‘M’ pitches two shutouts
By TYLER COADY
Daily Sports Writer
The No. 2 Michigan softball
team scored one run against
Illinois
State
on
Saturday.
Considering
that
the
team
averages in excess of eight runs
per game, it was a paltry amount
for the free-scoring Wolverines.
Michigan (20-2) tallied seven
hits, but left 10 runners on
base. Senior centerfielder Sierra
Lawrence registered another
multi-hit game, but no other
Wolverine matched her.
While
the
offensive
performance was lacking, Megan
Betsa chalked up another story
in the circle as she recorded her
finest performance of the season
to ensure a 1-0 Wolverine win
over Illinois State (8-17) as she
gave up only three hits.
“Leaving runners on base is a
concern,” said Michigan coach
Carol Hutchins. “But there are
days when our pitching staff
picks up our hitting staff.”
Last week, Betsa spoke about
her frustrations with her recent
lack of command over the zone,
as she was struggling to get out
of innings.
“I was throwing too many
walks and I was getting behind
in the count,” Betsa said. “I
focused in practice on being able
to get ahead of the hitters.”
Betsa refocused and honed her
command against the Redbirds,
as she did not give up a single run
while racking up 11 strikeouts.
“It really started in practice
this week as we set up a (strike
zone net) so I could focus on
hitting the zone and going
through my process,” Betsa said.
While Betsa reasserted her
spot as Michigan’s go-to pitcher,
the Wolverine hitters put up
their second-lowest output of
the season. Lawrence kept up
her torrid pace at the leadoff
spot, but the rest of the Michigan
lineup failed to follow suit.
Sophomore first baseman Tera
Blanco and junior left fielder
Kelly Christner were both held
hitless, the first time that has
happened in a game this season.
Senior second baseman Sierra
Romero had an unusually quiet
day, recording only one hit.
Despite the struggles, senior
right
fielder
Kelsey
Susalla
provided the timely hitting that
Michigan needed.
Lawrence singled to start the
third inning and made her way
to third base quickly, courtesy
of Romero reaching first on
an error. Then, Susalla hit a
sacrifice fly to center field, giving
the Wolverines the only run they
needed on Betsa’s big day.
Next for Michigan was a
matchup with Dayton (7-10). The
offensive problems of Saturday
morning quickly subsided as
the trio of Lawrence, junior
shortstop Abby Ramirez and
Romero put the Wolverines on
the board in the first inning.
In
the
second
inning,
Christner reached base with a
bunt, Sobczak roped a single
up the middle and senior pinch
runner Olivia Richvalsky and
Christner scored.
With a 3-0 lead after two
innings, Michigan added to it in
the fourth as the bottom of the
lineup found its swing. After
going hitless against Illinois State,
both sophomore first baseman
Aidan Falk and freshman infielder
Faith Canfield notched hits and
scored, increasing the Wolverine
lead to five.
Good pitching was not confined
to just Betsa, however, as Blanco
also put up her most dominant
performance of the season.
Struggling
early
in
the
season
after
transitioning
back to a pitching role from
predominantly playing first base
last season, Blanco seemed to put
it all together against the Flyers.
Like Betsa, Blanco did not give
up a single walk and went the
full seven innings.
Blanco, who is hitting a
staggering .426, added to the
lead in the seventh inning as she
ripped a single into right field
that made it 6-0.
“It is not that difficult doing
both
hitting
and
pitching,”
Blanco said of pulling double
duty. “At times, I do not get all
the cuts everyone else gets as I
have to rush around but it really
is not too hard.”
With a home game against
Eastern Michigan on Wednesday,
Michigan is ready to take the
field for the first time in Ann
Arbor this season. It has been a
long 22-game stretch on the road,
but indeed a fruitful one that has
seen the Wolverines cement their
place at No. 2 in the rankings.
“This season is a long journey
and it evolves,” Hutchins said.
“I feel that our team has really
come together, but (they) need to
just enjoy themselves.”
BASEBALL
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Wolverines start
slow at Virginia
Despite wins in
top two singles
matches, Michigan
falls to Cavaliers
By MIKE PERSAK
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan women’s tennis
team was unable to overcome
a slow start to its match with
No.
10
Virginia on
Saturday,
losing 4-2.
The sixth-ranked Wolverines’
loss was their third of the season
and their second straight after
dropping their previous match
to unranked Texas.
The Wolverines (7-4 overall)
lost the doubles point as well
as the No. 3 singles point to fall
into a 2-0 hole. However, their
No.
