8 — Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Freshman forward Dylan Larkin was a unanimous selection as Big Ten Freshman of the Year on Monday.
Larkin, Hyman lead 
All-Big Ten honorees

By ZACH SHAW 

Daily Sports Writer

Despite ending the regular 

season on a sour note, the 
Michigan hockey team found a 
small bit of consolation Monday.

Forward Dylan Larkin was 

unanimously selected the Big 
Ten Freshman of the Year, and 
was joined on the All-Big Ten 
first team by senior forward 
Zach Hyman and freshman 
defenseman 
Zach 
Werenski. 

Meanwhile, 
junior 
forward 

Andrew Copp and sophomore 
defenseman Michael Downing 
picked up second team honors.

Larkin led all freshmen in 

the conference with 43 points 
(15 
goals, 
28 
assists) 
and 

became the first Wolverine 
freshman since 2008 to top 40 
points in a season. Playing on 
Michigan’s 
most 
productive 

line throughout the season, 
Larkin never missed a beat 
adjusting to the college game, 
which Berenson attributed to 
his speed.

“What’s 
most 
impressive 

about him is his skating,” 
Berenson said. “His quickness 
off the mark is as good as 
anybody. One step, and he’s 
moving, whereas some guys 
you watch and it’s two or three 
or four steps and they get some 
speed, and he’s already past 
them.

“We knew about his puck 

touches and scoring ability and 
skill level, but I didn’t know 
he would be this quick off the 
mark, and he does it every 
night.”

Joining him on both the first 

team and the All-Freshman 
team is his roommate, Werenski. 
The freshman led all Big Ten 
defensemen with nine goals and 
rose to become Michigan’s top 
defenseman 
despite 
graduating 
high school a 
year early.

Both 

highly touted 
well 
before 

arriving 
to 

campus, 
the 

pair led their 
respective 
units 
throughout 
the 
year, 

exceeding even the highest 
expectations.

“Early in the fall, I felt we 

had two impact freshmen,” 
Berenson said of the pair. 
“That’s what we got, which is 
hard for them because they had 
to live up to a lot of expectations 
— and they’ve handled it really 
well. I think either one of them 
could’ve won (Freshman of the 
Year), but good for Dylan, no 
surprise here.”

Also unsurprising is Hyman’s 

unanimous selection on the first 
team. The senior had a breakout 
season, leading the Big Ten 
with 49 points and drawing 
serious consideration for the 
Hobey Baker Award, given to 
the nation’s top player.

More surprising might be 

Michigan 
State 
goaltender 

Jake Hildebrand’s selection as 
Big Ten Player of the Year. The 
junior paced the conference 
with six shutouts, a .930 save 
percentage and a 2.12 goals-
against average, propelling an 

otherwise-mediocre 
Spartan 

team to a late-season surge and 
a second-place Big Ten finish.

But still, with a mix of 

playmaking 
ability, 
team-

focused 
efforts on both 
ends of the ice 
and a flurry of 
highlight reel 
goals, Hyman 
presented 
a 

compelling 
case for voters, 
including 
Berenson.

“Absolutely, 

as deserving as anyone (for 
the award),” Berenson said. 
“But you can make the case 
for 
anyone 
else 
up 
there 

in 
the 
conference. 
There’s 

(defenseman Mike Reilly) from 
Minnesota, (Hildebrand) from 
Michigan State, (forward Casey 
Bailey) from Penn State — I’m 
sure they were all up there in 
people’s minds. But the player 
we see every day, it’s pretty 
hard to say anyone’s any better 
than he is.”

In total, Michigan led the 

Big Ten with five honorees, 
while 
Minnesota 
had 
four, 

Michigan State had two and 
Penn State added one. Berenson 
sees the quantity of awards as a 
reflection of what the team has 
done, and what it’s capable of 
down the road.

“To me, this is team time,” 

Berenson said. “As much as 
we’re happy for the players that 
win the awards, they’ve got to 
realize that the reason they won 
the awards is because they had a 
good team around them.”

“His quickness 

off the mark 
is as good as 

anybody.”

BASEBALL
Michigan battling through 
March ups and downs

By BEN FIDELMAN

Daily Sports Writer

With the bulk of its non-

conference season behind it, the 
first quarter of the season was 
very much an 
up-and-down 
experience for 
the Michigan baseball team.

It has shined in an eight-game 

winning streak and slumped in 
losses to sub-.500 competition, 
but the record reflects that 
the Wolverines are heading 
to the Big Ten portion of their 
schedule with three more wins 
than they did at the same point 
last year.

By getting off to quick starts in 

games, grooming a serviceable 
bullpen and allowing freshmen 
to step up when injuries occur, 
the team has accumulated a 11-7 
record.

Michigan has scored during 

its first turn at bat in five of its 
last six games, often kicking 
the opposition into catch-up 
mode in the early innings of 
the game. Staples at the top of 
the lineup include junior Jacob 
Cronenworth, freshman Jake 
Bivens, 
sophomore 
Carmen 

Benedetti and senior Jackson 
Glines.

