Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Friday, February 13, 2015 — 7
Michigan opens with
three games out West
By ISAIAH ZEAVIN-MOSS
Daily Sports Writer
For the Michigan baseball
team, last season’s campaign
focused
on
building
strength
and
cohesion.
With a team
composed
of
mostly
underclassmen
under
the
tutelage
of
second-year
coach
Erik
Bakich,
the
Wolverines
struggled
to
find
consistency, falling to Nebraska
in the fourth round of the Big
Ten Tournament. Ultimately,
they were not granted a bid to
the NCAA Tournament.
As Michigan begins its season
this weekend with a trip to Long
Beach State for a three-game
swing, hope abounds. And the
Wolverines are excited about
much more than the warm
California sun.
For senior captain infielder
Eric Jacobson, this is the year
the Wolverines take a step
forward.
“This is one of the more
confident teams we’ve had in
my time here,” Jacobson said.
“We know the expectations
of this program for this year,
and we really want to fulfill
those.”
After a season of agonizing
defeats — 17 losses came by
two runs or fewer, including
five in extra innings — Bakich
is confident that those days are
behind the Wolverines.
“Being a year older has
huge value because of the
repetition that we’ve had in
those moments,” Bakich said.
“We’re not going to feel the
pressure, we’re going to apply
the pressure.”
Despite the confidence that
permeates
the
clubhouse,
Bakich stressed the importance
of taking things as they come
and not letting his players get
too ahead of themselves.
“This is the most important
interview
that
I’ve
ever
given in my life because it’s
happening right now,” Bakich
said. “We have to have our
players
having
that
same
intensity and focus, playing
pitch to pitch.”
The Wolverines will look for
a strong start against a Long
Beach State team that, despite
making it to the fourth round
of the NCAA Tournament last
year, lost a great deal of the
depth that got it there.
The 49ers lost seven of their
nine positional starters and
come into the season fielding 19
newcomers. Their most highly
touted player is sophomore
shortstop Garrett Hampson,
who was selected to Collegiate
Baseball’s All-Freshman Team
last season.
“We know a lot about them,
we’ve studied them,” Bakich
said. “But really, the focus will
be on our team doing what
we need to do. It’s going to be
more about us than about any
scouting report or anything
else.”
The
Wolverines
will
begin the season with six
consecutive road trips, all in
different parts of the country.
Their first game at Wilpon
Complex won’t come until
March 24. Before then, they
will have played 21 games.
For any team, this is a
daunting task. Well, any team
besides Bakich’s, apparently.
“We’ll
go
play
anyone,
anywhere, anytime, any place,”
Bakich said. “Six consecutive
road trips? So what? It is what
it is.”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Senior infielder Eric Jacobson will be one of Michigan’s captains this season.
Michigan
at Long
Beach State
Matchup:
Michigan 0-0;
Long Beach
State 0-0
When: Friday-
Sunday
Where:
Blair Field
Amine cousins keep
wrestling in the family
By SYLVANNA GROSS
Daily Sports Writer
Teams tend to become a
family, but for the Amines, the
family became the team.
Mike Amine (1986-1989) was
an NCAA finalist and four-year
letterwinner at Michigan, and
his brother Sam Amine (1988-
1990) was an NCAA qualifier.
Both were Olympic alternates
in 1992, and both are considered
to be among the top Wolverine
wrestlers
of
all time.
For
their
respective
sons, redshirt
freshman
Malik Amine
and
redshirt
sophomore
Jordan Amine, the pressure and
expectations have always been
high because of their coaches and
dads. But as they have matured,
that pressure is coming more
from within.
“The pressure for me was an
issue for a while, it kind of held
me back,” Jordan Amine said.
“I never perform well under
pressure, but I’ve done some
mental retraining and cleared my
head. But I’m not really here for
my dad or my uncle or to live up
to their expectations or anything,
I’m here to live up to my
expectations. I’m here to wrestle
because I want to wrestle.”
And his dad agreed, reassuring
him that “You’re here for you, not
for me.”
The younger generation of
Amines went to different high
schools and competed in different
weight classes, meaning the only
time they faced each other was in
their basement wrestling rooms,
where their dads would coach
them.
Though Jordan and Malik had
offers from other top schools,
they always had a feeling that
they were Wolverines.
“For my senior grad party, my
mom and I looked through my
old journals, and I always wrote
about coming here even when
I was a little kid,” Jordan said.
