6 - Friday, March 14, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 6 - Friday, March 14, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Michigan eyes return to .500 Murillo leaving 'M' for 2015 World Cup By JASON RUBINSTEIN Daily Sports Writer The Michigan baseball team is finally heading in the right direction. After a shaky start to the season, the Wolverines earned four wins last week and have the opportunity to win four more this weekend at the College of Charleston Tournament in Charleston, S.C. "(The team) was taking a ton of punches, and it was a combination of us playing really good competition and us not being at full strength, but the guys didn't get discouraged," said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. "These guys are very resilient." Michigan (6-10-1) will first look to carry its recent momentum in arematch against Appalachian State, followedby a doubleheader against College of Charleston and a finale against Kent State. The Wolverines lost, 4-1, to Appalachian State (4-13) nearly two weeks ago, but the result didn't carry much, if any, value to Michigan. The Wolverines were coming off an emotional, streak-snapping, extra-inning win over Notre Dame and had little time to regroup before playing the Mountaineers. Michigan fell down early, couldn't get runs on the board Decision creates gap in defense and midfield as Wolverines retool By BRAD WHIPPLE Daily Sports Writer Less than a month ago, the Michigan women's soccer team hosted a banquet to say goodbye to the seniors who helped put the team in the national spotlight. As if filling their six starting spots wasn't difficult enough, the Wolverines now have to deal with a Cup and has six caps with the national team. "Being selected to play on the world stage is a huge honor, and we're all so happy for Christina," said Michigan coach Greg Ryan in the statement. "We will miss her next year here at Michigan, but we want to wish her and Mexico the very best in the 2015 Women's World Cup." Murillo mentioned that she wouldn't have been able to represent her country in the World Cup ifnot for the freedom that Ryan, former coach of the United States Women's National Team, gives his players. "I'm not sure many college coaches would let their players do this, but he seventh major vacancy. Thursday, Christina Murillo announced she will miss the 2014 season. The junior midfielder has been in support of this "This is ultimately since the very beginning," an opportunity Murillo said. Last season, I couldn't pass Murillo missed the up again. Wolverines' games against Eastern Junior center fielder Jackson Glines excels at earning quality at-bats, which the coaching staff says has led to success. Glines hit .529 with five doubles and eight RBI last week en route to being named the Big Ten Player of the Week. Glines currently sits atop the roster with his .369 batting average. Bakich believes Glines' success is rooted in his quality and was at-bat dominated percentage. by submarine "Our guys QAB pitcher Tyler percentage is Moore. If aren't going to calculated by anything, . nine factors according be surprlsed or including to Bakich, caught " executing a that loss to c off-guard bunt, taking Appalachian a walk, any State will add RBI, any extra motivation to the team. hard-hit ball or having an eight- "I think it left a bad taste pitch at-bat. in their mouth," he said. It's Bakich's goal to have "They're looking to have a every player have half of his better approach and bring more at-bats be quality ones. energy andaggression into the "(Glines) just had a week game to set a better tone for the that was out of sight," Bakich weekend." said. "Twenty-two of 26 plate Junior center fielder Jackson appearances were quality,which Glines has helped Michigan's is85 percent, which is about the offense immensely all season. highest QAB percentage in a week in a player in all the years I've been coaching." But Bakich is not just pleased with Glines. Though their battingaveragesmaynotshowit, sophomore first baseman Jacob Cronenworth and sophomore shortstop Travis Maezes have had more than their fair share of quality at-bats. "Travis Maezes and Jacob Cronenworth, on the season, are over 50 percent in quality at-bats, but their batting averages aren't reflective of it yet," Bakich said. "Both of them have made a ton of loud outs, hitting balls extremely hard but getting caught. All their hard hits will start to drop. "That's why they continue to be guys we want in the top of the order, even though their batting average may not reflect it." The Wolverines will need every quality at-bat they can get this weekend, especially against College of Charleston (13-3). The Cougars have a strong pitchingstaffthatledthemto two wins over No. 13 North Carolina. Strong pitching, though, is something the Wolverines have faced all season long. "We just focus on what we need to do," Bakich said. "That's great that Charleston has good pitching, statistically. It's an advantage for us because we've seen great pitching thus far. Our guys aren't going to be surprised or caught off-guard if we see good pitching." Michigan is also optimistic that freshman outfielder Jackson Lamb is nearly fully healthy. Lamb, who has one of the most explosive bats on the team, has been recovering from a back injury and remains day- to-day. If he feels 100-percent healthy, Bakich