Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, September 9, 2015 — 7A
Driesenga returns for
fifth year at Michigan
Pitcher receives
medical hardship
waiver after injury
last season
By CHRIS CROWDER
Daily Sports Writer
Through
the
first
two
weeks of the Michigan softball
team’s 2015 campaign, senior
right-hander
Sara
Driesenga
stood out among the three-
headed monster that was the
Wolverines’ pitching rotation.
The co-captain got off to a
4-0 start with a dazzling 0.78
earned-run
average.
Boosted
by
Driesenga’s
quick
start,
Michigan started the season
with an 8-1 record.
But her dominance was short-
lived. While the Wolverines
continued to succeed throughout
the remainder of the year,
Driesenga suffered a season-
ending rib injury in the third
week of the season. Suddenly,
her senior year as one of the best
right-handers in the Big Ten was
over and her collegiate softball
career was in jeopardy.
“At first we thought (I would
be unable to play for) a week or
two,” Driesenga said. “Then I
would be good to go. But after
the MRI, it showed that it was
fractured. I worked hard to come
back all season, but the pain was
still there in the rib.”
Even
though
Michigan’s
co-captain didn’t return to the
circle, the rest of the pitching
staff — since-graduated left-
hander
Haylie
Wagner
and
then-junior right-hander Megan
Betsa — excelled in Driesenga’s
absence. Their success could be
partly accredited to Driesenga’s
advice
and
encouragement
in practice and in the dugout
during games.
“As a captain, I wasn’t just
trying to help (the pitchers), but
the whole team,” Driesenga said.
“We always had that pitching
time, but when I couldn’t be the
one to pitch during that time, I
wanted whoever was out there
to do their best so we could be
successful.”
Now healed from the injury,
Driesenga will have another
chance to help the Wolverines
next
season.
Although
she
graduated
last
semester,
Driesenga was given a medical
hardship for last season, giving
her another year of eligibility
to compete in Michigan’s 2015-
2016 campaign while pursuing
her master’s degree in social
work.
“We
first
knew
that
(returning)
was
an
option
after the season was over when
(the medical exemption) got
approved,”
Driesenga
said.
“There was no question in my
mind that I wanted to come
back. I did all this hard work
to keep developing myself and
to keep helping the program as
much as I can.”
Driesenga’s return to the
team will once again cement
the Wolverine pitching staff as
one of the best in the country.
Michigan boasted a 1.66 ERA
last season, good for fifth in the
nation. While Wagner graduated
and will be missed, Betsa is
ready to cement her place as one
of the elite pitchers in the nation.
Sophomore first baseman Tera
Blanco may see some time in the
circle for the Wolverines, and
Leah Crockett — an incoming
freshman and two-time all-state
selection from New York — is in
the mix for a spot in the rotation
as well.
The
pitching
staff
could
include two to four pitchers,
depending on how well Blanco
and Crockett perform in the
offseason, and on how coach
Carol
Hutchins’
strategy
develops
throughout
the
season. No matter how it shakes
out, Driesenga will provide
leadership,
experience
and
pitching prowess to a team
coming off a national runner-up
run.
“(Hutchins
is)
definitely
excited,” Driesenga said. “She’s
publicized that, she’s said it to me.
I think it’s an advantage when
me and (senior second baseman
Sierra Romero) were captains last
year, and we’ll keep working hard
and keep developing as much as
we can. I think Hutch is excited
about that as well.”
Added
Hutchins
in
an
interview with MGoBlue.com:
“Last year’s curse is this year’s
blessing. … She’s a great pitcher,
and she’s going to be great asset
to Team 39.”
With one year left to finish
what she started last season,
Driesenga hopes to pass on her
wisdom to her teammates, saying
she could probably write a book
about the subject. She wants her
teammates to enjoy their time
as Wolverines because, as she
knows, it flies by.
“I
think
it’s
all
about
perspective while you’re here,”
Driesenga said. “(For me) it’s like,
‘I get to do this another year! I get
this opportunity to stay at this
great university and be a part of
something that is so much bigger
than myself.’ … It’s an opportunity
that not a lot of people get.”
Driesenga will relish the
chance to play for Michigan
again, hoping to be an integral
part of another World Series run.
If the Wolverines are fortunate
enough to get back to the WCWS
next season, she could be the
missing piece of the puzzle for
Michigan to capture the title.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Sara Driesenga will return for a fifth year after missing almost all of last season.
Wolverines look inward
for answers after defeat
Extra film,
conditioning help
Michigan regroup
for week two
By MAX BULTMAN
Daily Sports Editor
Even if its season-opening
road loss to Utah went mostly as
expected, the Michigan football
team was far from content to
accept it.
Speaking
to
reporters
Tuesday at Schembechler Hall,
the Wolverines detailed the
ways they’ve tried to rebound
from the defeat.
Junior running back De’Veon
Smith said that as soon as he
got on the bus after Thursday’s
24-17 loss to the Utes, he dove
into the game film and could tell
immediately what went wrong.
“I graded out myself and I
gave myself a ‘C,’ ” Smith said.
“(I was) missing the holes,
dropping passes, not getting out
quick enough on protections
and into your route, it all comes
into a factor. … I noticed every
little mistake I did.”
