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Thursday, May 7, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS

2015 Men’s lacrosse in review

By BRANDON CARNEY 

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan men’s lacrosse 

team was in control of its own 
postseason destiny heading into its 
regular season finale against Penn 
State.

A win would have secured the 

Wolverines a fourth-place regular-
season finish in their inaugural 
year of Big Ten lacrosse.

But Michigan was unable to 

overcome a five-goal deficit, and 
eventually fell one goal short of 
extending its season. The Wolver-
ines (1-4 Big Ten, 5-8 overall) fin-
ished fifth in conference play.

Despite the season’s premature 

ending, there are many positives 
that the young Wolverines can 
take away from the 2015 campaign. 
Michigan finished with a 5-8 
record, tying the program record 
for wins in a season. The Wolver-
ines also made huge strides defen-
sively, allowing the lowest goals 
against per game average in team 
history with 11.54, while causing 
8.92 turnovers per game, good for 
fourth in the country.

Keeping the good and the bad in 

mind, the Daily breaks down the 
fourth season of Michigan men’s 
lacrosse.

MVP: Gerald Logan
The 
Wolverines’ 
first-choice 

goalie was sidelined with a shoul-
der injury for the entirety of 
the 2014 campaign. But Logan 
returned and showed his tough-
ness in the net throughout the 2015 

season, as he helped transform the 
Michigan defense.

The redshirt sophomore ranked 

fifth nationally with 12.85 saves 
per game. Early in the year, Logan 
consistently bailed out his back 
line nearly every time it made a 
bad play or allowed an easy look 
at goal.

As the defenders around him 

grew in ability and confidence, 
Logan found his job became eas-
ier. Harder shots forced by his 
defensemen increased his save 
percentage.

Logan will surely headline as 

one of the nation’s top goalies in the 
next two years if he can continue to 
anchor the Wolverines’ defense the 
way he did this season.

Most Improved: Chase Young 

and Stefan Bergman

Both Young and Bergman start-

ed the year on the bench, awaiting 
the opportunity to break into the 
first team.

Bergman slipped into the start-

ing lineup when junior defender 
Chris Walker suffered a midseason 
injury. The sophomore defender 
played a key role in the evolution of 
Michigan’s off-ball defense, while 
shutting down some of the Big 
Ten’s most prolific scorers in con-
ference games.

Young struggled to break out 

of the Wolverines’ deep attacking 
midfield unit early in the year. The 
freshman was forced to change 
positions when injuries began to 
take their toll on Michigan’s defen-
sive midfield.

And that’s when Young’s raw 

talent and speed became noticeable 
on the field. Opposing attackers 
found it difficult to outrun Young in 
transition, and his hustle and quick 
hands were an important addition 
on the defensive end.

Bergman and Young ended up 

being the key ingredients in the 
renaissance of the Wolverines’ 
defense, and both are expected to 
grow steadily in the years to come.

Best Win: 9-8 (4OT) at St. 

Joseph’s, March 14

Michigan had struggled to win 

both on the road and in games 
that went down to the wire in 
its first three years as a Division 
I program. So few thought the 
Wolverines would be able to hang 
on to a fourth-quarter lead when 
they played the Hawks in Phila-
delphia.

Despite traveling without their 

top goal scorer, sophomore attacker 
Ian King, the Wolverines were able 
to pull out a gutsy win when King’s 
replacement, junior attacker Peter 
Kraus, scored the game-winning 
goal in the fourth overtime.

Michigan could have folded 

when St. Joseph’s went on a 6-1 run 
to tie the game with 29 seconds 
remaining. After all, the Wolver-
ines had collapsed in similar situa-
tions in past seasons.

Yet, Michigan recovered and 

showed mental toughness, primar-
ily on the defensive end, through 
four sudden-death overtime peri-
ods until Kraus finally came up 
with the game-winner.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Redshirt-sophomore Gerald Logan shined in the lacrosse team’s 2015 campaign, in which they came a game short of the postseason.

