Sports
8 — Tuesday, April 7, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Rolling Wolverines
host EMU Tuesday
By DANNY VARGOVICK
Daily Sports Writer
It isn’t a good time to run into
the Michigan baseball team.
The Wolverines (4-5 Big Ten,
18-13
overall)
have
won
their last two
weekend series
against Big Ten
behemoths
Maryland and
Indiana
and
haven’t lost a
midweek game
all year.
Tuesday,
Michigan
will
welcome
neighboring
Eastern
Michigan (4-5 Mid-American
Conference, 12-18 overall) to Ann
Arbor for a 4 p.m. game. And even
despite his team’s recent string
of success, Michigan coach Erik
Bakich said there’s no chance it
will neglect to prepare for the
Eagles.
“We’re not going to overlook
tomorrow’s
training
session,”
Bakich said. “Even though we’ve
had a couple of nice weekends
in a row, we still have to get
better. We have an opportunity
to compete. Our backs are still
against the wall, and we’re going
to come out fighting against
Eastern for 27 outs.”
Junior left-hander Evan Hill
will make his first start of the
season after returning from
injury. Hill was the Wolverines’
top starter a year ago, posting a
3.24 earned-run average in 89
innings.
He made his season debut
last weekend against Indiana,
pitching one inning, allowing one
hit and striking out two.
Bakich said Hill’s return is
a big boost to the club, not only
from a talent perspective, but also
from an emotional perspective.
“It’s just being able to have
the positive contribution of a
teammate who’s been in the
trenches with everyone the entire
time,” Bakich said. “Nobody
wants to be sidelined with an
injury. To get him healthy and
back, it helps us to be firing on all
cylinders.”
Third
baseman
Mitchell
McGeein and right fielder Jordan
Peterson pace Eastern Michigan
offensively.
McGeein has collected eight
home runs on the year, the top
mark in the MAC. He has a
.398 on-base percentage and is
slugging .591. For comparison,
sophomore right fielder Carmen
Benedetti leads the Wolverines
with a .527 slugging percentage.
Peterson has a .395 OBP,
offering much less power but
posting eight steals on the season.
The Eagles have not yet
announced who will start on the
mound.
The Wolverines and Eagles
have had one common opponent
so far this season — Indiana —
which Michigan beat this past
weekend. The Hoosiers swept
Eastern Michigan in mid-March.
All signs point toward an
advantage for the Wolverines.
Bakich,
however,
won’t
underestimate any team.
“Anybody can beat anybody on
any given day in college baseball,”
Bakich said. “We’re not going to
take them lightly, and they’re not
going to take us lightly.”
Harbaugh adds third
commit in four days
Alabama RB,
Indiana QB,
Michigan LB join
2016 class
By JAKE LOURIM
Managing Sports Editor
More than three months have
passed since Jim Harbaugh’s
introduction
as
Michigan
football coach.
But the excitement hasn’t
worn off in recruiting.
Harbaugh
added
three
recruits to his 2016 class in the
past four days, sandwiched
around the team’s Spring Game
on Saturday.
The
most
recent
was
Kingston Davis, a three-star
running
back
according
to
Scout.com, who tweeted his
commitment Monday morning.
The 6-foot-1, 225-pound back
from Prattville, Alabama was
high-school teammates with
2015 cornerback recruit Keith
Washington. Davis also had
offers from Louisville, Ole Miss,
Mississippi
State,
Southern
Mississippi and three Sun Belt
schools.
Last season, Davis rushed
for 1,432 yards on 192 carries,
scoring
14
touchdowns
as
Prattville made a run to the
state title game before falling.
He added seven catches for 114
yards and another score.
The first commitment of the
weekend came from Brandon
Peters via Twitter on Friday
night. Peters is a 6-foot-4, 190-
pound quarterback from Avon,
Indiana.
Scout.com
ranks
him No. 1 among Midwest
quarterbacks and No. 20 overall
among quarterbacks in the class,
but ESPN.com’s ranking is more
favorable, listing him as the No.
12 signal caller in the class.
Peters earned first-team All-
Conference and AP All-State
honors last season as a junior,
when he passed for 1,876 yards
and 22 touchdowns. Michigan
could have as many as five
scholarship
quarterbacks
in
2015 — junior Shane Morris,
redshirt
freshman
Wilton
Speight, freshman Zach Gentry,
freshman Alex Malzone and
graduate transfer Jake Rudock.
Houston transfer John O’Korn
will be eligible starting in 2016.
Committing
shortly
after
Peters was David Reese, a
6-foot-1, 235-pound native of
nearby Farmington, Michigan.
He will start his career as a
fullback, though he also played
linebacker
in
high
school.
Scout.com only ranks him as a
middle linebacker, the best in
the Midwest and the ninth-best
overall.
Playing
both
ways
for
Farmington
High
School
last season, Reese carried 42
times for 297 yards and seven
touchdowns
and
made
107
tackles (56 solo). He added a
blocked kick as the Falcons
went 7-3, won their league and
made the playoffs.