Smith’s
self-evaluation
is
fair, based on the numbers — he
averaged 2.8 yards per carry,
and his longest rush of the day
went for just seven yards. He
consistently broke away from
arm tackles, but he wasn’t able
to turn them into big gains.
Likewise,
senior
center
Graham Glasgow and the rest
of the offensive line were able
to catch their mistakes on film.
But when asked about seeing
flashes of the offense’s potential
against Utah, Glasgow took an
especially positive stance.
“I felt better in this loss than
I would after some of our wins
last year,” Glasgow said. “I feel
that we had some mistakes
that we needed to correct, but
they’re not like glaring. There
are some things, but it’s pad
level and things that we can
correct right away.”
Harbaugh
said
Monday
that Glasgow
graded out as
the
highest-
rated offensive
lineman from
the
Utah
game, a good
sign
for
a
player
who
previously had
limited collegiate experience at
center.
It
wasn’t
a
perfect
performance, but the coaching
staff easily isolated the areas
it felt hurt Michigan the most.
This week, the offensive line
has been working extra time
with chutes in practice to
force their pad level low and in
position while moving forward
and laterally.
In practice after the game,
Harbaugh instituted an activity
called “The Michigan Mile.”
Players weren’t given much
instruction, simply to run a
certain number of laps around
the outermost perimeter of
the field, which supposedly
amounts to a mile.
And as is the case with
nearly
every
drill
under
Harbaugh, its effect has been
more competition. Ojemudia
and Smith identified redshirt
freshman receiver Moe Ways as
the winner of this week’s mile,
but it didn’t sound like much
fuss was made over the winner.
“If you win, you get the
satisfaction
of
winning,”
Ojemudia said. “It’s a race if
you’re racing it, but mostly it’s
for conditioning.”
What’s
more,
Harbaugh
and the staff doubled down on
film sessions by having them
watch film both as an offense or
defense and again as a specific
position
group.
For redshirt
freshman
safety Jabrill
Peppers,
that
meant
getting called
out in front
of the entire
room
when
he
missed
assignments.
When
asked
how intense the teaching time
was, Peppers couldn’t help but
chuckle.
“It was pretty intense, it
was pretty intense,” Peppers
said. “I’m not going to go into
too much detail, (but) they
definitely got after us, and me in
particular.”
But according to Peppers, he
took it in stride, embracing the
criticism rather than running
from it.
“That’s one of the things
about
being
coachable
—
handling constructive criticism
and when you know you can
do better,” Peppers said. “So
they’re honest with us, and
they hold each and every one
of us accountable. They’ve seen
what I put forth in camp and
all spring, and going out there
and laying an egg like that
on the first game, it’s just not
acceptable.”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Junior running back De’Veon Smith gave himself a ‘C’ grade for his performance in Thursday’s 24-17 loss at Utah.
“If you win,
you get the
satisfaction of
winning.”
For more football coverage
Check MichiganDaily.com
throughout the week
Finally back on the field,
Peppers reflects on play
Safety admits to
being overeager
early, but settled
down during game
By MAX COHEN
Managing Sports Editor
Jabrill Peppers arrived on
campus before last season as
a mega-recruit, one expected
to make an immediate impact
all over the field for Michigan.
He had committed to the
Wolverines
in
a
nationally
televised rap as the No. 2 recruit
in the nation the year before,
and
some
even
compared
him to Charles Woodson, the
gold standard for Michigan
cornerbacks. He stuck by his
decision
even
when
other
schools attempted to sway him
in the midst of the Wolverines’
turmoil.
But then things fell apart for
Peppers. He suffered a leg injury
in Michigan’s opener against
Appalachian State and received
limited action against Miami
(Ohio) and Utah before he was
shut down for the season.
So
it
was
natural
that
Peppers, in his season debut
last Thursday against Utah,
was overeager. He admitted
Tuesday that he attempted to
come out of the gate with a
bang, reaching for the big play
instead of making the safe and
correct one.
“Once I started to settle in,
be
patient,
read my keys,
trust
the
technique,
that’s
something
they
always
tell
me,”
Peppers said.
“Sometimes I
think that my
speed and my
athleticism
will make that play for me when
I should use both in terms of
using my technique and then
allow my speed or my quickness
to make the play for me.”
Peppers finished his season
debut
with
eight
tackles,
including two for loss. Despite
mistakes early in the game — he
mentioned a time he left his man
open in coverage to attempt a
sack of Utah quarterback Travis
Wilson
—
Peppers
proved
capable of using his speed to
seal off screens and his strength
to make tackles in the open field.
One thing that irked Peppers
from the game was the defense’s
lack of turnovers, save for
redshirt junior Jeremy Clark’s
interception on a Hail Mary to
end the first
half. Turnover
margin
plagued
the
Wolverines
last season as
well.
“It’s
about
playing
the
way we know
how to play,”
Peppers
said.
“Stop
feeling
sorry for ourselves, and stop
making excuses for why we’re
not playing the way that we’re
capable (of) playing.”
Peppers attempted to remedy
that, playing the entire game
from start to finish. For someone
looking to whet his competitive
appetite after almost a full
“When they
call my number,
I’m going to be
ready.”
See PEPPERS, Page 8A