8 — Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Berenson explains decision to stay

By KEVIN SANTO

Daily Sports Writer

Red Berenson stood up from 

his chair, black coffee in hand, 
and headed toward the door.

He cracked it open before 

stopping 
himself 
in 
the 

doorway, glancing back and 
cracking a smile.

“My wife is happy,” he said.
It was Berenson’s concluding 

statement after he spoke to the 
media for the first time since 
he announced Sunday that he 
would be returning as the head 
coach of the Michigan hockey 
team for the 2016-17 season.

The Wolverines’ coach for 

the past 32 seasons explained 
that three factors ultimately 
influenced 
his 
decision 
to 

return to Yost Ice Arena.

The first was the season-

ending 
player 
meetings 
he 

has with each member of the 
team. For the first time in his 
coaching career, his players had 
to ask if he would be behind the 
bench for the Wolverines in the 
coming year. That led Berenson 
to the realization — if he was 
going to make the decision, it 
would be better to do it sooner 
rather than later so that he could 
be up front with his players.

“(I wanted to) let them know 

that I’m all in if that’s a concern 
for them,” Berenson said. “I’d 
hate for a kid to leave school 
because I’m leaving. I don’t 
think it should happen, but it 
could happen. If that would be 
the tipping point … I thought 
that was important.”

The 
second 
factor, 
and 

a critical one according to 
Berenson, was his conversation 
with Athletic Director Warde 
Manuel. 
One 
of 
Berenson’s 

biggest concerns was standing 
in the way if Manuel thought it 
was an appropriate time for the 
program to appoint a new head 
coach. But that prospect was far 
from Manuel’s mind.

“He was really good and he 

was all for me coming back,” 
Berenson said. “That made me 
feel good, too. Not that I didn’t 
feel wanted. I wanted to feel 
like it was right for the team — 
from the players’ standpoint, 

from our staff and from our 
athletic director.”

And the third factor came 

from someone far from the 
annual team banquet in Ann 
Arbor 
on 
Sunday, 
where 

Berenson officially announced 
he was returning.

While deciding his future, 

Berenson received a phone call 
from a former player that played 
on his 1996 team. The former 
Wolverine reminded his old 
coach that on that same day 20 
years ago, Michigan captured 
its first NCAA Championship 
under 
Berenson’s 
command. 

But nostalgia didn’t bring the 
veteran coach back. 

“We had a short talk, and then 

he said, ‘By the way coach — I 
just want to let you know that 
changed my life, thank you for 
recruiting me,’ ” Berenson said. “ 
‘Michigan changed my life. I’ll be 
forever grateful.’

“That kind of put me back — 

this is why you’re coaching really, 
is for kids like this. Right away, I 
thought, ‘You know what? That 
sounds like me.’ When I came to 
Michigan as a player, it changed 
my life. … If I’m even on the fence, 
I can do this for one more year 
and we’ll go from there.”

Despite 
agreeing 
to 

return, Berenson has yet to 
sign paperwork to officially 
establish his contract terms. 
He has only agreed to continue 
coaching for this season, but 
that doesn’t mean 2016 will be 
a farewell tour. Berenson stated 
he will take it year by year, as he 
has in recent seasons.

More than anything, the 

program’s 
patriarch 
simply 

isn’t ready to give up coaching 
college hockey. It’s been his 
passion since his inaugural 
year in 1984, and that flame 
hasn’t been extinguished yet. 
Berenson revealed that he had 
offers to leave Ann Arbor for 
NHL coaching opportunities 
in the past, but had a simple 
explanation for why he turned 
those chances down: He thinks 
Michigan is where he belongs.

It fits, then, that Berenson’s 

most fulfilling life memory 
was not a heroic goal or win, 
but a moment in a Michigan 

classroom.

“Outside of after being here 

for a while, and winning a 
championship or doing this and 
doing that — my most fulfilling 
day in my hockey career was we 
won the Stanley Cup,” Berenson 
said. “They had the parade the 
next day. And the next day I was 
sitting in the business school 
starting on my MBA. I felt so 
good about that because I knew 
I wouldn’t be a hockey player 
much longer. … Was I ever 
glad I was gonna get my MBA. 
That’s how I’m wired. Not many 
people would point to that being 
their best day, but that was my 
best day.”