1
and
No. 2 singles
competitors,
freshman
Brienne
Minor
and
senior Ronit
Yurovsky,
were
able
to even the
match at two.
That
was
all
of
the
momentum
that
Michigan
would be able to attain, though.
Virginia took the next two
matches in the No. 5 and No.
6 singles positions in a pair of
three set matches, pulling away
for a 4-2 win.
“I think we got a really
slow
start
from
doubles,”
said Michigan coach Ronni
Bernstein. “But I’m kind of
proud of the way we hung in
there and tried to turn that
match around. We had chances
there at the end.”
Michigan’s lineup was also
different than usual. Yurovsky,
who normally competes in the No.
1 singles position, was switched
with
Minor,
who
normally
competes at No. 2, in order to
create a more favorable matchup.
“I kinda liked (the matchups).
I know how those (Virginia)
kids play.” Bernstein said. “I
just thought that switching it up
would work out, and they made
me look good.”
The Wolverines were also
without freshman Kate Fahey,
who suffered an injury on
Friday, the day before the
Virginia match. Fahey, who
is ranked 118th nationally in
singles
competition,
brings
some stability to the Michigan
lineup — something the team
needed desperately on Saturday.
“If we’re healthy, I think that
we’re pretty tough to beat.”
Bernstein said. “(I’m) really
proud of the way we competed
(Saturday) with Kate out.”
The Wolverines will look to
get healthy and back on their
feet this week.
They
begin
conference play
in East Lansing
against
Michigan State
on
Saturday
in
hopes
of
defending
their Big Ten
Championship
from last year.
But
as
they
head into the tail end of their
season, their mindset won’t
change at all.
“We
just
need
to
keep
getting
better,”
Bernstein
said. “Nothing’s really going
to change. We’re just going to
compete and try to figure it out
and work hard this week, and
try to get a win on Saturday.”
If Michigan is able to retain
its full lineup, with everybody
healthy,
perhaps
the
slow
starts that have plagued it can
be cured.
If
that’s
the
case,
the
Wolverines may be able to
return to their winning ways.
Freshmen make the difference
Schalet, Tishman,
Tekavec take
advantage of rare
opportunity for ‘M’
By MAGGIE KOLCON
For the Daily
The Michigan men’s tennis
team’s Saturday doubleheader
against Columbia and Toledo
opened up opportunities for
its younger players, and they
took full advantage of them.
Freshmen Myles Schalet, Gabe
Tishman and Maks Tekavec
proved themselves with singles
wins for the Wolverines in the
5-2 victory against the Rockets.
Tekavec,
who
hails
from
Slovenia, won his first singles
match in a Michigan jersey.
“Maks’ first win, it’s always
awesome to see,” said Michigan
head coach Adam Steinberg.
“You know, he’s had it tough. He
had surgery in December, and
he’s been trying to get back. He’s
had some setbacks, so I was just
happy he was playing.”
Tekavec earned his 6-3, 6-3
win in the No. 5 singles match.
“We just put them in how we
felt they should be,” Steinberg
said. “We tried to push Maks
a little bit and say, ‘Hey, you’re
going to play a little bit higher.’ ”
Schalet won 6-2, 6-1, in the
No. 4 singles match against
Toledo, adding to his earlier
6-2, 7-5 win in the No. 6 singles
match against the Lions. His
wins were crucial in meets
where Michigan’s top players
faltered. Redshirt sophomore
Alex Knight, who holds the
Wolverines’ highest singles win
percentage this year, lost both
of his No. 1 singles matches,
while sophomore Carter Lin
had to retire against Toledo
in the No. 2 match due to an
apparent injury.
“Tennis-wise, I still want
to work on my serve,” Schalet
said. “I mean, every shot, I
can still improve. But the most
important thing is that we’ve
done a great job and we’re
getting better.”
Tishman rounded out the
Toledo match with a 6-2, 6-2
win, making his mark on the
match as well.
In the morning meet, Schalet
and Tishman teamed up to win
their doubles match together
against Columbia. Later in the
day, they held a commanding
lead against the Rockets, but the
match
went
unfinished
after
their
teammates on
the first and
third
courts
won
just
before
they
wrapped up.
Even
though this is
their first year
at
Michigan,
Schalet and Tishman have a
history of dominating the court
together.
“Before we came to college,
we played for about three years
together in juniors,” Tishman
said. “Every national open we
played, we got some pretty good
results. I think we got up to No.
2 in the country at one point. So
we’ve been playing for a while.”
Coming from playing junior
tennis, freshmen have to make
the switch from focusing on
their own individual rankings to
playing as a team. Frequently in
college tennis, one matchup will
go unfinished
in every meet
because
the
team
has
already
won,
so
the
final
singles
or
doubles match
doesn’t matter.
