The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, February 10, 2017 — 7

‘M’ to begin season 
at USF Tournament

The 
road 
to 
Michigan’s 
potential third-straight Women’s 
College Softball World Series 
begins in the same place it has 
since 2013.
The sixth-ranked Wolverines 
will play five games in three days 
at the USF Wilson-Demarini 
Tournament 
in 
Tampa 
Bay, 
Fla., starting with back-to-back 
contests against Delaware and 
Illinois State on Friday.
But Saturday poses the toughest 
matchups for Michigan, as it 
opens the day with a showdown 
against No. 4 Florida, followed 
by an evening affair with No. 25 
South Florida. 
The 
Gators 
defeated 
the 
Wolverines in game three of 
the 2015 championship, leaving 
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins 
short of her program’s first title 
since 2005. Last year’s season-
opening tournament saw Florida 
tear through that wound viciously 
with an 8-0 mercy-rule victory.
Despite the history with the 
Gators, senior right-hander Megan 
Betsa refuses to treat Saturday’s 
matchup any differently than she 
would against another opponent.
“I’m sure everyone is going to 
tell you the same thing: it doesn’t 
really matter who we’re playing,” 
Betsa said. “It’s the first weekend, 
so we’re just going to learn how 
to go out there and be better. It 
doesn’t really matter if we’re 
playing Florida.”
In the same afternoon of the 
Florida beatdown last year, the 
Wolverines turned around to 
wallop USF, 11-2, in five innings. 
Saturday gives Michigan another 
chance 
at 
those 
opponents, 
especially — admittedly or not — 
at the Gators.
While the warm weather and 
quality competition are benefits 
of early-season tournaments, they 
do pose two challenges for the 

Wolverines: fatigue and managing 
the pitching staff. Playing the 
weekend’s five games in less than 
48 hours forced Hutchins to alter 
her usual practices.
“Going into this week, we 
had to be just as concerned with 
being fresh on the weekend,” 
Hutchins said. “We have to taper 
our swings, we have to taper our 
pitches and really shore our game 
up and shorten up practice. The 
first weekend is rough, they’re 
not in game shape. I can tell you 
they’ll be sore and tired on Sunday 
morning.”
This means Betsa — the only 
established pitcher returning from 
2016 — and junior Tera Blanco 
will share duties in the circle for 
Michigan, with sophomore Leah 
Crockett potentially joining them.
Betsa, who posted a 1.98 
earned-run average and threw 
over 200 innings last season, will 
get the ball Friday in the final 
opening day of her career. When 
Blanco gets the opportunity to 
pitch, her usual spot at first base 
will likely be taken by junior 
Aidan Falk. But Hutchins remains 
firm that the lineup has not been 
etched in stone. 
“I’ll have to see how they look, 
and I don’t have a set lineup,” 
Hutchins said. “We’re going to see 
who gets it done when it matters 
and go from there. It’s definitely 
an evolution.”
Even 
with 
the 
collective 
accolades of Michigan’s senior 
class, Hutchins sees the team’s 
motivation deriving from the fact 
that 2017 is a new chapter in a 
storied program’s history.
“This is team 40,” Hutchins 
said. 
“We 
don’t 
have 
any 
championships — they’ve done 
nothing. What teams 31-39 have 
done are on our history boards 
— they have no bearing for team 
40. We motivate them with ‘Who 
are you, and what are you going 
to accomplish?’ We’re zero and 
zero.”

