18 hours Ago
ANN ARBOR – Michigan head softball coach Bonnie Tholl has witnessed many remarkable stretches from Wolverines hitters over her 32 years with the program. Jenissa Conway’s performance last week ranks among the best. The sophomore outfielder was named the Big Ten Player of the Week after going 12 of 15 at the plate with four home runs and 10 RBIs in four games.
She also walked twice. Wolverine @conway_jenissa was named the Big Ten Player of the Week after hitting .800 with a 1.
600 SLG and .824 OBP over four games last week. She posted four homers and 10 RBI in Saturday's DH vs Michigan State.
🤯 #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/Eihm65MgtK But what impressed Tholl the most about Conway’s week was a different stat: zero strikeouts.
“I think she’s been swinging the bat really well over the past month, and she’s just been working diligently on her craft for some time,” said Tholl, a longtime Michigan assistant now in her third season as head coach. “Now we’re just seeing the benefits of all of that hard work.” Tinkering with Conway’s approach at the plate, both mentally and mechanically, has been an ongoing process since she stepped on campus as a freshman.
The 5-foot-8 California native was among the headliners of Michigan’s 2024 recruiting class and earned a starting role as a freshman. She flashed extra-base power with nine home runs, eight doubles and four triples in 61 games last season but batted just .236 with 41 strikeouts.
In 36 games this season, Conway is hitting .366 and is tied for the team lead with 11 home runs. She has struck out only 16 times and has cemented herself into the No.
2 hole in the lineup. “Her swing is not erratic,” Tholl said. “It’s more repeatable.
I think she is able to slow the game down a little bit more in her head, and what you’re seeing is somebody who is getting great experience slowing the game down in her mind, which leads to less strikeouts. That’s really what occurs. She’s not swinging at as many bad pitches.
She’s managing her at-bats better. She’s got lightning in her bat. When she makes solid contact with the ball, it has a chance to get out of the park.
” Conway attributes her breakout to a simplified mindset. She said she felt she was turning a corner this offseason after making an adjustment to the load phase of her swing before some inconsistencies started creeping up early in the year. For her, it was an easy fix.
She recalled extensions drills the team emphasized during the offseason, and the results were immediate, making a noticeable improvement in her hitting. Against Western Michigan on March 25, she went 2 for 3 with a walk. She carried those quality at-bats into a three-game weekend series against Michigan State.
Conway added three more hits in Friday’s loss and then hit all four of her home runs during Saturday’s doubleheader sweep. “When I’m in the box, I always need something to think about something, and I want it to only be one or two things,” she told MLive this week. “If I think too many things, I will be an anxious mess.
So during those at-bats, I literally just thought, ‘OK,’ if you’re swinging, you’re extending.‘” Michigan will be hoping for another productive weekend from Conway during its three-game series at Oregon. Both teams are 6-1 in Big Ten play, and the Ducks boast the league’s top pitcher this season in Lindsey Grein.
She is 18-1 with a 0.98 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 93 innings. “They have that really good pitcher,” Conway said.
“My mindset is I know what I need to do for a riseball pitcher. I know we’ve been scouting her and I know what I need to do. I know I need to take advantage if she leaves one there, but also on the mental side, I know I’m also going to swing and miss.
I know I’m going to pop up and I know I’m going to look like a fool sometimes, but, I just need to be able to bounce back from it.”.
