Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, February 10, 2016 — 7A

DELANEY RYAN/Daily

Senior outfielder Kelsey Susalla hit .380 with 14 home runs last season.
Veteran outfield 
to lead Michigan

Lawrence, Susalla, 
Christner all return 
to pack Wolverines’ 

prolific lineup

By AVI SHOLKOFF

Daily Sports Writer

As 
the 
No. 
2 
Michigan 

softball team begins its season 
this weekend, its outfield will be 
crucial to its success.

The Wolverines’ outfield will 

lead the team both on offense 
and off the field, helping to 
motivate younger players. All 
three starting outfielders return 
from last season’s second-place 
finish in the Women’s College 
World Series and look to improve 
on last season’s performance.

After spending her freshman 

year on the bench, only getting 
occasional 
opportunities 

to 
pinch-

hit, 
junior 

outfielder 
Kelly 
Christner 
flourished 
in 

her first year 
as a starter. 
She 
finished 

second 
on 

the team in 
a variety of 
categories 
including home runs, supporting 
an offense that led the nation 
with 118.

“My main focus my freshman 

year was really (on each) pitch,” 
Christner said. “I came in for 
pinch-hit at bats, so I really had 
to focus on every single pitch. 
Last year my main focus was my 
confidence, and that really helped 
me excel to the next level.”

Playing alongside Christner 

in the outfield will be two 
seniors, 
Kelsey 
Susalla 
and 

Sierra Lawrence.

Like Christner, Susalla also 

thrived in her first year with 
regular playing time, finishing 
third on the team in batting 
average and RBI. Susalla also 
garnered 
tremendous 
praise 

from Michigan coach Carol 
Hutchins about her work ethic 
and dedication.

“(Susalla) 
didn’t 
quite 
get 

the accolades that (Christner) 
did, but she was critical to our 
success,” Hutchins said. “She 
came from being a walk-on who 
had (few) at-bats as a freshman 
and sophomore to our starting 
outfielder who was on the All-
American ballot and All-Big Ten.”

Lawrence is one of just two 

four-year starters on the roster. 
Last season, she led the team 
in stolen bases and played in 
at least 50 games for the third 
year in a row. She also was 
perfect in the field, not making 
a single error.

Lawrence knows the tools 

for a successful team, and 
along with her fellow seasoned 
outfielders, she aims to assist 

the younger players, who have 
just 
begun 
their 
Wolverine 

softball journeys.

“Me and the upperclassmen, 

we’ve done great job of coaching 
the 
underclassmen 
and 
the 

freshmen we have out there,” 
Lawrence said. “I think it’s a 
big role that we all have to step 
up and do, and we have some 
freshmen out there who need to 
do some learning for when I step 
down or if they need to come in 
this season.”

Michigan gains two new 

freshmen in its outfield corps 
this season, Natalie Peters and 
Courtney 
Richardson, 
who 

were both named to their all-
conference teams in high school.

Hutchins 
enjoys 
coaching 

freshmen 
because 
of 
their 

commitment to improving and 
assisting the team.

“Freshmen come every day 

excited to be here,” Hutchins 
said. “This freshman class, I’ve 

loved from the 
get-go. There’s 
a lot of them, 
and they stick 
together as a 
group. They’re 
enthusiastic. I 
like that pack 
mentality. 
They take care 
of each other.”

Christner 

explained 

that the elder players will 
do whatever it takes to ease 
the challenging transition of 
college softball — be it extra 
batting practice or a simple 
conversation.

Perhaps because she knows 

from experience the importance 
of taking advantage of every 
opportunity, Christner is always 
eager to help a young player 
with extra reps.

“Sometimes you can just see 

the look on people’s faces that 
they’re having a bad day and go up 
and talk to them,” Christner said. 
“I think it helps them calm their 
nerves just because they do have a 
lot on their plate, and we do know 
what it’s like being a freshman 
coming into this program.”

