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Thursday, May 14, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS
By KEVIN SANTO
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan softball team
will begin the Regional round of
the NCAA Tournament on Friday
at Alumni Field. The Wolverines
will host California, Pittsburgh
and Oakland. Only one team can
emerge from the double-elimina-
tion Regional round to move on
to the Super Regional. The Daily
breaks down each team compet-
ing for a chance to survive and
advance.
No. 3 Michigan
The Wolverines (21-2 Big Ten,
51-6 overall) are the NCAA Region-
al favorites.
Michigan will be playing with
home-field advantage and is com-
ing off a Big Ten regular season and
tournament title, not to mention
they’re on a 20-game win streak.
Junior co-captain and second base-
man Sierra Romero was just named
ESPN’s Player of the Year and is on
a hot streak entering the tourna-
ment — something that won’t bode
well for opponents.
In three games at the Big Ten
tournament, Romero went 5-for-
8 with 11 runs batted in and three
home runs.
Sophomore left fielder Kelly
Christner trails just Romero in
team batting statistics, boasting 18
home runs and a .420 batting aver-
age while leading the Wolverines
with 74 hits.
Michigan’s pitching corps is
expected to be dominant as usual,
as the duo put together strong per-
formances in the Big Ten Tourna-
ment.
Sophomore
right-hander
Megan Betsa recorded 15 strike
outs and allowed zero walks in
seven innings. Senior left-hander
Haylie Wagner allowed only one
run on three hits to lead the Wol-
verines to victory in the tourna-
ment championship.
With everything clicking for
Michigan, it’s hard to imagine an
upset in Ann Arbor.
California
The Bears (10-14 Pac-12, 38-16)
will prove to be the greatest
obstacle of the Regional for the
Wolverines. Cal has a number
of impressive wins against top-
ranked teams, defeating No. 8 Ten-
nessee, No. 9 Florida State and No.
12 Arizona. Only three of its losses
during conference play came at the
hands of an unranked team.
There’s no questioning that the
Bears have been battle-tested by
a powerful Pac-12 conference, but
they will need a number of players
to produce in order to emerge from
the Regional.
Centerfielder Jazmyn Jackson
has been exceptional in her first
season for Cal, recording a .446 bat-
ting average and leading the team
with 78 hits. Left fielder Cheyenne
Cordes and catcher Danielle Hen-
derson have been dominant power
hitters this year, boasting 15 and 14
home runs, respectively. The duo
have also accounted for 119 of the
team’s 286 RBI.
Though the Bears are more than
capable at the plate, they are not
nearly as strong in the circle. Right-
hander
Katie
Sutherland-Finch
leads the team in innings pitched
with 168, but has accumulated a
mediocre 3.79 earned-run average.
Cal could make a push to emerge
from the Regional, but it will likely
be faced with the difficult task of
outscoring Michigan.
Pittsburgh
The Panthers (11-13 ACC, 35-20)
have earned their first bid to the
tournament in program history
and are looking to continue to take
down powerhouse teams. Though
Pittsburgh has an unimpressive
record, it is fresh off a huge perfor-
mance in the ACC Tournament.
The second and third-ranked
teams of the tournament, Notre
Dame and North Carolina, were
handed losses at the hands of the
Panthers, and the selection com-
mittee awarded Pitt by punching
its ticket to Ann Arbor.
The Panthers have unimpres-
sive stats — they are fifth in bat-
ting average in the ACC, recording
a .293 team batting average. They
also are eighth in the conference
with a 3.90 ERA.
Despite the low batting average,
Pitt still is first and second in the
ACC with 445 hits and 82 doubles,
respectively.
The Panthers struggle from the
circle as well, accumulating a 3.90
ERA that could be exploited by the
other three teams in the field.
Pitt will have a tough road to
get through the Regional, but at
the moment it appears nothing is
impossible for this team.
Oakland
The Golden Grizzlies’ are the
Cinderella of the Ann Arbor region-
al. Oakland (14-6 Horizon League,
27-22) reigns as both the regular
season and tournament champion
of its conference, but that isn’t as
impressive when compared to the
competition of the Big Ten, ACC or
Pac-12.
It would be shocking if the Gold-
en Grizzlies advanced through
Regional play, but they have a
handful of players that could turn
their current dream into a reality.
One of Oakland’s biggest assets
is its speed on the base paths.
Third baseman Morgan Muron and
shortstop Sarah Hartley are both
21-for-22 in stolen base attempts.
Hartley leads the team in home
runs as well with 11 while posting a
.366 batting average. The underdog
squad’s biggest threat at the plate
is first baseman Sara Cupp, who
boasts a team-high .382 batting
average and 43 RBI.
The
Golden
Grizzlies’
have
leaned on right-hander Erin Kown-
acki in the circle this year, who
maintains a 2.43 ERA and leads her
team in appearances by 15 games.
Oakland’s journey will likely
end at Alumni Field, but nothing is
guaranteed in the NCAA Tourna-
ment.
NCAA Regional Preview:
Wolverines set to defend
home turf
Despite injury,
Driesenga is
dedicated to seeing
Michigan succeed
By TYLER SCOTT
Daily Sports Writer
As good as sophomore right-
hander Megan Betsa and senior
left-hander Haylie Wagner have
been heading into this weekend’s
regional round of the NCAA tour-
nament, the Wolverines’ pitching
rotation today looks considerably
different than anyone would have
guessed it would during the early
stages of the 2015 season.
Senior right-hander Sara Dries-
enga started the season as one of
three major threats in the circle
for the Michigan softball team. On
February 21, Driesenga pitched five
complete innings, allowing just
four hits and one earned run dur-
ing a 13-1 Michigan win over Lip-
scomb. And then her season was
derailed.
“You don’t expect (an injury)
coming into the season,” Driesenga
said. “I always expected to be able
to contribute on the field.”
The game against Lipscomb
would prove to be Driesenga’s last.
Since appearing in eight games for
the Wolverines at the beginning of
the year, she has missed the major-
ity of the season with an injury
— forcing the two-time first team
All-Big Ten pitcher to adjust to a
new role on the team.
As frustrating as it is being
unable to take the field with her
teammates and help win games for
Michigan, Driesenga knows what
she wants each player to be focused
on heading into the NCAA tourna-
ment.
“Even if we do come out and
score a lot of runs like sometimes
we have, not getting complacent
with that and not being content,
always wanting to get better,” Dri-
esenga said. “Because those little
things and that mindset is what’s
going to make all the difference in
the postseason.”
It would have been interesting
to see how differently Michigan’s
season would have taken shape had
Driesenga, a team captain with a
2.07 career ERA, not been injured.
Throughout her career, Driesenga
was an adequate producer at the
plate as well, batting a career .272
average and a .444 slugging per-
centage when she played mainly as
a designated and utility player.
Instead, the Wolverines lost a
decorated veteran on the field, but
gained a steadfast leader in the
dugout that still wants to contrib-
ute to her team in any way she can.
“Really what I’ve been focusing
on is watching the game and really
being into every pitch,” Driesenga
said. “I guess (I’ve been) learning
the certain tendencies of my team-
mates and trying to help them if
they’re struggling. Or if they’re
doing well I make sure to tell them,
See DRIESENGA, Page 10