“One of our offensive goals 

is to score first,” said Michigan 
coach Erik Bakich. “When you 
can jump out to an early lead it 
gives you more opportunities 
to take chances on the bases. 
It’s just a good feeling to pitch 
with a lead and hit with a lead — 
it’s kind of the old adage to get 
ahead and stay ahead. I think 
our hitters come out every game 
ready to play and have quality 
at-bats.”

This season, the Wolverines 

have outscored opponents by a 
total of 13-6 in the first inning, 
which has ended up being the 
third-highest-scoring frame for 
Michigan.

INJURIES LINGER FOR 

KEY 
PLAYERS: 
Junior 

shortstop 
Travis 
Maezes 

has remained unable to play 
in many of the Wolverines’ 
games since the team traveled 
to Savannah, Georgia in late 
February. 
Recently, 
Bakich 

has inserted him in the lineup 
for a few games, but Maezes 
hasn’t been able to make it 
much longer than his first at-bat 
without retreating to the bench 
for a replacement. The team is 
calling his ailment a “lower-
body injury.” In an effort to cut 
down on the amount of ground 

Maezes has to cover defensively, 
Bakich shifted him to third base, 
pulling Eric Jacobson, who 
usually plays second base, to 
anchor shortstop for Michigan.

“(Maezes) was shut down 

all weekend,” Bakich said. “He 
tried to give it a go in the first 
game on Friday, but after his 
first at-bat, (he) realized that he 
just wasn’t able to contribute to 
the team the way he wanted to. 
I know he’s very frustrated, but 
he’s one of the best players in 
the country and a huge part of 
our team.”

An injury to look for in the 

coming week is to Lamb, who 
was shaking his arm after 
being taken out of the game 
last Friday. Bakich said Lamb 
will undergo tests this week 
to determine the extent of the 
injury.

The Wolverines have also 

long been awaiting the return 
of 
junior 
left-hander 
Evan 

Hill, who has been rehabbing 
a knee injury for a number of 
months. It has been the goal 
to have the team’s ace return 
to the Michigan rotation early 
in Big Ten season. Still, Hill 
will not be available to pitch in 
next weekend’s series against 
Nebraska.

NOTEBOOK

Michigan earns WNIT bid

By BRAD WHIPPLE

Daily Sports Writer

The 
Michigan 
women’s 

basketball team’s season will 
continue for at least a little 
while longer. Monday night, the 
Wolverines earned the Big Ten’s 
automatic bid into the WNIT. 
The 
invitation 
marks 
their 

sixth straight postseason bid — 
the longest streak in program 
history.

Michigan will host Cleveland 

State in the first round of 
the 
tournament 
Wednesday 

night, with game time yet to be 
announced. The Vikings (10-6 
Horizon League, 19-12 overall) 
are coming off an appearance 
in their conference tournament 
semifinals, when they lost by 12 
to Wright State.

If the Wolverines (8-10 Big 

Ten, 16-14 overall) advance past 
Wednesday, they will play the 
winner of Friday’s matchup 
between Toledo and Wright 
State. Other teams in Michigan’s 

region include Akron, Missouri 
and a team the Wolverines 
defeated in December: Eastern 
Michigan.

The WNIT berth comes after 

a blowout loss to Michigan State 
in the Big Ten Tournament, 
eliminating 
any 
chance 
of 

reaching the NCAA Tournament 
for the second time in three 
years.

For much of the 2014-15 

season, Michigan appeared to 
be a contender for the NCAA 
Tournament with an impressive 
resume 
that 
included 
an 

overtime win against Ohio State, 
a 
comeback 
victory 
against 

Northwestern and a regular-
season sweep of in-state rival 
Michigan State.

After posting a 5-2 record in 

January, though, the Wolverines 
found themselves in a downward 
spiral 
during 
February. 
En 

route to going 3-6 that month, 
Michigan 
couldn’t 
finish 
a 

comeback bid against then-
No. 21 Rutgers, relinquished a 

sizable lead over Ohio State in 
Columbus, lost at the buzzer 
to Northwestern at home and 
couldn’t 
hold 
together 
long 

enough against Minnesota in 
double overtime.

With a poor February showing 

and an embarrassing conference 
tournament performance, it was 
inevitable that the Wolverines 
would be heading for the WNIT.

This year’s WNIT appearance 

is Michigan’s second straight 
and seventh overall, and the 
second under the tutelage of 
coach Kim Barnes Arico. Last 
year, the Wolverines hosted the 
first two rounds before suffering 
a third-round loss at Bowling 
Green.

Michigan’s best run in the 

tournament 
came 
during 

the 
2009-10 
season 
under 

then-coach 
Kevin 
Borseth. 

During 
that 
campaign, 
the 

Wolverines earned an at-large 
bid and hosted every game they 
played, ultimately losing in the 
semifinals to Miami.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

2015 WOMEN’S NIT

