0 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com .f. r S SH .r I1 i 'n " s _ ' :'. _ . r _: .. 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 WANT A POSTER OF MON- DAY'S PAPER? IT WOULD LOOK SWEET IN YOUR ROOM Only 10 bucks. Come to 420 Maynard anytime from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with exact change or a check made out to The Michigan Daily. 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.