Davis, Peters and Reese join
two commitments in the 2016
class from Brady Hoke’s tenure:
three-star outside linebacker
Dele’ Harding and four-star
offensive tackle Erik Swenson.
Harding, a 6-foot-1, 230-pound
native of Elkton, Maryland,
ranks
56th
among
outside
linebackers,
while
Swenson,
a 6-foot-7, 285-pounder from
Downers Grove, Illinois, is 12th
in his position group.
Eastern
Michigan at
Michigan
Matchup:
EMU 12-18;
Michigan 18-13
When:
Tuesday 4 P.M.
Where: Ray
Fisher Stadium
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Evan Hill will make his first start of the season Tuesday versus Eastern Michigan.
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
Jim Harbaugh’s 2016 football recruiting class now has five members after three commitments in the past four days.
Between conference series,
‘M’ plays Eastern Michigan
Wolverines a heavy
favorite over local
foe EMU
By TED JANES
Daily Sports Writer
The
Eastern
Michigan
softball team isn’t in a power
conference. It isn’t in the
running for the NCAA title, and
it’s far from the top 25.
But
Tuesday, it will
try to do what
only
Florida,
Arizona State,
Kent
State,
Iowa
and
Minnesota
have
been
able to do this
season — beat
Michigan.
The
Wolverines
(7-2 Big Ten,
33-6
overall)
will
host
their
Washtenaw
County
neighbors in a break from
Big Ten play. No. 4 Michigan
returns to Alumni Field after
taking two commanding wins
in a three-game series against
No. 19 Minnesota. Amid the
conference
schedule,
the
Wolverines’ next home series
won’t arrive for a few more
weeks, so getting the chance to
play at home is a nice relief for
the team and its fans.
“This is among a lot of road
games,” said senior catcher
Lauren Sweet. “So any time we
can play at home, we are excited
about it.”
Sweet, who was out for about
two weeks due to an ankle
injury, returned to form against
Minnesota by
recording
a
home run and
six RBI. Her
performance
wasn’t
perfect,
but
she
showed
signs that the
injury was no
longer a major
factor.
“Even when
my at-bats didn’t have the best
result, I felt I was taking good
swings,” Sweet said. “Behind
the plate, I felt a lot better this
weekend. I had another week to
get my ankle a little better.”
Strong pitching performances
from both right-hander Megan
Betsa and left-hander Haylie
Wagner also highlighted the
weekend. With just two options
in the circle, the team still
awaits the return of senior
right-hander Sara Driesenga.
Michigan
coach
Carol
Hutchins planned to give her
players the day off Monday to
ensure they had time to rest
with only one day in between
games.
“We take the day off, and
we hope that it will help us
continue to stay locked in
during that game,” Hutchins
said Sunday. “Right now, we just
need to relax. Minnesota was a
very intense series, and they
deserve a day off. We are going
to get home late (Sunday), and
we will come back rejuvenated
and ready to go.”
Eastern
Michigan
(2-4
Mid-American
Conference,
9-21
overall)
has
had
an
immensely different schedule
than Michigan, playing just
three games against ranked
opponents so far. The Eagles
were mercy-ruled twice and
lost by five runs in the third
game.
Pitcher Lindsay Rich will
likely start for the Eagles.
Boasting a 6.71 earned-run
average, Rich has pitched in 18
games, far more than any of her
teammates.
Since
Betsa
pitched
the
entirety
of
Sunday’s
matchup,
Wagner
will
likely
start
in
the
circle for the
Wolverines,
though
Hutchins
won’t officially name a starter
until game time.
Just
like
every
outing,
Eastern Michigan gives the
Wolverines a chance to tune
up, get a little bit better and
stay in the groove. Though the
Eagles won’t present the same
challenge the Golden Gophers
did, Hutchins instilled in her
players’ minds that this game
still counts toward their record,
and is therefore to be taken
seriously.
“We don’t think about the
turnaround,” said sophomore
infielder Lindsay Montemarano.
“Anytime we get to step out on
Alumni Field, which we don’t
get to do a lot, we get excited.
We know we are in season, and
we have a ton of games to play.”
Of
the
numerous
ways
Eastern Michigan differs from
Minnesota, Arizona State and
Florida, it is similar in one.
Michigan
views
it
as
a
roadblock.
Eastern
Michigan at
Michigan
Matchup:
EMU 9-21;
Michigan 33-6
When:
Tuesday 6 P.M.
Where:
Alumni Field
TV/Radio:
BTN Plus
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
Senior catcher Lauren Sweet is hitting .306 with seven home runs and 34 RBI heading into Tuesday’s game.
“Any time we
can play at
home, we are
excited about it.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan Softball
6
RBI for senior catcher Lauren Sweet
during the team’s series at Minnesota
over the weekend
24-2
Michigan’s record against unranked
teams this season
236-38
Michigan’s combined score against
unranked teams
1.74
The team’s earned-run average on the
season, best in the Big Ten by 0.35