SOFTBALL

MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Writer

New faces make up
Michigan’s rotation

Just two of the Michigan 
baseball team’s four starting 
pitchers from last year will be 
returning to the mound next 
week when the season begins. 
The Wolverines have no 
reason to worry, though. Junior 
left-hander Oliver Jaskie will 
still lead the pitching staff 
after an impressive sophomore 
season, and he has plenty of 
teammates capable of playing 
alongside him.
Jaskie finished the 2016 
season with a 3.19 earned-run 
average and seven wins in 14 
starts. He was second on the 
team with 69 strikeouts and 
will enter his junior season 
with the most experience in 
Michigan’s pitching rotation.
As a veteran player, he will 
be able to take advantage of this 
leadership role to help shape 
the Wolverines’ new staff.
“Anybody on our pitching 
staff is going to be able to 
handle a lot of different types 
of roles,” Jaskie said. “We are 
just, top to bottom, filled with 
guys that throw a lot of strikes 
and love to compete on the 
mound, so I’m really excited for 
what this pitching staff has to 
bring this year.”
With the departure of former 
pitchers Evan Hill and Brett 
Adcock due to graduation and 
the MLB Draft, respectively, 
holes were left to fill on the 
mound.
Fortunately for Michigan, 
there is no lack of potential 
candidates 
to 
fill 
these 
positions.
Junior right-hander Ryan 
Nutof’s role varied last season. 
He started 11 games but also 
contributed to the team as a 
reliever in 10 other contests. He 
ended his sophomore season 
with a 3.67 ERA through 54 
innings. He boasts the second-
highest strikeout total of the 
returners with 50.
Nutof will look to capitalize 

on his versatile abilities and 
establish himself as a regular 
starter on this year’s squad.
But, he will have to compete 
with junior right-hander Alec 
Rennard – a transfer from 
Santa Rosa Community College 
– whose accolades speak for 
themselves. He concluded his 
sophomore season with a 1.4 
ERA and 90 strikeouts.
After 
the 
2016 
season, 
Rennard was named Big-8 
Conference 
Pitcher 
of 
the 
Year and was a First Team 
All-American, all after leading 
his team to a California State 
Championship title.
“He’s 
got 
a 
winner’s 
mentality,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
Erik 
Bakich. 
“He’s 
definitely one of our top four 
starting pitchers and he’ll be 
in our rotation somewhere. 
Where he fits on the weekend, 
we’ll see.”
Nothing is set in stone, 
though. 
Junior 
left-hander 
Michael 
Hendrickson 
was 
injured last season but is now 
healthy and ready to take a spot 
in the starting lineup, yet that 
likely won’t be an easy task. 
After pitching just 10.2 innings 
last year, his experience level 
lacks in comparison to Jaskie 
and Rennard.
In addition, senior right-
hander Keith Lehmann started 
two games last year and could 
make a push to start more this 
season, while freshman right-
hander Karl Kauffman also 
aims to be in the rotation as 
well.
If Kauffman doesn’t make 
an appearance this year, he is 
definitely one to watch for in 
the future. He was the No. 1 
recruit in the state of Michigan 
after his senior high school 
season.
With so many new faces – 
and a few old ones – Bakich has 
not yet finalized any decisions. 
Next weekend’s game will be 
the first opportunity to see 
who can handle the pressure on 
the mound for the Wolverines.

BASEBALL
Michigan to face Spartans in “Duel in the D”

For Cooper Marody, Joe Louis 
Arena represents the home of 
some of his favorite moments from 
his childhood. The sophomore 
forward recalls attending Detroit 
Red Wings games with his father 
and even a few Great Lakes 
Invitationals — while growing up. 
He always dreamed of playing 
at “The Joe,” and Friday night, 
along with the rest of the Michigan 
hockey team, he will play there 
for a final time during the regular 
season.
Adding 
even 
greater 
significance, the Wolverines will 
face off against in-state rival 
Michigan State, as both are looking 
to claim the Iron D Trophy.
“My whole life I’ve been a die-
hard Michigan fan,” Marody said. 
“I obviously didn’t like State, so 
every time you play these games 
there’s higher emotion, the whole 
crowd gets into it. There’s a lot on 
the line and we’re gonna try to play 
the best we can.”
Added senior goaltender Zach 
Nagelvoort: “In the past, you 
could say ‘Oh it’s the last time (for 
me) at Michigan, but maybe you’ll 
be playing against the Wings in 
the coming years’. But this year’s 
different.”
As a senior, Nagelvoort will 
relish one of his last opportunities 
to play at the arena when the Big 
Ten Tournament begins in mid-
March. But after this season, the 
“Duel in the D” will move to Little 
Caesars Arena, and Joe Louis 
Arena will become a memory of 
the past.
This week, former Michigan 
defenseman 
Zach 
Werenski 
published 
a 
letter 
online 
detailing his favorite memories 
and experiences at the arena. 
Nagelvoort and some of his 
teammates read the letter and 
couldn’t help but feel a similar 
nostalgia.
“ … It’s always been really cool 
to have the opportunity to play 
there,” Nagelvoort said. “There’s 
a lot of people who make negative 
comments about what the facilities 
are like at the Joe. I personally 
love it. It’s one of my favorite rinks 
that I’ve had the opportunity to 
play at, besides Yost of course. It’s 