When asked about keys to 

Michigan’s season, Christner 
believes the team must remain 
upbeat and enthusiastic. If she 
is determined to succeed, she 
feels it will carry over to the 
other players.

“Whenever I wasn’t confident 

last year, that’s when I didn’t do 
well,” Christner said. “If I have 
energy on the field, I think I 
bring everyone else up, and then 
we all have energy.”

Hutchins remains confident 

in the leadership of her veteran 
outfielders. The three will give the 
Wolverines the best opportunity 
possible to win games.

If 
Christner 
and 
Susalla 

can 
repeat 
their 
breakout 

seasons and Lawrence remains 
consistent, Michigan will have 
many wins to look forward to in 
the coming months.

“We’ve done 
a great job of 
coaching the 

underclassmen.”

Michigan healthy, stronger 
after productive offseason

By COLE ZINGAS

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan baseball team 

was certainly disappointed to 
end last season with a loss to 
Louisville at the 2015 Super 
Regionals. But with that defeat, 
coming 
against 
a 
perennial 

contender and the preseason 
No. 2 team in the country this 
year, Michigan had caught the 
nation’s eye and was catapulted 
into an offseason in which it has 
earned more recognition than 
any Big Ten team is accustomed 
to seeing.

The Wolverines, ranked 15th 

according to Baseball America’s 
preseason rankings, have taken 
the offseason as an opportunity 
to get healthy and stronger in an 
attempt to build on last year’s 
impressive ending.

Senior left-hander Evan Hill 

was forced to miss a large chunk 
of last season with an anterior 
cruciate 
ligament 
injury, 

appearing in just 11 games. Hill 
says the offseason has helped 
him tremendously, and that his 
knee is 100 percent heading into 
the team’s season opener Feb. 19.

Playing on a weakened ACL in 

2015, Hill still managed to fan 37 
batters in 38 innings of work.

Junior left-handed pitcher/

first baseman Carmen Benedetti, 
who was named to the preseason 
All-American third team, has also 
been trying to improve himself 
physically in recent months. 

“His growth is impressive,” 

said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. 
“(Benedetti) was a slow runner 
his first year, kind of an average 
runner last year, now he’s like a 
speedster on the bases.”

Benedetti and Hill, as well 

as junior pitcher Brett Adcock, 
were able to work on their game 

while playing in the competitive 
Cape Cod Baseball League over 
the summer. All three put up 
impressive numbers.

Hill posted a 1.80 ERA and 

a 5-0 record for Wareham, 
and Adcock helped Yarmouth-
Dennis to a league title, going 
3-1 with 26 strikeouts in 37.1 
innings.

Benedetti 

was able to 
work on his 
pitching 
as 

well. He went 
to Cape Cod 
with 
two 

pitches 
and 

came 
back 

with 
three, 

adding 
a 

breaking ball 
to go with his changeup and 
mid-90s fastball.

When 
Michigan’s 
players 

returned to campus at the end 

of summer, normally the team 
would have a couple of months 
of fall ball before bringing 
everything indoors. But this 
winter has not been typical. 
Mild weather has allowed the 
Wolverines to practice outdoors 
at Ray Fisher Stadium about 10 
to 15 times since their winter 

training 
started.

That’s 

compared 
to 

last 
winter, 

in which they 
managed 
to 

scrimmage on 
a snowy, half-
frozen field for 
two 
days 
in 

January.

“We’ve been 

outside more in the last three 
weeks than maybe the last three 
years combined,” Bakich said.

Bakich and his team are excited 

to have had a prolonged fall 
season and extra reps outside this 
winter, saying it has been a great 
benefit for the team. Still, despite 
some milder weather, the team 
is more than ready to fly down 
to Florida and kick off its season 
next weekend in the warmth.

“Everyone wants to get out 

of the cold a little,” Hill said. 
“I think I can speak for all the 
returning guys and say that we’re 
pretty anxious to get out there.”