“College is
much
more
intense,”
Schalet
said.
“Because you’re playing for
your team, and it’s a different
atmosphere.”
That
atmosphere
is
very
team-centric.
After
almost
every point, players would look
over to their teammates on a
different court and shout words
of encouragement. But, to the
Wolverines, there is still room
for improvement.
“I think we just need to work
on our team dynamics, really,”
Tishman
said.
“Our
coach
really enforces this sort of team
play, supporting everyone, and
that’s just a big transition from
juniors, where we’re playing for
ourselves. We did a great job of
that today and this morning, so
we just have to keep that going.”
Added
Schalet:
“Everyone
needs to still improve at playing
for each other and connecting
(with their teammates). It’s
really tough against really good
teams, and that’s where we’re
going to make a big jump in the
next couple weeks.”
While the freshmen admit
that there are definitely things to
improve upon, they proved they
can rise to the occasion when
their upperclassmen falter. And
on their path to development,
that was still certainly a step in
the right direction.
Starting pitching
propels Michigan
By NATHANIEL CLARK
Daily Sports Writer
Coming into its series against
Hawaii, the Michigan baseball
team had a cumulative earned-
run average of 1.44 — the fourth-
lowest in the country.
The 18th-ranked Wolverines
continued their dominance on
the mound against the Rainbow
Warriors
this
weekend.
The
starters pitched especially well
for Michigan, surrendering a
combined four earned runs during
Michigan’s four-game sweep. The
Wolverines’ team ERA now stands
firm at 1.83 — holding their spot of
fourth in the nation.
“The thing that continues to
impress me and the thing that I’m
excited about the most with this
group, and that’s the character,
the makeup, the intangible skill
set that this team has,” said
Michigan coach Erik Bakich.
Junior
left-hander
Brett
Adcock earned Big Ten Pitcher
of the Week honors with his
performance in Michigan’s 6-5
victory Friday. He threw seven
innings, gave up two hits and one
run, walked two and struck out 12
— a career high for him.
In spite of Adcock’s dominant
outing, he was not awarded the
win as the Rainbow Warriors
scored three runs in the bottom of
the ninth inning to send the game
into an extra frame.
But junior designated hitter
Harrison Wenson came through
in the top of the 10th with a
single to drive in the winning
run for the Wolverines.
“Brett
Adcock
was
commanding his fastball down
in the zone on both sides of the
plate,” Bakich said. “When you
command your fastball down in
the zone and you can manipulate
the ball on both sides of the plate
and the velocity is 92, 93, 94, it
doesn’t matter who your are as a
hitter. That’s tough.”
Adcock agreed with Bakich’s
assessment.
“I tried to attack the zone, let
the defense work and let the guys
behind me make plays,” Adcock
said. “You have to trust your
defense and let them work.”
Not to be outdone, sophomore
left-hander Oliver Jaskie turned
in a gem in Michigan’s 6-0 win
Thursday. He pitched 5.1 shutout
innings,
allowed
three
hits,
walked three and struck out three.
“Everyone who goes out (to
the mound) seems to do a very
good job of attacking the strike
zone with multiple pitches,”
Bakich said.
The Wolverines’ defense —
which struggled at times during
its Spring Break trip to California
— was not perfect, but performed
better against Hawaii. Though
Michigan committed three errors
in the first contest of Saturday’s
doubleheader, it was a different
story in Friday’s game.
In the bottom of the ninth,
following a wild pitch by right-
hander Bryan Pall, sophomore
catcher Drew Lugbauer made
a strong throw to Pall to tag a
runner out and prevent Hawaii
from winning the game.
“The errors we made were
aggressive,” Bakich said. “I was
very pleased with our defense, I
thought we played outstanding
defense. We had an error on a
pickoff throw, I don’t feel like
those errors affected the outcome
of the game. I feel good about our
defense. I feel like we’ve got a very
good defensive team, even though
the fielding percentage may not
accurately reflect how good the
defense is.”
MICHIGAN
VIRGINIA
2
4
“If we’re healthy,
I think that
we’re pretty
tough to beat.”
SAMII STOLOFF/Daily
Freshman Myles Schalet earned singles and doubles wins against both Toledo and Columbia on Saturday.
“We just put
them in how
we felt they
should be.”
AMANDA ALLEN/Daily
Junior right-hander Megan Betsa pitched a three-hit shutout against Illinois State on Saturday in Louisville, Ky.
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Tuesday, March 15, 2016 — 7