exciting to get to play there again 
tomorrow. I know I’m gonna enjoy 
it, it’s gonna be interesting to catch 
myself looking around, enjoying 
the moment because it’s a really 
cool venue to play games at and it’s 
sad that it’s the last time.”
The weekend series could also 
be one of the last times Nagelvoort 
and his fellow seniors will play 
against 
their 
counterparts 
from East Lansing. He grew up 
playing with certain members 
of the Spartans’ roster, and now, 
after nearly four years of playing 
against each other, Friday and 
Saturday night could be the the 
last time. There won’t be another 
GLI or “Duel in the D” — just two 
more matchups this weekend and 
perhaps an opportunity in the 
postseason.
Though given where Michigan 
and Michigan State currently sit in 
the standings — second to last and 
last, respectively — a matchup in 
the postseason is unlikely.
“Some of the kids (on Michigan 
State) I grew up playing against 
and playing with,” Nagelvoort 
said. “Guys like (Spartan forward) 
Joe Cox, we played our entire 
childhood together, we’re really 
good friends. On the ice, we hate 
the guys, it’s a fun rivalry, it’s a 
really intense game. But that all 
ends when you get off the ice.
“It’s a fun game to be a part of 

and it’s gonna be really exciting, 
especially because it’s one of the 
last two games we play against 
each other at Michigan. For it to be 
at the Joe is really cool.”
In this final series against 
Michigan State, the Wolverines 
will look to build upon their 
offensive 
performance 
last 
weekend. For the first time all 
season, it seemed as if their offense 
finally came to life. They outshot 
an opponent consecutively — a 
first — and scored five goals in 
both games.
Still, 
Michigan 
ended 
the 
weekend with only one victory, 
something that Michigan coach 
Red Berenson believes may have 
stemmed from struggling special 
teams play. In the last six games, 
the Wolverines have scored just 
three goals on the power play while 
allowing eight on the penalty kill, 
a margin that Berenson believes 
is imperative to improve should 
Michigan wish to compete in the 
upcoming stretch of the season.
“I couldn’t have told you before 
the weekend that we would 
give up seven power play goals,” 
Berenson said. “On the other side, 
I couldn’t have told you that we 
would’ve scored 10 goals at home. 
We’ve only scored five goals once 
all year. You never know those 
things going in. You play hard, you 
play the right way, and then some 

good things happen.”
An added bonus for Berenson 
is the re-emergence of Marody, 
who, after missing the first half 
of the season due to academic 
ineligibility, notched his first-
career hat trick Friday and 
added another goal in Saturday’s 
game.
“I think he’s motivated, he 
couldn’t wait to play,” Berenson 
said. 
“He 
was 
practicing 
in 
October, 
November 
and 
December. He couldn’t wait to play 
in the GLI. Then, he was rusty, he 
wasn’t as quick, he wasn’t as sharp 
from practicing as he needed to be 
in games. I think every game he’s 
shown glimpses of what he can 
do, and last weekend he finally 
got some offensive things going. 
That’s the player that we were 
seeing in practices, but we didn’t 
see it in the first few games.”
Friday, for one of the last times 
in their careers, Marody and 
Nagelvoort will play at Joe Louis 
Arena. Marody will reminisce 
about the times with his father and 
Nagelvoort will recall the three 
GLIs he played in at the arena over 
the years.
But as a whole, Michigan will 
play a game against a bitter rival 
and hope to emerge from its last 
regular season game at a historic 
arena with a victory. 

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily
Senior goaltender Zach Nagelvoort will play one of his last games at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on Friday night.

Behind Enemy Lines: James Blackmon Jr. 

