Michigan offense stifled by Kilfoyl in season-ending loss to Oklahoma State, 4-1

When redshirt freshman Lilly Vallimont stepped to the plate in the bottom of the first inning, with one run already scored and the bases loaded, things looked more than promising for the Michigan softball team’s offense.

Oklahoma State right-hander Lexi Kilfoyl’s 1.08 ERA wasn’t as intimidating as it may have initially seemed, and neither was the Cowgirls’ No. 5 ranking.

But Vallimont grounded out, and the Cowgirls escaped the biggest threat the Wolverines posed for the rest of the game. After a shaky start, Kilfoyl found her groove: striking out eight, holding Michigan (43-18 overall) to that lone run, and ending its season — all by way of a 4-1 NCAA Regional-clinching victory for Oklahoma State (47-10).

The Wolverines have faced drop-ball pitchers throughout this season, but none quite as good as Kilfoyl, a 2023 NFCA Third-Team All-American. Their first-inning success — highlighted by senior first baseman Keke Tholl’s two-out RBI single — may have just been beginner’s luck.

“I think (in) the first inning we were able to jump on her and kind of scrap out some hits and find some bases and a way to get a run across,” junior left fielder Ellie Sieler said. “And then, I think (Kilfoyl) made her adjustments, she hit her spots well … I just think we didn’t really counter her adjustments towards the end of the game.”

In the second and third innings, Kilfoyl made quick work of Michigan, going one-two-three in each frame. In the process, she set down the top of the Wolverines’ lineup that caused her trouble in the first.

And the Cowgirls’ batters took advantage of Michigan’s inability to produce on offense. With an RBI single early in the first inning and a solo home run in the second inning, they soon jumped out to a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth inning, Kilfoyl continued to put her talents on display, adding the finishing touches to her case for the First-Team All-America this season. The graduate student put her experience to good use against three consecutive first-year batters for the Wolverines, striking out the first two with ease and getting the third to foul out.

She wasn’t mowing down batters with unheard-of velocity, necessarily — typically throwing in the mid-60s — but instead, she fooled Michigan with unpredictable movement and precise placement on her pitches.

“Incredible command of the zone,” Wolverines coach Bonnie Tholl said about Kilfoyl. “When you have the ability to make pitches look like strikes that are actually balls, that’s a tough deal for a hitter, and that’s why she’s so effective.”

The bottom of the fifth inning was more of the same. Kilfoyl started with a three-pitch strikeout of another Michigan freshman, then drew a lineout and an infield pop-up. She was lighting up the strike zone, not giving the Wolverines the chance to sit back and be patient. From the third to the fifth inning, five of the nine batters Kilfoyl faced had an 0-2 count against them at one point in the at-bat.

Kilfoyl wasn’t giving up any free passes, either, neither walking nor hitting a single batter in any of her 100 pitches Sunday. Michigan had to work for it.

By the time the sixth inning came around, time was running out for the Wolverines. Down 4-1 following a fifth-inning two-run homer for Oklahoma State, they needed runs — and quickly.

But Kilfoyl just kept dealing. Staring down the heart of Michigan’s lineup, Kilfoyl was cool as ice, going one-two-three for the fifth straight inning and picking up her seventh strikeout along the way. Michigan simply had no answer for her.

In the seventh inning, the moribund Wolverines showed some signs of life with a leadoff double but ultimately fell short of the three runs they needed to extend their season. The final out was yet another strikeout from Kilfoyl — a fitting end to the game.

Michigan has lived and died by its offense for much of the season, and Sunday — the season’s end — was no different.

But with the Wolverines going up against a pitching performance as good as Lexi Kilfoyl’s, it’s almost hard to blame them.

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