Berenson 
has 
consistently 

been a relentless proponent 
of college athletes, first and 
foremost, receiving a degree. 
He admits he won’t hold players 
back if they’re ready for the 
professional level. But to him, 
if an athlete is talented enough, 
the NHL will be waiting for 
them after they cross a stage at 
graduation.

After all, he marked adding 

credibility to college hockey as 
his greatest success as a player 
and a coach. When he suited up 

for the Wolverines as a player, 
he was told if he went to college, 
he wouldn’t make it to the NHL. 
Yet he proved those people 
wrong, playing professionally 
for 17 seasons.

Even when he returned to 

coach at Michigan, not much 
had changed. People still said 
if players went to college, 
they wouldn’t be drafted. But 
Berenson helped pioneer a new 
path. Gradually, the narrative 
changed. First, it changed to, 
“If you go to college you won’t 
be drafted as high.” Eventually, 
though, it became an option 
for someone with the dreams 
of playing in the NHL to add a 
college degree to their resume, 
too.

“I’ve always been big on life 

after hockey,” Berenson said. “I 
was kind of brainwashed that 
way from when I was young. I 
met these former pros and they 
said, ‘Go to school kid, don’t be a 
hockey bum like me.’ That really 
connected with me.”

Now, Berenson has at least 

another year to instill the same 
values he always has.

He doesn’t have a life after 

hockey. Not yet, anyway.

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Red Berenson will remain the head coach of the Michigan hockey team.

Reasserting their dominance

O

n March 25, the 
Michigan softball 
team seemed to be on 

its way to a routine victory 
over Northwestern. Fifth-year 
senior right-
hander Sara 
Driesenga 
was exuding 
confidence 
in the circle, 
senior second baseman Sierra 
Romero extended her hitting 
streak, and freshman catcher 
Alex Sobczak continued to show 
maturity behind the plate.

Then, the facade came off 

in the fourth inning. Sobczak 
struggled to keep balls in the dirt 
from going behind her, Driesenga 
gave hitters free passes to first 
base, and a Romero error allowed 
the Wildcats to score two runs.

As Michigan withered, the 

Wildcats pounced, turning a 
7-2 deficit into a 13-12 win. It 
stunned the Alumni Field crowd 
and rendered the Michigan 
alumni band quiet. The 
Wolverines collapsed. The No. 
2 ranked team in the country 
was suddenly 0-1 in conference 
play. They handed a victory to 
Northwestern as one day of Big 
Ten softball left them in last 
place.

“We just had a meltdown,” 

said Michigan coach Carol 
Hutchins. “They got momentum 
going their way. I thought we 
didn’t react well in any parts of 
our game. We had wild pitches, 
free bases and errors.”

The following Saturday and 

Sunday brought two Wolverine 
wins, but did little to reassure 
observers of Michigan’s 
preeminence. The Wolverines 
looked vulnerable in what 
promised to be a stronger 
conference this year, with the 
continuing emergence of No. 22 
Minnesota, No. 24 Ohio State, 
Indiana and Nebraska.

One week later, the equation 

could not be more different. In 
three commanding wins over 
the Hoosiers, the Wolverines 

asserted their dominance over 
one of the top teams in the 
conference. Hutchins is now 
the winningest coach in NCAA 
softball history and heads a team 
that is starting to look worthy of 
her stature.

Questions surrounded 

Michigan heading into 
Bloomington, but by the time the 
Wolverines returned home to 
Ann Arbor, they were answered. 
They looked the part once again, 
both in the circle and at the plate, 
in the matter of one week.

Romero asserted her place as 

the nation’s best player, hitting 
.875 with three homers and her 
first Big Ten Player of the Week 
honor of the season in her ever-
growing trophy haul.

And even outside of Romero, 

Michigan’s attack was well-
rounded. Junior third baseman 
Lindsay Montemarano continued 
her hot streak, junior left fielder 
Kelly Christner worked her 

way out of her slump and senior 
centerfielder Sierra Lawrence 
vaulted herself into the top spot 
of the program’s all-time stolen 
base list with 64.

“We’re not afraid to swing the 

bat. We’ve worked on it so much, 
... we all want to be great at it,” 
Romero said.