Five things we 
learned: Softball

By CHRIS CROWDER 

Daily Sports Writer

The No.3 Michigan softball team 

has lived up to expectations this 
year, winning its eighth-consec-
utive Big Ten title. In some ways, 
the Wolverines have also exceeded 
expectations, as several players 
have made drastic improvements 
from last year.

With the Big Ten Tournament 

beginning Thursday, the Daily 
breaks down five things we learned 
from Michigan’s regular season.

1. Megan Betsa is the go-to 

pitcher

After a stellar freshman cam-

paign last season, in which she tal-
lied 18 wins and a 2.15 earned-run 
average, Betsa has become one of 
the top pitchers in the nation in her 
2015 campaign. She now leads the 
Big Ten with a 1.46 ERA and has 24 
wins — second best in the confer-
ence.

Betsa has also thrown two no-

hitters this year against Michigan 
State and Maryland, giving her 
a slight edge over her teammate 
and senior pitcher Haylie Wagner. 
Toward the beginning half of the 
season, Betsa got the Wolverines out 
of tough games in relief for Wagner. 

2. Haylie Wagner needs to be 

consistent to earn a national 
championship

After Wagner had some struggles 

toward the beginning of the season, 
including a 3-0 loss to Kent State, 
she has been on top of her game. Her 
faults were minimal, but she has 
returned to her All-American form 
as of late.

Hutchins describes her pitch-

ing staff as not having an ace, but a 
deuce in Betsa and Wagner. After 
senior right-hander Sara Driesenga 
was lost for the season due to injury, 
it was up to Wagner to be the sole 
senior in the circle. Her ERA is not 
as good as last year, but at 1.76, it’s 
still something to celebrate.

Wagner has gained more confi-

dence and consistency in the circle 
as the season has gone on. The Wol-
verines will need that trend to con-
tinue because if both pitchers are 
playing their “A” game, the national 
championship may be in reach.

3. Sierra Romero is as good as 

advertised, again

Going into the season, Romero 

was once again highly touted as one 

of the best players in the country, 
and she has not slowed down.

She may be in a bit of a slump late-

ly, but Romero still remains at the 
top of most Big Ten hitting catego-
ries. Her batting average, slugging 
percentage and on-base percentage 
are still far and away best in the con-
ference. Until two weeks ago, her 
slugging percentage was over 1.000 
— one of just a handful of players in 
the nation to do so.

4. Hitting is contagious, for 

better or for worse

Hutchins has credited Michi-

gan’s spectacular hitting to the idea 
of hitting being contagious. It seems 
like when one person is on top of 
their game, the rest of the lineup fol-
lows suit. But at the same time, the 
whole lineup can go through a funk 
for a game. The Wolverine lineup 
puts runs across the plate much 
more often than not, but has had 
some moments where the offense 
could not get going.

Michigan leads the nation in 

home runs with 101 — two shy of the 
program record set in 2005. From 
the leader in homers, Kelly Christ-
ner, to the only slap hitter in the 
lineup, Abby Ramirez, everyone is 
capable of hitting the ball hard and 
out of the park.

5. This team is one of the deep-

est in the nation

Michigan has dealt with plenty 

of injuries this season and has still 
outperformed nearly every team 
they’ve faced. The injuries have just 
provided an opportunity for oth-
ers to step up. When senior catcher 
Lauren Sweet went down, freshman 
Aidan Falk played well behind the 
plate in her absence. Recently, when 
junior left fielder Kelsey Susalla had 
to take some time off, freshman util-
ity player Taylor Swearingen played 
admirably when she was needed.

Out of the starting nine, six are 

batting over .325. Those coming off 
the bench to pinch-hit or run play 
well when they are called upon. 
And again, the Wolverines have 
two of the best pitchers in the Big 
Ten. And freshman first baseman 
Tera Blanco will likely see time in 
the circle next season.

Michigan is has a lineup in 

which everyone can contribute, 
for now and for the future. As long 
as they play like they have been all 
season, a national title is not out of 
the question.