There’s been a lot of talk 

surrounding 
the 
Wolverines 

so far this year. And after an 
already experienced lineup has 
taken big strides this offseason, 
the publicity is well deserved. 
Michigan has been dead set on 
working hard and improving, 
all through the summer, the fall 
and even into the winter. But 
now, nine days from the season 
opener, Michigan baseball is 
ready for spring.

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Junior Carmen Benedetti returns as one of Michigan’s top talents on the mound and at the plate.

“Everyone 
wants to get 
out of the cold 

a little.”

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily

Junior Nicole Artz helped power Michigan to a season-high score of 197.425 by winning the all-around title with a season-high score of 39.550 on Monday.

Artz shines in Michigan’s tri-meet

By LANEY BYLER

Daily Sports Writer

Known 
for 
her 
bubbly 

personality and energetic floor 
routines, junior team captain 
Nicole Artz was expected to 
make a splash at the Michigan 
women’s gymnastics tri-meet.

She didn’t fail to deliver.
With Michigan facing Eastern 

Michigan and Maryland, Artz’s 
biggest competition came from 
fellow Wolverines — junior Talia 
Chiarelli, freshman Olivia Karas 
and sophomore Brianna Brown. 
Despite the strong competition 
from 
her 
teammates, 
Artz 

maintained her position as a 
constant threat. On the floor 
exercise, she took first place 
with a 9.925.

Artz has a reputation for the 

consistency in her dismounts, 
and 
she 
reinforced 
this 

reputation in almost every event. 
She stuck landings throughout 
her entire floor routine, as well 
as on the bars and beam. She 
took a minor step back when 

landing her vault, which put 
her at a tie for eighth place with 
Eastern Michigan’s Kimberly 
Ebeyer with a score of 9.800.

“I just like to take it one 

thing at a time. You can’t get 
ahead of yourself,” Artz said. 
“If something 
does mess up, 
you can’t dwell 
on it, you just 
have to move 
on. So it’s just 
staying in the 
moment 
and 

focusing 
on 

what you did 
in practice.”

Despite the 

lower ranking 
in vault, which was the first 
event of the day, Artz was able to 
make a comeback and outscore 
her opponents with her 9.925 on 
floor and a 9.900 on the uneven 
bars, where she tied for third. 
She also snagged second on the 
beam with a score of 9.925, a 
season high.

These high scores led to 

another all-around first-place 
result for Artz, who ended the 
meet with an overall score of 
39.550. With a previous best all-
around of 39.525, Artz earned 
another season best. It was also 
Artz’s 20th score above 39.000 

in her career — 
the 12th-most 
in 
Michigan 

history.

“She 
is 
a 

great 
leader 

on our team,” 
said Michigan 
coach 
Bev 

Plocki, 
“because 
she 

really 
does 

demonstrate 

that work ethic, and the desire 
to win, and the competitiveness 
and those things that make her 
great.”

Artz’s high scores and flooring 

routines rarely go unnoticed — 
she was named Big Ten Gymnast 
of the Week on Tuesday, her 
third time gaining recognition 
for her dominant performances 

in every event. She is also on the 
Big Ten Gymnasts to Watch list.

“She 
is 
driven, 
both 

gymnastically 
and 

academically,” 
Plocki 
said. 

“In everything she does, she 
is driven, but she doesn’t take 
herself too seriously either. It’s 
kind of a good mix, because 
sometimes if you’re too much of 
a perfectionist, you’re too hard 
on yourself.

“She’s a really good mix of 

she’s got that drive and desire 
to want to be perfect, which 
means she works really hard, 
but she doesn’t take herself too 
seriously. She knows how to 
enjoy a moment and sometimes 
even be silly.”

As the gymnastics season 

begins to draw close to an end, 
Artz is a big contender heading 
into the NCAA Championships. 
Her reputation on floor and in 
the all-around, combined with 
her recent success on bars and 
beam, put her in a good position 
to dominate the podium at a 
national level.

“She is driven, 
but she doesn’t 
take herself too 
seriously either.”

