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Thursday, May 7, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS

Seven Wolverines 

get NFL contracts

By ZACH SHAW 

Managing Sports Editor

Last fall, the Michigan foot-

ball team had one of the nation’s 
smallest senior classes at just 12 
players.

But in the past week, half of 

them have signed on to continue 
their careers in the NFL. After 
junior receiver Devin Funchess 
and senior defensive end Frank 
Clark were drafted in the second 
round of the 2015 NFL Draft last 
Friday, several seniors have fur-
thered their football careers.

Both 2014 team captains — 

linebacker Jake Ryan and quar-
terback/receiver Devin Gardner 
— will have the opportunity to 
take their leadership to peren-
nial powerhouses. The Green 
Bay Packers drafted Ryan in the 
fourth round, while Gardner — 
who will switch to wideout in the 
pros — was signed by the New 
England Patriots as an undrafted 
free agent.

“I’m very excited for this oppor-

tunity,” Gardner said at the Bob 
Ufer Quarterback Club banquet on 
Monday. “It’s a dream that I’ve had 
since 1998. I remember being in 
class, and the teacher said, ‘Write 
down what you want to be when 
you grow up.’ And I said, ‘NFL 
football player.’ And she laughed at 
me. And everybody else laughed.

“They didn’t believe it would be 

a possibility because so few people 
get a chance to do it. But like I said, 
I’m about to get a chance to do it, 
and I’m going to take full advan-
tage of it.”

Three 
other 
Wolverines 

earned invitations to rookie 
camps as undrafted free agents. 
Defensive end Brennan Beyer 
will join the Baltimore Ravens, 
defensive back Delonte Hollow-
ell signed with the Detroit Lions 
and kicker Matt Wile will join 
Funchess in Carolina.

Though still unsigned as of 

Wednesday, defensive back Ray-
mon Taylor remains a candidate 
to join the league, garnering inter-
est from a handful of teams.

Michigan topples 
Central in extras

By ZACH SHAW 

Daily Sports Editor

After being shut out in back-to-

back games for the first time in Erik 
Bakich’s three-year tenure as head 
coach, the Michigan baseball team 

was 
relieved 

to finally score 
with two outs 
in 
the 
first 

inning of Wednesday’s game.

But the Big Ten’s top offense 

didn’t stop there. The Wolverines 
(12-9 Big Ten, 29-20 overall) plated 
five two-out runs in the first two 
innings, then converted a suc-
cessful squeeze bunt to score the 
winning run in the top of the 10th 
inning to defeat Central Michigan.

“It’s always good to get the posi-

tive result that you’re chasing,” 
Bakich said. “The last couple games 
have kind of been a fluke offensive-
ly. We weren’t able to scratch any 
runs across, but you knew it was 
coming. It’s good for the momen-
tum heading into the weekend to 
play well and get better and move 

our team in the positive direction.”

The win came after ugly losses to 

Iowa and Illinois-Chicago on Sun-
day and Tuesday, respectively. The 
team hit just .167 as a team in those 
games, well below its season aver-
age of .300. Despite the alarming dry 
spell, Bakich was impressed with his 
team’s ability to bounce back.

“They’re smart kids,” he said. 

“They know that it was just a cou-
ple days where we didn’t get the 
bounces and find the holes that 
we normally find. But that doesn’t 
change the fact that we still have 
a confident offense full of capable 
hitters.

Though the top of the order 

has carried the flag for Michigan’s 
offense most of the season, it was 
the bottom half that did the talk-
ing. The Wolverines’ bottom five 
hitters went a combined 7-for-18 
and drove in four of six runs.

Despite the balanced effort, it 

was pinch-hitter and senior infield-
er Eric Jacobson who proved to be 
the hero. With junior outfielder 
Cody Bruder on third base with the 

game tied in the 10th inning, Jacob-
son laid down a flawless squeeze 
bunt to drive in the go-ahead run.

“He’s our most selfless player,” 

Bakich said. “He’s the consummate 
teammate, grinder, guy that you 
cheer for. He loves Michigan, he 
loves representing Michigan … all 
he cares about is the team and help-

ing the team win more than person-
al statistics. More than anything, he 
is just 100 percent in it for the team.”

