6A — Thursday, February 16, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
The good and bad of Michigan’s opening weekend
With just five contests from the
Wilson-Demarini
Tournament
under its belt, the No. 11 Michigan
softball team (3-2 overall) is at
the onset of its regular season.
And in the words of coach Carol
Hutchins, the fairly young team
has some growing to do.
The
Wolverines’
opening
weekend featured a constant battle
of ups and downs, underscored by
two tough losses on Saturday —
including a relatively unexpected
6-4 loss to USF. One constant,
though, was senior center fielder
Kelly Christner, who batted .533
with eight hits on the weekend.
Though it’s far too early to
coin anything a trend, certain
aspects of the weekend shouldn’t
be ignored as the team moves
forward this season.
The unpredictable performance
of the pitching rotation, which
demonstrated
both
great
strengths and faults in the span of
three days, proved to be one of the
main areas of focus. Senior right-
hander Megan Betsa provided an
unwavering presence, posting a
0.41 earned-run average, striking
out 15 against Delaware — just
one K short of her single-game
record. Fanning 27 over the course
of the weekend, the pitching ace
currently ranks eighth nationally
in total strikeouts.
“I was pretty happy with my
overall performance, other than
the number of pitches I threw,”
Betsa said. “Hutch told me on
multiple occasions that I’m better
than almost everyone I face, and I
just need to believe that and trust
my pitches and attack each hitter.”
For her dominance in the circle,
Betsa received recognition as the
Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for
the seventh time in her career.
Though Michigan eventually fell
to Florida, 2-1, in its first Saturday
loss, Hutchins credits Betsa with
keeping the Wolverines in the
game during the 10-frame contest,
as she allowed only one earned run
while striking out 12 batters.
Junior
right-hander
Tera
Blanco had a packed weekend as
well, starting a game each day on
the mound. She earned two wins in
three games pitched, highlighted
by tossing eight strikeouts against
Illinois State.
Despite their accomplishments,
both
Betsa
and
Blanco’s
performances were also marred.
Besta was displeased with the great
deal of pitches she fired in her two
outings in the circle, throwing 190
against the Gators alone.
“We threw a lot of pitches and
we gave up a lot of free bases in
the (Florida) game,” Hutchins
said. “And they were turning their
lineup over for the third time
when we had just finished going
through once.”
Blanco, still relatively new to
the collegiate pitching climate,
experienced
a
fair
share
of
inconsistency
last
weekend.
Facing South Florida on Saturday,
she allowed six runs off nine hits,
yet she retired seven straight
batters the day before.
The lack of sharpness and
consistency from the circle will
have to be amended in order for the
rotation to obtain the depth it seeks.
Before
the
season
began,
Hutchins
—
unsure
of
how
Michigan’s first contests would
go — made it clear that the need for
unseasoned players to step up this
year was imperative, and she had
no doubt her players would rise to
the occasion.
Her call was answered by
four
Wolverine
sophomores.
On the first day of competition,
second baseman Faith Canfield,
right fielder Natalie Peters, left
fielder Courtney Richardson and
catcher Alex Sobczak spearheaded
Michigan’s
offensive
efforts,
accounting for 12 of Michigan’s 19
hits and eight runs batted in.
Richardson was Friday’s leading
hitter, driving in a three-run
homer against Illinois State. While
she had only one hit last season,
she saw five in the past weekend
alone, batting an impressive .417.
Last year, Peters saw 16 total
at-bats and obtained five hits.
During her time in Florida, she
surpassed those numbers with 18
at-bats from the leadoff position
and six hits.
“(Peters) was really one of our
steadiest performers over (last)
weekend,” Hutchins said.
These
underclassmen
all
started a majority of the games
throughout the weekend, and
proved
themselves
as
both
reliable fielders and batters for
the Wolverines, exactly what
Hutchins had trusted they would
be able to do.
Both the evolution of the
pitching rotation and the growth
of Michigan’s underclassmen will
be key elements for the team as it
seeks to find success this season.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Senior right-hander Megan Betsa earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors after striking out 27 batters in the tourney.
Wolverines start 3-0
The Michigan men’s lacrosse
team was on a quest to start their
season 3-0 for the first time in
program history on Wednesday
against Detroit Mercy.
With
sophomore
Brent
Noseworthy and senior Ian King,
who each tallied four goals on
the night, leading the charge,
that mission came to fruition in a
15-10 win over the Titans. But the
match was more hard-fought than
the score indicated.
The Wolverines (3-0 overall)
had a rocky start to the game,
finding themselves playing catch-
up throughout the first half.
Detroit (0-2), in contrast, scored
43 seconds into the game and
looked poised to secure its first
win of the season.
But
Michigan
responded
quickly, scoring just a minute
and a half later off the stick
of sophomore attacker Rocco
Sutherland. Sutherland — who
scored only one goal last season
— has four goals through three
games this year.
Throughout the first quarter,
the
Wolverines
proved
their
resilience as they never let the
Titans’ lead grow larger than one,
and ended the quarter down 3-2.
They kept that effort going
in the second quarter. Defender
Dickson Smith scored just 27
seconds into the frame — the first
goal of his Michigan career after
transferring from Virginia as a
graduate student.
The Wolverines and Detroit
Mercy went on to trade goals the
rest of the half, ending in a 5-5 tie.
Just
13
seconds
into
the
third quarter, senior defensive
midfielder
Christian
Wolter
scored the first goal of his four-
year career to give the Wolverines
the lead, one they wouldn’t
relinquish the rest of the night.
After Wolter’s goal, Michigan
found its stride, shutting out
Detroit, 7-0, to open up a huge
12-5 lead.
“We
came
off
slow,
we
weren’t really playing our game,”
Sutherland
said.
“We
really
came together at halftime as an
offensive group and defensive
group and really just buckled
down and focused on our game
plan and what we usually did in
the prior two games and started
to play our game.”
The Wolverines received a
huge spark from King, who netted
three goals in the third quarter
alone. Just three games into the
season, King is seven goals away
from setting Michigan’s all-time
record for goals and four points
away from setting the all-time
point record.
“No question, we are good
transition team when we get those
opportunities,”
said
Michigan
coach John Paul. “It’s what
sparked us in the third quarter.
We have guys who can score when
given the opportunity, and our
defense played well — they just
have to learn to play well for a full
60 minutes.”
The fourth quarter continued
in similar fashion for Michigan, as
its defense continued its second-
half dominance and the offense
received another boost — this time
from Noseworthy, who scored
three goals in the quarter to bring
his season total to a team-high 11.
Given
their
unprecedented
start to the season, the Wolverines
are
currently
in
uncharted
territory, but they know not to get
overconfident for their Saturday
matchup against Bellarmine (0-1).
“I think the most important
thing with a quick turnaround
like this is making sure we stay
healthy and keep our legs fresh for
Saturday,” Paul said.
MEN’S LACROSSE
JAKE UCHITELLE-COHEN
For the Daily
ANNA MARCUS
Daily Sports Writer