Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, March 25, 2015 — 7A
‘M’ prepares for Western
By TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
Facing off against inferior
opponents
happens
fairly
often
when
you’re
the
Michigan softball team. After
a commanding
series to open
up
Big
Ten
conference
play,
the
fourth-ranked
Wolverines
return home to
meet Western
Michigan.
The
game,
originally
scheduled
for
Tuesday
afternoon,
was delayed until Wednesday
due to a cold-weather forecast.
In
the
pitcher’s
circle,
Western
Michigan
boasts
a high earned-run average
of 4.76, whereas Michigan’s
pitchers have combined for a
1.51 ERA, the fifth best in the
nation. Though the starting
pitcher will not be announced
until game time, it will likely
be either senior left-hander
Haylie Wagner or sophomore
right-hander
Megan
Betsa.
Both pitchers were unforgiving
against
Ohio
State
last
weekend.
Against
the
Buckeyes,
Michigan won its first two games
13-1, and followed it up Sunday
with a powerful 20-0 victory.
The third pitcher for the
Wolverines,
senior
Sara
Driesenga, is still dealing with
an injury. If the team pulls ahead,
freshman
right-hander
Tera
Blanco may also see time in the
circle.
Like Driesenga, senior catcher
Lauren Sweet awaits her return
after an awkward slide against
Kent State. Sweet is known to be
a power hitter for Michigan, but
her replacement has been stellar
as well.
Freshman Aidan Falk stepped
behind the plate and is proving
why she got so much time as the
designated hitter before Sweet’s
injury. Last weekend, Falk hit
two home runs and recorded six
RBI, contributing immensely to
the team’s offensive power.
Michigan
and
Western
Michigan have seen one common
foe. The Broncos began their
season
against
then-No.
16
Arizona State, losing by a score
of 6-0. The Wolverines have also
seen the Sun Devils, matching up
three times and getting the best
of them twice.
Though the Wolverines will
be a large favorite Wednesday
afternoon,
Michigan
coach
Carol Hutchins still expects
her team to come out the gate
flying.
But letdowns against inferior
opponents have not been an issue
this season. This past weekend
against Ohio State, a far weaker
team, Michigan continued to
hammer in runs, dominating by a
total score of 46-2 over the three
games.
If the Wolverines (3-0 Big Ten,
28-4 overall) continue to play
the way they have recently, the
Broncos (6-13) won’t present the
biggest challenge.
“The game is the game,”
Hutchins said. “It’s just like
playing softball. The game never
changes.”
The weekend series against
Ohio State was also significant as
Hutchins recorded her 1,400th
win, but the team knows that
there are more important things
than records.
“We are just playing like we
usually do,” said junior infielder
Sierra Romero. “Hutchins is a
great coach, and she deserves it
all, but we don’t get caught up in
anything like that.”
When it comes to playing lesser
quality teams, Michigan has
done it all. Before the Wolverines
return to their Big Ten schedule,
the theme of mercy rules, 1-2-3
defensive innings and endless
home runs will likely continue
on Wednesday.
Western
Michigan at
Michigan
Matchup:
WMU 6-13;
Michigan 28-4
When:
Wednesday
4 P.M.
Where:
Alumni Field
SOFTBALL
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Growth evident in WNIT
By JACOB GASE
Daily Sports Writer
The
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team’s
tumultuous
2014-15
season,
which
saw
NCAA Tournament hopes fizzle
after a disappointing finish in
conference play, is finally nearing
its conclusion.
And
despite
falling
short
of their preseason goals, the
Wolverines
have
committed
themselves to a new cause:
sending their trio of seniors
— guard Shannon Smith and
forwards Cyesha Goree and
Nicole Elmblad — out on a high
note with the program’s first-
ever WNIT championship.
After double-digit victories
over
Cleveland
State
and
Toledo in the tournament’s first
two rounds, Michigan seems
determined to hang the first
women’s basketball banner at
Crisler Center. But its strong
WNIT run — which resumes
when
the
Wolverines
face
Missouri on Thursday in Ann
Arbor — is just as important for
the program’s future as it is for its
beloved senior class.
“It’s great for our seniors to
finish on a great note, but it’s
also really important that our
five freshmen continue to work
and continue to improve,” said
Michigan coach Kim Barnes
Arico after the victory over
Cleveland State.
Guard Katelynn Flaherty has
been the only major freshman
contributor all season, moving
in and out of the starting lineup
and working to overcome her
inconsistencies. Now, in the
postseason, lesser-used freshmen
like forwards Jillian Dunston and
Emoni Jackson have been given
chances to display the results of
their hard work in practice.
Before the postseason, both
Dunston and Jackson only saw
the floor for short periods when
Barnes Arico wanted a short
burst of energy. Both showed
flashes of talent — especially
when it came to playing off the
glass — but both also let their
high motors and inexperience get
the best of them by committing
fouls at a high rate.
