ANN ARBOR - Michigan head softball coach Carol Hutchins has benched players in the past to send a message.
The longtime coach, though, cannot recall a time when she benched five players in the same game before she did it for April 22's contest at Wisconsin. The Wolverines were shutout 1-0 the previous day and had scored just 18 runs in their previous seven games.
Huchins took several of her regulars out of the April 22 lineup and gave the start to sophomore Leah Crockett, who has just 7 1/3 innings pitched in her career.
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Hutchins put her starters back in the lineup midway through the game and saw an immediate impact.