“Michigan has been a part of me
for forever.”
Jordan had a season-ending
ankle
injury
at the start of
his sophomore
campaign,
eliciting
some
frustration
since
he
couldn’t
start
on the mat this
year, and didn’t have the chance
to watch his cousin on it either.
“I planned on redshirting
this year to get stronger,” Malik
Amine said. “My technique is
there, but my strength could be
better.”
Malik often turns to Jordan
to help with the transition
from high school to collegiate
wrestling, and with the addition
of a rigorous course load, they
have agreed on one thing.
“Academics first,” Jordan said.
“Wrestling can only take you so
far. It can teach you a lot of things
and it gets you in a lot of doors,
but it’s not like there’s a pro
league. You have to focus on your
career and what you’ll do after
wrestling. I’m not here to waste
my time.”
Added Malik: “You have to get
through school and be a great
wrestler and use what you learn
on the mats in life.”
And a lot of what they have
learned is how important the
family tie is. The two grew up
together, wrestled together, came
to college together and will be
living together next year.
“Our dads were like us — they
butted heads but at the end of the
day, they were cool,” Malik said.
“Me and Jordan are like best
friends.”
Best friends who are cousins
but act like brothers, the Amines
enjoy the tight-knit wrestling
community that they’ve found in
Ann Arbor. Michigan coach Joe
McFarland was a senior when
Mike Amine was a freshman,
and teammate Alec Pantaleo’s
uncle, Joe Pantaleo, was there
as well.
The cousins still maintain
their
own
identity
despite
their connections. Jordan and
Malik joke that they are almost
complete opposites.
“He likes snow,” Malik said. “I
like going to the beach.”
The
Amine
legacy
will
continue next year with Malik’s
brother Miles, who signed back
in November. Neither Jordan
nor Malik have any doubt that
Jordan’s younger brother, eighth-
grader Cameron, will become a
Wolverine.
“It’s a great opportunity that
some people take for granted to
train with family,” Malik said.
“But I realize how lucky I am.”
The Amine wrestling dynasty
in Michigan will stay strong
with a an emphasis on personal
excellence,
strength
and
technique, and a penchant for
competition.
Because at the end of the day,
it doesn’t matter who you are, or
what family you come from. It’s
about beating the other person
on the mat.
WRESTLING
“You’re here for
you, not for me.”
Tough pitchers await ‘M’
By TYLER SCOTT
Daily Sports Writer
With the first weekend series
in the books, the Michigan
softball team has had time to
reflect on its performance —
ultimately deciding that there’s
plenty
of
room
for
improvement.
“We didn’t
hit our best
(at the USF
Classic) as a
team,”
said
senior catcher
Lauren
Sweet.
“We
just
need
to come out
ready to go,
and act like
every
game
is a Regional,
Super Regional or World Series
game.”
This week No. 7 Michigan
(3-1) travels to Tallahassee,
Florida to compete in the
Unconquered Invitational at
Florida State (4-1), where it will
play two games each against the
No. 5 Seminoles and Georgia
Tech (0-5), and one matchup
versus Western Kentucky (4-1).
For Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins, the lack of offensive
production so far this season
highlighted Michigan’s other
strengths.
“Probably the biggest highlight
of (last week’s) trip is that we
really underachieved at the plate
… and we were 3-1,” Hutchins
said. “We were able to pull out
games, and play defense and pitch
well enough (to win) without the
offense playing its part.”
The Wolverines belted four
home runs last week, and scored
nine runs against Hampton, but
also have seven players batting
at .200 or below.
The games against Florida
State and Western Kentucky
will undoubtedly provide a
true early-season test for the
Wolverines’ developing offense.
The Seminoles return right-
handed pitcher Lacey Waldrop,
the 2014 USA Softball National
Player of the Year.
And the Hilltoppers have a
pitching threat of their own.
Left-handed pitcher Miranda
Kramer was named the most
recent ESPNW player of the
week. She became just the 19th
player in NCAA history to strike
out 19 batters in seven innings
for Western Kentucky during a
game against Troy.
“I’ve been scouting (Kramer)
out and she’s really good,”
Hutchins said. “We need to
pitch well and play defense until
our offense gets going.”
In a young season, getting
a chance to play meaningful
games is also just as much about
smoothing out the offensive
wrinkles as it is about the
competition.
“We have to get used to having
each other out on the field,
getting used to this new team,”
Sweet said. “I think that having
this first weekend is going to
help us a lot, whether you’re on
the bench or getting one at-bat
a game, just embracing the role
that you have.”
