Erickson steps up in Michigan win over Northern Colorado

Before the 1-1 pitch, Maddie Erickson got in her stance and looked out toward the circle.

The sophomore third baseman nodded at the opposing pitcher as she does before every pitch she sees, but this time, a smile came across her face, too. It was as if she knew what was going to happen next.

With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh inning, the pitch came on the outside of the plate, and Erickson swung away. She launched the ball well over the left-field wall for a walk-off home run, and when she got back to home plate, she was still all smiles.

“These guys are battle-tested, they find all different ways to win.” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said.

The two-run homer was her biggest contribution to the Michigan softball team’s win over Northern Colorado Saturday, but it was far from her only one.

On defense, Erickson has been steady from her third base position all year long, leading the team with 84 fielding assists. And although she wasn’t put into action often against the Bears, she made the play every time the ball came her way.

In the top of the third inning, she got the first out on a fielder’s choice, and later helped orchestrate an inning-ending double play. In the top of the seventh inning, too, Erickson made a crucial play to help the Wolverines get out of a jam.

With two runners on and no one out, Northern Colorado was in a prime position to re-take the lead. Right fielder Emma Harrington fouled a ball high in the air and toward the third-base dugout, and Erickson, in a full sprint directly toward the dugout, made the catch on the run.

For the rest of the frame, it was smooth sailing for Michigan. Erickson made the first of what would be three consecutive outs to get to the bottom of the seventh.

The walk-off hit wasn’t the only thing she did with her bat, either. In the bottom of the third inning, the Wolverines were in an early 2-0 hole and already down to their last out. But just like she would go on to do in the seventh, Erickson delivered when her team needed her. 

She waited on the 1-2 changeup and sliced it into right-center field, dropping the ball just over the second baseman’s head for an RBI single.

So when Erickson came up to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning, it was only fitting that she ended things for Michigan. She showed up in the biggest moments all game long — a trend that’s been behind many of the Wolverines’ wins this season.

“You just wanna build momentum,” Tholl said. “And the fact that Maddie walked it off — she took a lot better cuts in game two (Saturday against Kentucky) than she did in game one, and I think that was a continuation and a confidence-builder right there.”

Much of Michigan’s lineup didn’t have its best stuff against the Bears, but it didn’t need it — because Maddie Erickson did it all.

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