‘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