It’s
a
concept
echoed
throughout the clubhouse.
“We just have to focus on
taking it one game at a time,”
said junior utility player Kelsey
Susalla. “Every team is going
to get better from game one to
game 50. We just have to focus
on the next game ahead.”
Given
that
Florida
State
eliminated Michigan from the
NCAA softball Super Regionals
in 2014, one would expect
some edginess to the game, but
Hutchins doesn’t find worth in
dwelling on past experiences.
Instead she sees an opportunity
to play a high-caliber team
that can contribute to the
development of her team early
in the season.
“You play tough competition
and hopefully it hardens you,”
Hutchins said. “Every week
we run into top five teams, and
I’m hoping we get better from
it.”
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Senior catcher Lauren Sweet will be one of the players Michigan looks toward against elite pitching this weekend.
With tournament hopes in
balance, ‘M’ faces must-win
By MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan women’s basketball
coach Kim Barnes Arico doesn’t
label any game as “must-win.”
With Tuesday’s heartbreaking
77-73 loss at Ohio State, the
Wolverines’
game
on
Saturday
against
Northwestern
at
Crisler
Center
may
be
as
close
as
it
gets
to
a
“must-
win” to keep
their
NCAA
Tournament
hopes alive.
But
Michigan (6-7
Big Ten, 14-10 overall) won’t
be the only team on the court
desperate for a win.
With Northwestern (8-5, 18-6)
in fifth place and the Wolverines
in seventh, both teams sit on
the NCAA Tournament bubble,
and a win for either team would
raise its profile for entry into the
tournament.
But for Michigan to pull out
a win, it’s going to have to move
past its late game meltdown at
Ohio State.
With less than 10 minutes
left in the game, the Wolverines
led by 12. However, foul trouble
plagued
Michigan
as
senior
guard Shannon Smith and senior
forwards Nicole Elmblad and
Cyesha Goree played a majority
of the second half with more than
three fouls.
And even when they were on
the court, they had to soften up
to avoid fouling out of the game.
The first player to foul out of the
game was Goree at the 5:12 mark.
“(Goree’s)
a
completely
different
player
when
she’s
in foul trouble, so that really
affected our team,” Barnes Arico
said Tuesday on WTKA. “That’s
tough when you have arguably
the best player in your program
on the bench in foul trouble, so
that took a big toll on us.”
But Barnes Arico chose to
look at the foul situation from a
positive standpoint.
“It gave some of our younger
kids some minutes,” Barnes Arico
said. “Hopefully, that’ll help us
down the stretch.”
After a tough three-game
stretch
in
five
days,
the
Wolverines got a much-needed
day off on Wednesday.
“We had our first day off in a
super long time,” Barnes Arico
said. “It was the first time our
kids got to be normal students,
to study for exams, to regroup
mentally, and I think we’re going
to come back super excited, super
energetic about the final stretch
of our season.”
On the other side of the court,
Northwestern will come to Ann
Arbor on a four-game winning
streak, including a 73-65 overtime
win at Purdue on Wednesday.
“Northwestern is having a
great season, “ Barnes Arico said.
“I think one of the best seasons in
program history. They’re coming
off an overtime win over Purdue,
and they’ve won a bunch in a row
coming into our game, so they
will be fired up.”
The Wildcats are led in
scoring by forward Nia Coffey,
who scores 15.3 points per
game. Coffey, who was the first
ever freshman in Northwestern
history to earn All-Big Ten First
Team honors last season, also
leads the team in rebound with
nine per game.
But less than a month ago
in Chicago, Coffey was held to
just six points in Michigan’s
73-66 win at Northwestern.
Stopping Coffey on Saturday
will be key once again if the
Wolverines want to walk away
with a win.
While Barnes Arico might not
want to call Saturday’s game a
“must-win,” a loss would drop
Michigan to two games under
.500 in the Big Ten.
And that may be a hole too
large to climb out of.
Unconquered
Invitational
When: Friday-
Sunday
Where:
Tallahassee,
Florida
Teams:
Michigan,
Florida State,
Western
Kentucky,
Georgia Tech
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Kim Barnes Arico’s team needs a win to maintain NCAA Tournament hopes.
North-
western at
Michigan
Matchup:
Northwestern
18-6; Michigan
14-10
When:
Saturday 2 P.M.
Where: Crisler
Center