plans to use the freshman as much as possible. The Wolverines have an opportunity to reach .500 this weekend. If its dominant pitching remains intact and the team stays strong at the plate, that benchmark may not be out of reach. will be taking the academic year off to train with the Mexican Women's National Team in preparation for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. The competition will be held in Canada from June to July. Murillo plans to re-enroll at Michigan following the World Cup and will be eligible to play for one final season in 2015. "This was a hard decision to make, but this is ultimately an opportunity that I couldn't pass up again," Murillo said in a statement to MGoBlue.com. This isn't the first time Murillo has competed at the international level. She played for Mexico in the 2012 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Michigan and San Diego State to participate in a Sept. 3 international friendly against the U.S. She started 20 of Michigan's 23 games, scoring one goal and tallying an assist. The Wolverines boasted an elite midfield and back line in 2013, making their run to the Elite Eight possible. But repeating that success could be difficult this fall, when Ryan and the coaching staff will have to retool much of the lineup. "It will be difficult to not be out on the field this year for Michigan," Murillo said. "I'm hoping that when I come back after a full year of training that I will be able to contribute even more to help this team achieve great things." 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Contact 734-996-1991. 4 BDRM HSE, Fuller by North Cam- pus, 1010 Cedar Bend Dr. $2400/m + utils. 2 bath, 3 parking. Wsher/dryer. Avail. Fall 2014 contact 734-996-1991. BIG TEN TOURNEY From Page 1 - Thursday afternoon, 64-54, setting up a rematch of a game played 10 days earlier. The Wolverines (15-3 Big Ten, 23-7 overall) shot Illinois out of State Farm Center that night, going 16-for-23 from behind the arc to get an 84-53 win and to claim the outright Big Ten regular-season title. In light of the dominant Ilinois at performance, chigan sophomore guard and recently Matchup: crowned Big Ten Illinois 19-13; Player of the Year igan2 Nik Stauskas said When: Friday there are still 12 P.M. things to shore up Where: against the blue Bankers Life and orange. Fieldhouse "When we TV: ESPN were watching film the other day, Coach Beilein made a great point," Stauskas said. "They got a lot of open shots that they just missed. So the fact that we won the game by (31) wasn't really telling of how well they played." Whether Indiana or Illinois (7-11, 19-13) won Thursday's game, it wouldn't affect the Wolverines' preparation for Friday. They had played each within the last two weeks, and game plans hadn't yet escaped the players'heads. "The prep's a little bit easier just because the scouting reports are kind of fresh in our minds," Stauskas said. "We'll probably watch a lot of clips from those games over again. As far as remembering their plays and stuff like that, it's just a little bit easier." Friday's game time presented an interesting logistical predicament to Michigan Thursday. Big Ten rules prohibit teams from leaving for Indianapolis more than 24 hours before their scheduled game, but Beilein still wanted a practice after the Illinois-Indiana game had been decided. With the team playing at noon, it wouldn't get a chance to practice on game day, but it also couldn't practice in Ann Arbor with knowledge of its next opponent. So on the way from Michigan to Indianapolis, the team stopped for a session at Indiana Tech in Fort Wayne, Ind. If the Wolverines win Friday's game, they will play the winner of Nebraska and Ohio State Saturday. Win that one, and they make the championship, where they could draw a team that has played them tough this year - Iowa, Wisconsin or Michigan State. While Michigan has been as strong as any team in the country offensively this season, it has also sported a porous defense. Maybe it's the new rules this year that have made it more difficult to play on-ball defense, and maybe it's the Wolverines' lack of an imposing presence around the rim, but Michigan has struggled to neutralize scorers. "We have gotten better, but we're still obviously not good enough to shut people down," Beilein said. "So we better play well offensively, or we'll have a tough time winning." Perhaps it's because of that defense, but Stauskas feels like Michigan doesn't yet have the respect of the country. That's why he still considers his team to be underdogs this weekend. "We're the No. 1 seed, but I don't think we're the favorites to win this tournament," he said. "I don't think anyone really thinks we're gonna win. So we still have a chip on our shoulder, and we're excited to prove ourselves again." That may very well be Stauskas'own perception rather than reality, but perhaps not. Either way, it's to Michigan's advantage if it feels that way. "We understand that we play our best basketball when we feel like we're a little bit under the radar," Stauskas said. For tourney coverage Check MichiganDaily.com throughout the weekend k DO YOU HAVE ADD or ADHD? Try this helpful book, ONE PAGE AT A TIME: Getting through college with ADHD. A first-hand, insightful experience. Available on Amazon. 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