The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
March 28, 2016 — 3B

‘M’ takes two of three

By BETELHEM ASHAME 

Daily Sports Writer

Seeking to win its Big Ten 

opening-weekend series against 
Northwestern (1-2 Big Ten, 10-18 
overall), the Michigan softball 
team couldn’t be halfhearted 
heading into its final game against 
the Wildcats on Sunday.

After 
the 
second-ranked 

Wolverines 
righted 
the 
ship 

Saturday, a strong response after 
their disastrous performance in 
Friday’s loss, Michigan coach 
Carol Hutchins had a clear 
mission for her team.

“I just wanted them to come 

out and compete,” Hutchins said. 
“Sometimes you take a negative 
situation and turn it into a positive. 
I don’t want a team that ever gets 
complacent or lackadaisical, and 
when you win a lot of games — I say 
this every year — you can get soft 
and just think you’re going to win 
because you haven’t lost much. ... 
I want a team that comes out to be 
relentless every pitch of the game.”

The Wolverines (2-1, 24-3) 

answered her call to action in 
strong fashion, wasting no time 
lighting up the scoreboard.

After senior center fielder 

Sierra Lawrence led off the game 
with a walk and senior second 
baseman Sierra Romero reached 
base on an error, senior left fielder 
Kelly Christner hit a sacrifice bunt 
to advance both runners. With 
Lawrence and Romero in scoring 
position, 
senior 
right 
fielder 

Kelsey Susalla did what clean-
up hitters do, smashing an RBI 
double to the center-field wall to 
bring both runners home and give 
Michigan a 2-0 lead.

Taking advantage early has 

become a dominant trend for the 
Wolverines, and it is something 
the team emphasizes.

“A lot of it has to do with our 

energy in the dugout, and just 
having good pitch selection and 
staying within ourselves and in 
our process,” Susalla said. “I try 
and focus on getting my bat on 

the ball and putting the ball in 
play, just knowing my teammates 
behind me will have my back.”

The Wolverines went right 

back to work in the second 
inning. With the bases loaded 
and no outs, Michigan found 
itself in prime position to do 
major damage as Romero walked 
up to bat. Swinging on the first 
pitch, Romero sent a sacrifice fly 
to deep center 
field, but poor 
base 
running 

turned 
the 

routine fly ball 
into a double 
play, 
and 

Northwestern 
tagged 
senior 
pinch 

runner 
Olivia 

Richvalsky out 
at third.

After 
the 
Wolverines 

squandered an opportunity to 
break the game open, Christner 
took it upon herself to make sure 
Michigan extended its lead over 
the Wildcats. With two outs in 
the inning, Christner slammed 
a two-run home run well over 
the wall in left field to give the 

Wolverines a 5-0 lead.

Having tossed two scoreless 

innings heading into the third 
inning, fifth-year senior right-
hander Sara Driesenga found 
herself in trouble after allowing 
a walk and bunt single without 
recording an out. But Driesenga 
battled back against the next 
two batters she faced, relying 
on the defense to bail her out of 

the jam. Two 
back-to-back 
groundouts 
later, Driesenga 
appeared to be 
in the clear.

Looking like 

she may escape 
the 
inning 

unscathed, 
Driesenga 
induced a fly 
ball to left field 

for what seemed to be the final out 
of the frame. But on a sunny day 
in Ann Arbor, Christner lost sight 
of the ball. It hit her glove and 
bounced to the ground, allowing 
the Wildcat runners to score to 
cut Michigan’s lead to 5-2.

Junior 
right-hander 
Megan 

Betsa entered the game in the 

fifth to relieve Driesenga, and she 
pitched two innings of one-hit, 
shutout ball.

Michigan put the game away in 

the sixth, when Montemarano’s 
solo blast to center gave the 
Wolverines a 7-3 lead. Then 
Michigan began to pour it on. 
A single by sophomore catcher 
Aidan Falk and a double by junior 
shortstop Abby Ramirez set the 
stage for Lawrence to unleash an 
RBI double to score both runners 
and give Michigan a 9-3 advantage.

