Michigan let a 5-1 lead get away in the second of two losses to Washington, ending the Wolverines' season in an NCAA Regional.

A day after junior Alex Storako fanned 13 to lead the Wolverines to a 2-1 win and send them to the title game, the Huskies responded with a 2-0 victory and a rally from four down to a 10-5 victory.

U-M ends the season with a 38-8 record, including the program's 22nd Big Ten championship and third in a row and 26th straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

Washington scored seven runs in the fourth inning of the deciding game against pitcher Meghan Beaubien, four of them earned.

"I don't know if anybody could have beaten them today," head coach Carol Hutchins said. "They've got a bunch of fifth-year seniors, and they're a strong, powerful team. they were pretty formidable.

"We had our chances in the first game, kept it to a 2-0 game, but needed to execute our offensive game plan better ... the second game, we jumped out, but you could feel it when they started coming at us. That seven-run inning, we gave them too many outs — outs that needed to be made. You can't do that, and they just ate it up. That's the name of the game."

Michigan loaded the bases with no outs and scored four runs in the second to capture a 5-1 lead. A fielding error scored the first run ... senior first baseman Lou Allan, senior third baseman Taylor Bump and sophomore second baseman Julia Jimenez all drove in runs with a single, walk and fielder's choice in that order.

But it wasn't enough. The Wolverines fell in what was considered a tough draw, one Hutchins had a problem with from the get-go. U-M was sent across the country to play the No. 16 Huskies' region, got the opportunity with a 2-0 win over Seattle University, but fell just short.

“[The committee] absolutely did not do a very good job,” Hutchins told the Detroit News. “They disrespected our entire conference, and you know what? They have to give credence to all different areas of the country. Clearly, there’s a little bias with at least one conference in particular.

"I would say the NCAA committee, I’m not very pleased with at all.”

But they showed up and played well ... just not well enough to advance.

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