No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 6 Alabama
Expect a battle between the three seed Michigan and the six seed Alabama. They met back in February with Michigan winning both games in impressive fashion 7-1 and 4-1. A lot of time has passed since then and Alabama has been playing better. Expect a closer game this time around.
Michigan is on a 25 game winning streak. They have not dropped a game since April 3 against Minnesota. The Wolverines have one of the more dangerous line-ups in the country. There really is not an easy out in their order. Pitching for Michigan has been good and one of the main reasons for their success this season. Michigan’s pitchers have combined for a 1.59 ERA. Big 10 Pitcher of the Year Megan Betsa is 30-4 with a 1.56 ERA and 310 strikeouts. Haylie Wagner has also performed well and is 22-2 with a 1.82 ERA. Sierra Romero has been outstanding at the plate with an impressive line that reads .472/.624/.962 with 21 home runs and 81 RBI. As a team they are batting .344 with 115 home runs on the season. With five of their starting nine in double digits for home runs you can see why they are do dangerous.
The only flaw that could be pointed to with Michigan would be that their defense can be shaky at times. Not bad at all, just some errors at times they have been costly. With that said next to Florida they may be playing better than anyone else right now. Dangerous team with real threat of winning it.
Alabama has also been playing well and are coming out of a Super Regional against Oklahoma that had all the excitement of a championship game. They have relied on solid pitching and timely hitting this season. Coming into the WCWS Crimson Tide pitchers have combined for a 1.83 ERA and opposing hitters are batting just .195 against them. Sydney Littlejohn is 16-1 with a 1.49 ERA, Alexi Osorio is 21-8 with a 1.64 ERA and Leslie Jury is 10-4 with a 2.47 ERA. They will rely mostly on Osorio and Littlejohn. Although they have not put huge power numbers up this season they are batting .327 as a team. Leading the way is Haylie McCleney who has a .453/.596/.730 line. Power has been provided by Marisa Runyon who has 19 home runs and a .806 SLG.
On paper Michigan is the favorite, but this should be a closer game than what they played back in February.
No. 2 Oregon vs. No. 7 UCLA
Odd that three of the first round games are basically conference battles, but that is the way it all played out. In the final game of the first day we get a Pac 12 battle between the second seed Oregon and the seventh seed UCLA (11-time National Champion). They played three times this season with Oregon winning two of the three. These teams are pretty similar in how they are built.
Oregon who has been at or near the top of the rankings all season and gets it done with good pitching and a balanced attack. As a team they are batting .364. Their leading hitter is Jenna Lilley who has a .433/.548/.675 slash. Power has been provided by Koral Costa who has 15 home runs on the season. Cheridan Hawkins (30-3, 1.41 ERA) leads a pitching staff that has combined for a 2.33 ERA. One thing that stands out when watching the Ducks is their plate presence. They are the most disciplined team at the plate that we have watched this season. Rarely do they swing at pitches outside the zone, making life hard on opposing pitchers. They are also very aggressive on the bases putting a lot of pressure on opposing defenses.
UCLA has had a strong season and a big part has to do with their consistency at the plate. They have decent power but all but one of their everyday starters are batting .300 or better. The Bruins are hitting .370 as a team this season. Their top hitter (statistically) is Allexis Bennett who is slashing .514/.549/.606. Delany Spaulding is hitting .408 with 20 home runs and Stephany LaRosa who is hitting .380 with 19 home runs. All three are dangerous hitters. Their pitching has been good but maybe not as good as some would have expected. UCLA’s pitchers have combined for a 2.63 ERA and are led by Ally Carda (31-6, 2.27 ERA).
As we already stated the make-up of these teams are pretty similar, Oregon has the slight edge in pitching. If Oregon shows the plate discipline they have to this point they will be tough to beat.