Chasing the run-rule margin, 

the 
Wolverines 
remained 
in 

attack mode. Lawrence advanced 
to third on a wild pitch and 
Romero walked before Christner 
hit a fielder’s choice RBI grounder 
that brought Michigan within one 
run of the run rule.

After 
Susalla 
flied 
out, 

the Wolverines had only one 
out remaining, but that’s all 
sophomore first baseman Tera 
Blanco needed. Continuing her 
stellar weekend at the plate, 
Blanco launched a walk-off RBI 
double to the gap in right center, 
scoring Christner all the way from 
first base to seal Michigan’s 11-3 
run-rule victory.

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily

Senior right fielder Kelsey Susalla gave Michigan an early 2-0 lead Sunday with an RBI double against Northwestern.

“I don’t want a 
team that ever 
gets complacent 
or lackadaisical.”

SOFTBALL
Montemarano 
emerges in win

By TYLER COADY 

Daily Sports Writer

As 
the 
Michigan 
Alumni 

Band rose to its feet and started 
its rendition of “The Victors,” 
Lindsay Montemarano rounded 
third base with a jump in her step 
and a horde of teammates waiting 
eagerly for her arrival.

It was a familiar sight all 

weekend, as the junior third 
baseman 
escaped 
from 
the 

doldrums of inconsistency to 
emerge as the Wolverines’ most 
potent offensive force against 
Northwestern 
during 
the 

weekend series.

“(Michigan 
coach 
Carol) 

Hutchins gave me a tip earlier 
in the week, that if I want to see 
more success, that I should swing 
the bat more,” Montemarano said.

Montemarano’s 
willingness 

and ability to take advantage of 
early-in-the-count pitches proved 
a lethal combination against the 
Wildcats. She registered four 
hits and drew three walks in the 
three-game series.

“Sometimes I take too many 

pitches,” Montemarano said. “I 
wanted to swing and I wasn’t 
looking for the perfect pitch, I was 
just looking for something to hit.”

Three of those hits left Alumni 

Field, as Montemarano upped 
her home-run total to six on the 
season. On Sunday, Montemarano 
smacked two homers — a towering 
shot over left field and the other a 
line drive to centerfield.

“The less I try to hit home 

runs, the more it happens,” 
Montemarano said.

While 
her 
stats 
suggest 

she is a boom or bust hitter, 
Montemarano’s approach at the 
plate is far from one-dimensional.

“My strength coach jokes about 

it and he always says, ‘Doubles or 
dingers or outs,’ ” Montemarano 
said. “I am not trying to be a 

power hitter, and I don’t really 
think of myself as one … but the 
ball happens to be going over.”

Montemarano’s 
newfound 

power stroke out of the seventh spot 
only compounded Northwestern’s 
problems on Saturday and Sunday, 
as the Wildcats simply had no easy 
outs in any half-inning. Senior 
centerfielder 
Sierra 
Lawrence 

and 
senior 
second 
baseman 

Sierra Romero were always on 
the basepaths. Senior right fielder 
Kelsey Susalla hit two home 
runs at the cleanup spot, and 
sophomore first baseman Tera 
Blanco had six RBI on Saturday. At 
the bottom of Michigan’s lineup, 
proceedings got even tougher as 
a newly confident Montemarano 
surfaced as a towering presence at 
the plate.

While her recent power surge 

represents a marked development 
in her evolution as a more well-
rounded hitter it is only one 
component of Montemarano’s 
growing stature on the team.

Though she laments taking 

too many pitches, patience was 
a virtue against the Wildcats, as 
she drew five walks and scored on 
two of them.

A slick-fielding third baseman, 

Montemarano was largely able 
to 
neutralize 
Northwestern’s 

small-ball style. Their leadoff 
hitters employed a bunt- and 
slap-hitting-heavy 
approach, 

but 
due 
to 
Montemarano’s 

adept play at third, Michigan’s 
pitching staff had more security 
when dealing with the middle of 
Northwestern’s lineup.