The win was a welcome sight to 

the Wolverines, whose chances of 
attaining an at-large NCAA Tour-
nament bid effectively ended with 
the two losses.

Returning home for the final 

seven 
regular-season 
games, 

Michigan knows it faces an uphill 
battle to rebuild momentum in 
time for the Big Ten Tournament, 
set to begin May 20.

“We know we’re going to take 

some blows, we know we’re going 
to trade punches, and we look for-
ward to that challenge.”

PAUL SHERMAN/Daily

Senior infielder Eric Jacobson successfully converted a squeeze bunt in the tenth inning to score the go-ahead run over Central

CENTRAL
MICHIGAN 

5

6(10)

Softball racks in big awards

By TYLER SCOTT 

Daily Sports Writer

It should come as no shock that 

when the 2015 Big Ten softball 
awards were announced Wednes-
day, several players from the Michi-
gan softball team were among those 
honored.

Sophomore right-hander Megan 

Betsa was named the Big Ten Pitch-
er of the Year, an achievement she 
and Michigan coach Carol Hutchins 
both attribute in part to the work 
she put in during the offseason. In 
total, seven Michigan players were 
honored.

Hutchins was hardly stunned.
“I vote, and I’m allowed to nomi-

nate eight (players), and I did,” 
Hutchins said. “But the numbers 
are the numbers and there were 
some pretty fat numbers in our con-
ference this year, so it was tough to 
be considered. I thought for the 
most part it fell the way it would.”

Along with Betsa, junior second 

baseman Sierra Romero, sopho-
more left fielder Kelly Christner and 
senior left-hander Haylie Wagner 
were all First-Team Big Ten honor-
ees. Betsa, Romero and Christner 

were unanimous selections.

Junior centerfielder Sierra Law-

rence, sophomore shortstop Abby 
Ramirez and senior catcher Lauren 
Sweet were Second Team All-Con-
ference. Christner, Wagner and 
Lawrence received All-Defensive 
recognition as well.

The players weren’t the only 

ones to be honored for their contri-
butions to the Wolverines’ eighth 
consecutive Big Ten championship 
season. Hutchins reeled in her 15th 
career Coach of the Year award, 
her eighth since 2004.

Michigan is highly dedicated to 

Hutchins’ softball philosophies. The 
players believe in what their coach 
has to say. That belief is a monumen-
tal testament to Hutchins’ coaching, 
and it gets results.

“(Betsa’s award) is a real credit 

to the work she put in. From our 
last pitch in Tallahassee last year, 
she stayed here this summer, she 
worked really hard,” Hutchins said. 
“The greatest growth for her has 
been her ability to stay one-pitch 
focused. She really bought into the 
one pitch tougher mentality. It’s 
worked really well for her. It’s excit-
ing to see her have such success.”

Before Betsa, Wagner was the 

last Michigan hurler to earn Pitch-
er of the Year honors in 2012, which 
is hardly a coincidence. Betsa is 
aware of the changes she’s made on 
her approach to the game this sea-
son and the success it has brought.

“I was obviously really excited 

(about the award),” Betsa said. “I 
feel really lucky and blessed to be 
here at this University doing this 
every single day. It’s something I’ve 
worked really hard for. I felt that I 
deserved it in the way that I worked 
in the offseason, bettering my men-
tal toughness was a big aspect of 
that. I’ve grown to be a student of 
the game in that aspect. I really like 
where I’m at.”

After a day of recognition and 

accolades, Hutchins continued to 
challenge her players in preparation 
for the post-season, echoing Rome-
ro’s focus on what is next to come.

“To me the test is, ‘Can you do it 

now carrying that trophy around on 
your shoulders?’ ” Hutchins said. 
“(Betsa) might be the Big Ten Pitch-
er of the Year, but that’s not going to 
get her a strike. It’s not going to get 
her a pitch. She’s going to have to go 
out there and work hard.”

FOOTBALL

