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Wednesday, April 3, 2013 -- 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Wednesday, April 3, 2013 - 5A
One final practice at Crisler
for seniors before Final Four
SOFTBALL
Michigan offense
on feverish pace
A graduating class
that didn't play
much but found
ways to contribute
By COLLEEN THOMAS
Daily Sports Editor
The Michigan men's basket-
ball team was standing around
the top of the key at Crisler
Center Tuesday, watching each
senior take the final shots of
practice.
Josh Bartelstein dribbled
to the paint and slammed the
ball home while his teammates
cheered him on, and Eso Akunne
and Matt Vogrich each took a
final 3-pointer. The Wolverines
gathered at center court for a
talk and then practice was over.
Just like that, the five seniors
- Bartelstein, Akunne, Vogrich,
Corey Person and Blake McLi-
mans - had wrapped up their
careers at Crisler.
"I'm happy for them," said
freshman guard Nik Staus-
kas. "They've all had success-
ful careers for them, there's
no better way to end it going to
the Final Four in their last year.
We're proud for them, and we
want to win this one for them."
For most of the team, the last
practice of the year is a weird
feeling - they won't have man-
datory practice until the fall
- but it's even stranger for Bar-
telstein, Akunne, Vogrich, Per-
son and McLimans, who won't
return after spending four, or,
in Person's case, five years at
Crisler.
The five seniors haven't been
an integral part of the team on
gameday, as each player aver-
ages no more than six minutes
per game. Vogrich started six
contests before being replaced
by Stauskas, and Person does a
dance in the huddle before tipoff
in each game, but besides that,
none of the five have seen much
playing time.
But they got to experience
0 things that most Michigan bas-
ketball seniors never got to
experience. Bartelstein was the
first player to cut down the net
at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday,
signaling Michigan's return to
the Final Four for the first time
in 20 years, and the five seniors
got to watch the unveiling of the
2012 Big Ten Champions banner
from the Crisler Center rafters
this season. The title was Michi-
gan's first in 26 years.
Michigan coach John Beilein
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TODD NEEDLE/Daily
Senior Corey Person celebrates alter Michigan clinched a berth in the Final Foot - ifs first since 1993.
has said all season that the five
seniors have played an equally
important role on the team. Bar-
telstein was named captain at the
beginning of this season because
of his selflessness and dedication
to the team, and Akunne and
Person are vocal leaders on the
bench.
But their most important role
has been as the scout team. The
seniors spend hours studying
opponents' offenses during film
sessions, and Beilein has even
joked that the five seniors know
the other Big Ten teams' offenses
better than Michigan's own.
"I know how important they
are," Beilein said. "That scout
team we have is really impor-
tant. That's one of our biggest
concerns next year - what are
we going to dowithout those five
guys?
They have hardly done any-
thing on the court this year
except cleanup time, what are we
going to do to simulate that?"
Though the departure of the
five seniors is overshadowed by
the possibility of multiple play-
ers leaving for the NBA, the loss
will still be felt by Michigan.
Beilein has stressed the value of
the scout team and how each of
the five seniors has a specific role
on the team, and Beilein doesn't
know how to replace that. But
Beilein may be faced with anoth-
er challenge should sophomore
Trey Burke or junior Tim Hard-
away Jr. decide to leave for the
NBA.
NOTE: Freshman forward
Mitch McGary will return for
By ERIN LENNON
Daily Sports Writer
In the second game of a
doubleheader against Penn
State on Saturday, sophomore
catcher Lauren Sweet delivered
the Wolverines' first run with
a double to right-center field
en route to a career day at the
plate.
"We're contagious," Sweet
said.
Of late, offense for the No. 12
Michigan softball team (6-0 Big
Ten, 28-7 overall) has been just
that: contagious.
Michigan sent 12 batters to
the plate in the first inning of
game one, capitalizing on five
walks with four hits. With two
runners on in the third, fresh-
man shortstop Sierra Romero
drove her 11th home run of the
season over the right-field wall.
The Wolverines sent all nine
batters up to the plate to extend
the lead to 11-0.
Before the contest, Sweet
was the Wolverines' weakest
hitter, batting just .167 through
the first 30 games of the season.
But recently, it appears that
Sweet too has caught a case of
power hitting.
Sweet's hot hitting began in
the second game of a double-
header versus Purdue. Down
7-2, the sophomore drove a ball
into the last row of the right-
field bleachers to start the
comeback.
This past weekend, Sweet
set four personal records with
four hits - three of which were
doubles - three runs and five
RBI. In her second at-bat, the
sophomore extended the lead to
5-0 with her third home run of
the season and her third in two
weeks.
"We have the offense to come
back if we're down," Sweet said.
"It's a huge weapon."
For an offense that relied
primarily on the bat of fresh-
man shortstop Sierra Romero
through non-conference play,
production throughout the
batting order has resulted in
10-straight victories by an aver-
age margin of 5.6 runs. The
streak has improved the Wol-
verines' team batting average
to.329.
"We're a very contagious
team," Romero said. "When one
of us is hitting, we just all keep
it going. Sometimes it's bad if
we're not hitting because we
rely on one another. It's really
nice when we get into those
streaks because everyone is
seeing the ball come off the bat
really well."
The same contagious offense
has produced 62 runs in Michi-
gan's first six games of Big Ten
play, moving it up to 12th in the
polls and earning the team sole
possession of first place in the
conference.
After a slow March, sopho-
more pitcher Sara Driesenga
moved from the clean-up spot
down to sixth in the batting
order.
In her place, Michigan coach
Carol Hutchins called on junior
first baseman Caitlin Blanchard
to hit behind Romero. In an
18-run mercy-rule victory over
the Nittany Lions, Blanchard
went 3-for-4 with three runs
scored.
"I think (Blanchard) has
done a job great in her role
behind (Romero)," Hutchins
said. "It's been the theme of our
season of late. I think we have
hit through the lineup. If Romo
is going to get on base, we need
to make her a run. We've done a
good job of that."
Among the other Wolverines
starting to heat up is freshman
outfielder Sierra Lawrence.
During opening weekend at
Alumni Field, Lawrence had six
hits and three RBI to improve
her season batting average to
.341
Michigan is undefeated in
the six games in which Law-
rence has helped turn the line-
up over. ,., ,t t ,
"She's definitely matured,"
Hutchins said. "She's had to
work through a lot this season,
and she's almost there."
With the pitching staff hold-
ing opponents to just five hits
and two runs per game, Michi-
gan is in position to dominate
the Big Ten in pursuit of its
sixth straight conference title.
TODD NEEDLE/Daily
Senior guard Matt Vogrich made a 3-pointer late in the game against Florida.