She’s always been one of the 

most vocal Wolverines, but 
now she’s raising her play to a 
comparable level. Combining 
her 
contagious 
energy 

with 
an 
emerging 
skillset, 

Montemarano is positioning 
herself for a highly productive 
month of April and beyond.

MEN’S TENNIS
‘M’ earns split 
vs. ranked foes

Wolverines outlast 
Penn State at home 

but fall short at 

Ohio State

By JARED BERSON 

For the Daily

In one of its longest matches of 

the season, the No. 23 Michigan 
men’s tennis team fought of No. 
25 Penn State for a 5-2 home 
win. Less than 48 hours later, 
the Wolverines couldn’t pull off 
an upset at Ohio State on Sunday, 
losing 7-0.

Against Penn State, Michigan 

clinched the doubles point as 
juniors Jathan Malik and Kevin 
Wong won on a double fault at 
4-5, 40-40, and sophomores 
Alex Knight and Runhao Hua 
dominated, 6-3, behind Knight’s 
huge service games.

Malik 
played 
No. 
1 
for 

Michigan against Penn State, and 
there was early controversy, with 
both players disputing the chair 
umpire’s calls. Penn State senior 
Leo Stakhovsky became visibly 
upset after Malik called one of his 
shots out, and when the umpire 
confirmed, 
he 
approached, 

screaming 
and 
motioning 

violently with his hands.

On his way back to the service 

line, he threw a tennis ball at the 
wall, and Malik capitalized on his 
opponent’s lack of focus to win 
the first set, 6-3.

After that, Stakhovsky seemed 

to move past his early outburst, 
and he broke Malik at love in the 
first service game of the second 
set and cruised to win the set, 6-1. 
In the third, he broke Malik at 
1-1, and again seized momentum, 
defeating Malik, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.

Junior Davis Crocker obtained 

the easiest point of the day for 
Michigan, winning the first set on 
a volley winner at 5-4, 40-40, and 
breaking early in the second set 
for a 6-4, 6-3 win. 

At No. 2, Knight won the first 

four 
games 
before 
dropping 

serve, but his opponent, Constant 
De La Bassetiere, fought back to 
5-5. At 5-6, De La Bassetiere was 
awarded a controversial point 
at 15-30 on a ball that appeared 
to be wide, forcing a tiebreak in 
which Knight overpowered his 
opponent, winning 7-0. Knight 
fell behind 3-1 in the second set, 
but broke back when he called a 
second serve out at 30-40. 

Angered by the call, De La 

Bassetiere 
and 
Penn 
State’s 

coaching staff argued with the 
umpire throughout the entire 
changeover. De La Bassetiere 
rebounded to knot the match at 
a set apiece. He broke Knight at 
1-1 in the third set, and went on to 
win, 6-7(0), 6-3, 6-2.

Freshman 
Myles 
Schalet 

grinded out a victory to earn the 
Wolverines their 3rd point and 
extend their win streak at the No. 
6 spot to nine matches.

Sophomore Runhao Hua won 

the longest match of the day, 7-6 
(5), 4-6, 7-6 (5), ending nearly a 
half hour after Michigan clinched 
the match.

“You don’t want to know 

(what’s going on in my head during 
a match like this),” said Michigan 
coach Adam Steinberg on Friday. 
“The big part is that I want them 
to stay a team throughout a three 
and a half hour match.”

The Wolverines dropped the 

No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches 
to Ohio State on Sunday.

Jathan Malik did not play 

singles against for Michigan. 
Knight dropped his match at No. 
1 singles, 3-6, 1-6, to the nation’s 
No. 2 player, Mikael Torpegaard.

Crocker dropped his Sunday 

match, 4-6, 3-6, against Ohio 
State junior Ralf Steinbach.

Michigan’s win streak at the 

No. 6 spot ended on Sunday, when 
Schalet lost to Ohio State’s Martin 
Joyce, 6-3, 6-3.

Following 
the 
weekend’s 

results, the Wolverines’ away 
record stands at 3-4, and their 
record at the Varsity Tennis 
Center has improved to 10-0.