Junior right-hander Megan 

Betsa, who failed to record a 
single out but gave up four runs 
in the conference opener, cruised 
in Saturday’s 8-0 win with 
nine strikeouts for her fourth 
complete-game shutout of the 
season. Driesenga, exhausted by 
the end of last Friday’s outing 
against Northwestern, looked 
rejuvenated, registering zero 
walks in nine innings of action, 
as she improved to 13-0 on the 
year.

With Betsa and Driesenga 

mowing down Hoosier hitters 
with ease, Sobczak’s successful 
return behind the plate 

may prove the most positive 
development going forward.

Against Northwestern, 

Sobczak sat the series’ final 
two games, left to ponder the 
difficulties that come with 
playing what Hutchins routinely 
calls softball’s most difficult 
position. But in Bloomington, 
Sobczak regained her starting 
spot, played solid defense, 
notched two hits and gained 
back the trust that Hutchins 
endowed in her to start the 
season.

With the catcher position 

in increasingly sound hands, 
Michigan is looking devoid of 
any weaknesses. From Hutchins 
to her players, the Wolverines 
outplayed Indiana and put their 
faults behind them. They made 
their coach the sport’s all-time 
winningest and sent an ominous 
warning to their Big Ten rivals 
that this conference is firmly in 
their control.

TYLER 
COADY

On Softball

RYAN MCLOUGHLIN/Daily

Senior center fielder Sierra Lawrence has stolen 64 career bases, the most in Michigan history, including 12 this season.

‘M’ hot ahead of 
midweek games

By SYLVANNA GROSS

Daily Sports Writer

Erik Bakich refuses to look 

ahead. 
The 
Michigan 
coach 

preaches consistency, and to do 
that, a single-game perspective 
must be kept.

That attitude 

has resulted in 
an 
impressive 

record — 3-0 in 
the Big Ten and 
20-5 overall — 
the Wolverines’ 
best 
start 

through 
25 

games 
since 

1987. 
Now 

ranked 
No. 

17 
nationally, 

Michigan 
will 

hope to build 
upon its nine-
game winning streak as it faces 
Notre Dame and Bowling Green 
on Tuesday and Wednesday, 
respectively.

“We 
go 
into 
each 
game 

knowing we’re going to play as 
hard as we can,” Bakich said. 
“We’re going to give the best 
effort with the best energy while 
executing. I think the buy-in 
to that type of mindset is what 
we’re seeing and the success is a 
product of that attitude that (the 
athletes) bring.”

With seven weeks of Big Ten 

play ahead, it would be easy for 
Michigan to get wrapped up in 
scouting reports. But Bakich 
emphasizes the need to view every 
game as a “one-game series.” 

This week’s contests will be the 

first and only time the Wolverines 
will face the Fighting Irish and 
the Falcons. And spirits are 
high after Michigan’s sweep at 
Northwestern. 

Senior Matt Ramsay was named 

the Big Ten Co-Player of the Week 
after a standout performance 

in last weekend’s Big Ten series 
opener against Northwestern. He 
finished the weekend with eight 
runs on seven hits and garnered 
a team-high nine runs batted-in, 
something Ramsay attributes to 
the strength of his team.

“I think we don’t really give 

the (opponent’s) pitching staff 
a time to take a breath and 
I 
think 
that’s 
remarkable,” 

Ramsay said. “We learned that 
we can take a punch and we can 
bounce back especially with our 
offensive. We learned to just 
have confidence.” 

Ramsay is the first Wolverine 

to be named Player of the Week, 
but two of his teammates have 
combined to win three Big Ten 
Pitcher of the Week awards — two 
for sophomore left hander Oliver 
Jaskie and one for junior left 
hander Brett Adcock. 

“It’s nice to get some recognition 

for hard work,” Bakich said. “But 
we’re really just focused on how 
we’re going to continue to move 
the program forward.”

Notre Dame (14-11) is hosting 

Michigan after a three-game 
series against Wake Forest in 
which it won two of three games.
The Fighting Irish are currently 
fourth in the Atlantic Division of 
the Atlantic Coastal Conference 
and tied for fifth place in a league 
with No. 14 North Carolina, 
Georgia Tech and Virginia. 