But now, in the WNIT, the two
have combined for nine points
and nine rebounds in 38 total
minutes. The Wolverines’ recent
opponents haven’t quite met the
lofty standard of competition
set by Big Ten teams, but the
freshmen
have
shown
signs
of hope for the future of the
Michigan
frontcourt
without
Elmblad and Goree.
“Our
younger
kids
have
stepped up,” Barnes Arico told
WTKA
Radio
on
Tuesday.
“Practices have been tremendous,
and we’re continuing to improve.”
It’s not just the younger
players who are displaying signs
of growth as the season draws
to a close. The team as a whole is
starting to right its past mistakes.
When Toledo cut a 19-point
deficit to just 10 with 6:44
remaining, and when Goree
ended up on the bench in foul
trouble, the game suddenly felt
eerily similar to the Wolverines’
losses to Ohio State, Nebraska
and Northwestern, in which the
team held significant leads before
inexplicably falling apart without
Goree in the game.
Only this time, Michigan
answered every Rocket run and
held on for a 74-58 victory.
“It was pretty impressive,
especially at (Toledo’s) place,”
Barnes Arico said. “It was such
a great environment, and they
were making runs at us, and we
knew they were going to make a
run. And every time they did, our
kids were able to make big plays.
It was so great to see our growth
and different people stepping up
at different times.”
Playing in the WNIT, win
or lose, was not the ending the
Wolverines were hoping for
when their season began in
November.
But for players like Dunston,
Jackson
and
junior
guard
Madison Ristovski — who stands
to be a team leader next season
and has caught fire down the
stretch — the tournament has
been a golden opportunity to step
up and prove themselves.
And for Michigan, it’s one last
chance to atone for this season’s
failures and work toward a
brighter future.
Wolverines defeat Bowling
Green to win home opener
By BEN FIDELMAN
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan baseball team
came out firing on all cylinders
in its home opener on Tuesday
night,
cruising
to an easy
8-3 victory
over Bowling Green. It was an
important shift in momentum for
the Wolverines, who struggled
mightily last weekend in a three-
game sweep at Nebraska.
Right-hander
Matt
Ogden
took
the
mound
first
for
Michigan (0-3 Big Ten, 12-11
overall) and got the afternoon
off to a hot start. The redshirt
junior retired the Falcons (0-3
MAC, 5-14 overall) in order
through the first two innings,
giving his team an opportunity
to jump ahead early.
Bowling Green was the first
to put a run on the scoreboard,
with Kory Brown slugging home
a leadoff single in the third
inning with a double down the
left-field line. Ogden ended the
inning with a strikeout and a
check-swing groundout to third
base.
Junior third baseman Jacob
Cronenworth led off the bottom
of the third with a single and a
stolen base, eventually putting
himself on second base with
one out. Next up was Glines,
who brought a .556 on-base
percentage into the game and
reached base on a walk. The two
moved up on a wild pitch, which
was followed by a run-scoring
groundout
from
sophomore
right fielder Carmen Benedetti.
Junior left fielder Cody Bruder
added another with a run-
scoring single to left field, giving
Michigan the 2-1 advantage
heading to the fourth.
The Falcons bounced back
with a run their next time up
to tie the game, but Wolverine
right fielder Kevin White put the
home team back on top, 3-2, with
a solo home run to right field.
“Being able to fire on all
cylinders is huge,” White said.
“We’re a dangerous team when
we’re doing that. I was just really
relaxed up there today and just
trying to have fun.”
In the top of the fifth inning,
Michigan replaced Ogden with
sophomore left-hander Brett
Adcock, who has struggled
early this season. The team’s
opening day starter, Adcock is
carrying a bloated 5.47 earned-
run average, which recently
shot up after allowing six runs
in 1.2 innings against Nebraska
last weekend.
Adcock struck out the first
Bowling Green hitter before
allowing the next three to reach
base, at which point Michigan
coach Erik Bakich strolled to
the mound and replaced him
with right-hander Mac Lozer.
The sophomore got the Falcons
batter to line out to left field,
where Bruder caught the ball
and gunned it home to beat
the runner tagging from third
base — ending the bases-loaded
threat.
It was quite the combined
effort by the pitching staff in the
game, with five Michigan arms
taking the mound. Ogden got
the win for his four innings of
work, which was complemented
by Adcock and Lozer, along
with
freshmen
left-handers
Oliver
Jaskie
and
Michael
Hendrickson.
“It’s good to see those guys
compete, attack the strike zone
and just show some toughness
on the mound while responding
well after a tough weekend
where we gave up a bunch of
runs,” Bakich said.
Getting
many
arms
to
work against a sub-.500 team
could prove to be key, as the
Wolverines look to continue
their rebound this weekend
against another tough opponent
in No. 20 Maryland.
BGSU
MICHIGAN
3
8
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Matt Ogden earned a win for his four innings of work Tuesday afternoon.