most of the work in the circle for Michigan, with a 26-6 record and 1.81 ERA. Southpaw Haylie Wagner could also present a challenge for the Golden Bears with a 2.58 ERA and 18-3 record. Michigan has already faced four Pac-12 opponents this season – Oregon, Washington, Arizona State and Arizona – losing only to Oregon (13-4 in six innings). However, the Wolverines also own losses to Wisconsin and Nebraska, along with a nine-inning win over Indiana, all of whom Cal beat in preseason tournaments.

A quick glance at the schedule for Cal and Michigan:

UC Davis (Cal beat them 7-0 at Davis, Michigan beat them 6-0 at neutral site)

Maryland (Cal beat them 3-2 at neutral site, Michigan beat them 10-2 (5 innings) at neutral site)

Georgia Tech (Cal beat them 8-0 (6) at neutral site, Michigan beat them 6-1 at neutral site)

Northwestern (Cal beat them 2-0 at neutral site, Michigan swept them at home 2-1, 16-1 (5), 9-3)

Nebraska (Cal beat them 1-0 at neutral site, Michigan went 1-2 against them at Nebraska 1-6, 5-3, 4-7)

Oregon (Cal went 1-2 against them at home 1-5, 3-1, 3-9, Michigan lost 13-4 (6))

Washington (Cal went 1-2 against them at Washington 4-7, 8-9 (9), 3-2, Michigan beat them 6-1 at neutral site)

Arizona (Cal went 2-1 at Arizona 6-2, 5-1, 3-7, Michigan beat them 9-1 (6))

Arizona State (Jo-less Cal got swept 2-10 (5), 0-11 (5), 3-5, Michigan beat them 5-4 at neutral site)

Cal's Statistical Leaders:

Pitching: Jolene Henderson is by far the best pitcher on the squad. She has a 31-9 record with a minuscule ERA of 1.19 with 254 K in 269.2 IP.

Hitting:

Freshman OF Khala Taylor lead the team in batting average with 0.342

Cheyenne Cordes and Danielle Henderson are the leaders in OBP however.

Cords has the batting average / on-base average / slugging average slash line of 0.319/0.421/0.554

Danielle Henderson ("Hendu") has the line of 0.293/0.433/0.551

Senior Catcher lead the team in slugging percentage with a pretty insane 0.694 thanks to her team leading 17 homers.

1B Victoria Jones with 11 homer also has a pretty healthy slashline of 0.287/0.398/0.566

Cal's Ranking Nationally

Team Ranking

batting average..................................................................................157 (.265)

double Plays/game.............................................................................128 (.26)

doubles/game .....................................................................................240 (.91)

era..........................................................................................................63 (2.59)

Fielding Pct. ...........................................................................................50 (.967)

home runs/game................................................................................24 (1.11)

Scoring....................................................................................................89 (4.75)

Slugging Pct...........................................................................................72 (.438)

Stolen bases/game..............................................................................209 (.62)

triples/game.........................................................................................117 (.15)

W/L Pct...................................................................................................44 (.679)

Individual Rankings

batting average.........................................................................................none

era......................................................................Jolene henderson // 8 (1.23)

hit by Pitch/game.............................................cheyenne cordes // 46 (.26)

hits allowed/7 innings......................................Jolene henderson // 41 (4.98)

home runs/game..............................................Lindsey ziegenhirt // 27 (.32)

home runs............................................................Lindsey ziegenhirt // 31 (16)

on base Pct................................................................................................none

rbi/game...........................................................Lindsey ziegenhirt // 31 (1.04)

Shutouts .................................................................Jolene henderson // 3 (13)

Slugging Pct.......................................................Lindsey ziegenhirt // 96 (.686)

Stolen bases................................................................................................none

Strikeouts............................................................Jolene henderson // 29 (246)

Strikeouts/7 innings...........................................Jolene henderson // 116 (6.6)

triples...........................................................................................................none

victories................................................................Jolene henderson // 6 (29)

Walks..................................................................danielle henderson // 68 (.62)

GO BEARS!

Make Ann Arbor a Bear Territory!