The Michigan men’s basketball 
team certainly got its revenge. 
After losing to Michigan State, 
70-62, in East Lansing on Jan. 
29, the Wolverines welcomed the 
Spartans to Crisler Center and 
sent them home with a 29-point 
loss. 
Derrick Walton Jr. led the way 
for Michigan, finishing with a 
game-high 20 points on 7-for-10 
shooting while also contributing 
eight assists and five rebounds. 
With his stat line, the senior guard 
became just the third person in 
program history — behind Jalen 
Rose and Gary Grant — to record 
1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 
400 assists in their Wolverine 
careers.
But Walton and the rest of his 
team don’t have much time to 
dwell on the milestone.
With a matchup against Indiana 

at Assembly Hall on Sunday, 
the Wolverines are looking to 
notch their first road win of the 
season against the Hoosiers. The 
matchups away from Crisler have 
not been kind to Michigan, as it 
has lost by an average margin of 
10 points on the road — including 
three blowouts at South Carolina, 
UCLA and Illinois.
Indiana, 
though, 
seems 
to 
be the perfect candidate for the 
Wolverines to get over that hump. 
In the first matchup between 
the two, Michigan cruised to a 
30-point victory, and the Hoosiers 
have lost four of their last five 
games.
Still, they have played No. 7 
Wisconsin and No. 16 Purdue 
competitively, losing to each by 
just five points.
And Assembly Hall also can’t 
be forgotten, as it has always 
been a notoriously difficult venue 
to play in — something that is 
reflected in the Hoosiers’ 13-2 
home record.
Perhaps the biggest advantage 
Indiana will have, though, is the 

return of James Blackmon Jr. The 
junior guard has been sidelined 
since sustaining a lower-leg injury 
during the first meeting with 
Michigan, but he made his return 
Thursday night against Purdue. 
Though he scored just 11 points 
on 3-for-14 shooting, he did notch 
a team-high 32 minutes, so all 
signs point to him being fully 
healthy as his team prepares for 
the rematch with the Wolverines. 
If he can return to his usual form 
— averaging 17.6 points and 4.9 
rebounds — Blackmon could help 
send Michigan home still winless 
on the road.
The Daily sat down with 
Blackmon at Big Ten Media Day 
in October to talk about the ACL 
injury he sustained during the 
2015-16 season, his decision to 
not enter the NBA Draft and his 
role on the team following former 
Hoosier guard Yogi Ferrell’s 
departure.
The Michigan Daily: You’re 
coming off an ACL injury that kept 
you out of the Big Ten season last 
year. How are you feeling?

James Blackmon Jr.: Yeah 
definitely. I think I’m ready to 
play. I feel better than I did before. 
I feel more athletic and a lot 
stronger as an all-around player, 
and I feel like that’s completely 
from my rehab.
TMD: Are you excited for 
the Big Ten season this year 
considering the fact you couldn’t 
play last year?
JB: Definitely. Missing the 
season is so hard, so coming into 
this season, that’s one of the things 
I’m most looking forward to.
TMD: You thought about 
heading to the NBA like your 
teammate 
Thomas 
Bryant, 
what do you think of the NCAA 
allowing players to test the waters 
of the NBA Draft before they 
decide whether or not they want 
to enter?
JB: I think it’s a good rule. It 
gives players a chance to chase 
an opportunity and a dream. But 
at the same time, they can also go 
back to school. So you’re not losing 
anything, and you’re taking full 
advantage of your opportunities.
TMD: Yogi Ferrell has not been 
liked by Michigan fans over the 
past couple years. What was it like 
playing with him?
JB: It was good because every 
day he got the most out of me, 
and I did the same for him. We 
pushed each other every day and 
that’s what you need. You want a 
competitive guy to push you.
TMD: Now that he’s gone, the 
point guard position is open. Is 
that a position you’re looking to 
play?
JB: 
Yeah, 
I’m 
definitely 
comfortable with playing the point 
guard. But I think anyone can take 
that role on the team. It’s not just 
me.
TMD: Being a leader on a team 
with such high expectations, how 
do you shoulder those expectations 
and play under that pressure?
JB: I don’t think it’s really 
pressure. If you put in the work 
everyday and prepare, it should 
just come. 

MARINA ROSS/Daily
Indiana guard James Blackmon Jr. returned to the court Thursday night after sustaining a lower-leg injury. 

MINH DOAN 
Daily Sports Editor

PAIGE VOEFFRAY
Daily Sports Writer

AVI SHOLKOFF
Daily Sports Writer

The Daily sat down with Indiana’s junior guard at Big Ten Media Day in October

KEVIN SANTO
Managing Sports Editor