Bowling Green is traveling to 

Ann Arbor with a 11-17 record 
and having won its last two 
games, both against Toledo. 

But Bakich insists he doesn’t 

care who the Wolverines play so 
long as they stick to their game. 

“No matter who we’re playing, 

we’re going to do whatever 
we have to do in that game to 
come out on top,” Bakich said. 
“I don’t think there’s a need to 
say anything different. As long 
as we stay consistent.”

Michigan at 
Notre Dame

Matchup: 
Michigan 
20-5; N.D. 
14-11

When: 
Tuesday 
6:05 P.M.

Where: Frank 
Eck Stadium

TV/Radio: 
ESPN3

BASEBALL

Powerful offense 
driving Michigan

By ETHAN WOLFE

Daily Sports Writer

Against 
Central 
Michigan 

on Tuesday, the then-No. 20 
Michigan baseball team needed 
timely and quick baserunning to 
pick up the victory. But at times 
in the Wolverines’ three-game 
series 
against 
Northwestern 

this weekend, the batting order 
didn’t have to do much running 
at all.

This was especially true for 

fifth-year senior left fielder 
Matt Ramsay, whose play last 
weekend warranted a selection 
as Big Ten Co-Player of the 
Week with Minnesota’s Matt 
Fiedler. 

Ramsay spent most of his 

time jogging around the bases 
in the second game of Friday’s 
doubleheader, hitting a career-
high 
three 
home 
runs 
in 

Michigan’s 12-3 victory. Prior to 
the series against the Wildcats 
(1-5 Big Ten, 7-21 overall), 
Michigan (3-0, 20-5) had just six 
home runs as a team all season.

To go along with his three 

homers, he finished the day 
with five hits in six at-bats, 
seven runs batted-in and four 
runs — all single-game season-
highs for any Wolverine batter 
thus far.

But it wasn’t just Ramsay who 

was enjoying the performance.

“After the second (home 

run) they gave me the silent 
treatment 
in 
the 
dugout,” 

Ramsay said. “I put my stuff 
down and then they mobbed 
me. After my third one, I was 
met by (Wenson) at the plate 
and he just said, ‘Who are you? 
What is going on right now?’ 
They were great.”

Added 
Michigan 
coach 

Erik Bakich: “I haven’t seen 
a game like that since I was a 
player. I haven’t seen it in 20 
years. It’s a memorable day 
and one he’ll never forget. The 
contributions he’s made have 
been outstanding.”

Aside from Ramsay’s success 

in the series’ second game, 
Northwestern also had trouble 
keeping him off of the basepaths 
in the other two games. Despite 
going 0-for-3 in the opener, 
Ramsay still managed to get on 
base three times as a result of 
two walks and a fielding error. 
In 
Sunday’s 
game, 
Ramsay 

remained disciplined at the 
plate, collecting two walks and 
an infield single to get him to 
first base three times again. 
Throughout 
the 
weekend, 

Ramsay got on base 11 times in 
17 plate appearances and scored 
eight runs.

Ramsay’s ability to get on 

base was crucial to setting up 
the middle of the order to drive 
in runs, namely junior catcher 
Harrison Wenson and junior 
center fielder Cody Bruder.

Wenson got to showcase his 

power once again, going 6-for-
12 in the series with 10 RBI, 
including 
three 
extra-base 

hits, while Bruder had his best 
offensive performance of the 
season during Sunday’s game. 
Bruder went 3-for-5 and plated 
a game-high four RBI in the 
Wolverines’ 11-9 win.

But Bruder was overshadowed 

by 
Ramsay’s 
electrifying 

weekend.

“We didn’t let the (opposing) 

pitching staff take a breath, and 
that’s the mark of a high-quality 
offense,” Ramsay said.

Ramsay’s career day was 

emblematic of Michigan’s potent 
offense against Northwestern, 
which was dominant in all 
facets. As a whole, the batting 
order combined to score 33 
runs on 43 hits, 21 of which 
came in game two of Friday’s 
doubleheader.

At the beginning of the 

season, the pitching staff had to 
anchor an inconsistent offense. 
But the Wolverines have been 
clicking in all phases of the 
game as of late, and their recent 
power surge on offense has 
carried them to its best 25-game 
start since 1987. 

BASEBALL