Michigan falls apart in blowout loss

Colorado trounces 

Wolverines in 

final game before 
conference play

By MATTHEW KENNEDY 

Daily Sports Writer

For 15 minutes Sunday, things 

looked good for the Michigan 
women’s 
lacrosse 
team. 
Its 

defense 
held 
Colorado 
scoreless 
and thanks to a diving, side-
armed goal by junior attacker 
Natalie Carti, the Wolverines 
held 
a 
1-0 
lead 
over 
the 

Buffaloes.

Then, it all unraveled.
Colorado 
took 
control, 

thumping Michigan, 11-4, in the 
final game before the Wolverines 
begin conference play.

Michigan’s woes began at 

the 14:39 mark of the first half, 
when 
sophomore 
attacker 

Mae Tarr received a yellow 
card, giving Colorado a two-
minute man advantage. Though 
the Buffaloes were unable to 
generate sustained pressure in 
Michigan’s defensive zone up to 
that point, they suddenly found 
new life, scoring a minute later 
to tie the game at one.

Just six seconds later, the 

Wolverines continued to cause 
themselves 
harm. 
Junior 

defender Kelly Kubach earned 
the yellow card, and Colorado 
had another two-minute man 
advantage.

Once again, the Buffaloes 

capitalized on the situation, 
scoring 
with 
12 
minutes 

remaining in the half to take 
their first lead of the game.

“I wasn’t upset with the 

yellow cards,” said Michigan 
coach Jennifer Ulehla. “It was 
really unfortunate.”

Things didn’t get any better 

for the Wolverines after the 
goal. The Buffaloes won the 
faceoff, charged down the field, 
and after setting up for two 
minutes, scored yet again to 
surge to a 3-1 lead.

Michigan 
fought 
back, 

though. Junior midfielder Anna 
Schueler scored off the faceoff 
to narrow the lead back down 
to 3-2.

The Wolverines’ hopes for 

a rally were 
short-lived, 
though, 
as 

only a minute 
later, 
an 

unassisted 
Colorado goal 
stretched 
their 
deficit 

back to two.

“The 

defense 
we 

were running 
— all of our line defenders 
played incredibly well,” Ulehla 
said. “They dealt with adversity 
well. It’s our offense that we 
have to get back on track.”

After entering the second 

half down two, Ulehla made a 
personnel change in the cage, 
replacing junior Allison Silber 
with freshman Mira Shane.

But the decision backfired, 

as the Buffaloes scored four 
goals in the first 13 minutes 
of the second half. Following 
Colorado’s eighth goal, Ulehla 
reversed her decision, taking 

Shane out and 
putting Silber 
back in.

Still, 
the 

situation 
did 

not 
improve. 

Michigan 
was unable to 
establish 
any 

substantial 
presence in the 
Colorado zone, 
and even when 

they did, the Wolverines were 
unable to connect more than a 
few passes away from the net.

Two more goals followed 

after the final goalie change 
to make it 10-2 and the game 
was all but over. Michigan and 
Colorado traded goals in the 
final 10 minutes, but in the 
battle between two three-year-

old programs, the Buffaloes 
reigned victorious.

Despite Michigan’s recent 

scoring 
problems 
— 
the 

Wolverines haven’t scored 10 
goals in a single game since 
March 1 — the team is still 
excited for the upcoming Big 
Ten season.

“If you can’t get excited 

about playing Ohio State next 
weekend, then I don’t think 
you’re a Michigan Wolverine,” 
Ulehla said. “That’s in our 
blood, and we’re really looking 
forward to that and have been 
looking forward to that all year. 
I think from a morale standpoint 
that helps our focus, (that) the 
big games are now coming.”

Still, 
though, 
all 
the 

excitement in the world couldn’t 
cure 
Michigan’s 
offensive 

issues Sunday. And against 
Ohio State, the Wolverines will 
soon be facing a team that has 
won seven straight games and is 
looking to defeat them by even 
more than they by lost today.

AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily

Natalie Carti and the Michigan women’s lacrosse team were unable to keep pace with Colorado’s offense on Sunday.

COLORADO
MICHIGAN 

11
4

“It’s our offense 

that we have 
to get back 
on track.”

