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