The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 — 7A

Lewis shines in Wolverine debut

Miles Lewis may be new to 

the Michigan baseball team, 
but he isn’t new to college 
baseball. 
After 
transferring 

from 
the 
University 
of 

North Dakota, the redshirt 
sophomore left fielder wasted 
no time in making his mark for 
the Wolverines. 

As a Fighting Hawk, Lewis 

finished the 2016 season as the 
Western Athletic Conference 
Freshman of the Year and a 
freshman All-American. At the 
end of the season he had a .360 
batting average and 63 hits.

The Wolverines’ new left 

fielder faced the transition 
to Michigan due to North 
Dakota’s decision to cut its 
baseball 
program, 
leaving 

some uncertainty for players 
like Lewis. He didn’t allow this 
to affect his game, though. 
If anything, he’s only gotten 
better.

In all likelihood, it was 

disappointing for Lewis when 
the Fighting Hawks’ program 
got cut, but fortunately for 
Michigan, it received what 
could be its most prolific threat 
on offense this season.

“We were fortunate enough 

to get him, he was a heck of a 
player last year,” said Michigan 
coach Erik Bakich. “He brings 
that impact ability to come in 
and solidify an outfield role 
and hit towards the top of the 
order and I think you’ll see 
good things out of him.”

Lewis 
boasts 
a 
lot 
of 

accomplishments already in 
his career, and if this weekend 
is any indication, he will earn a 
lot more as a Wolverine.

This 
weekend, 
Michigan 

traveled to Port St. Lucie, 
Fla. to battle Seton Hall, and 
though the Wolverines split 
the four-game series with the 
Pirates, Lewis provided a nice 
silver lining.

After 
a 
shaky 
start 
in 

Michigan’s 
season 
opener 

Friday, in which Lewis failed to 
get a single hit in five at-bats, he 
finished the weekend strong.

In the first game of Saturday’s 

doubleheader, 
both teams were 
locked at seven 
runs 
apiece, 

forcing 
the 

game into extra 
innings. Lewis, 
though, 
would 

have none of it.

In the bottom 

of 
the 
10th 

inning, 
Lewis 

knocked 
the 

first pitch he saw into shallow 
right field for a walk-off single, 
proving he could handle the 
pressure.

In that first game, Lewis had 

the hot bat, leading the team 
with four hits and driving in 
his game-deciding run.

His experience showed as he 

spearheaded the Wolverines’ 
comeback late in the game. He 
began Michigan’s fifth inning 
rally with a single to right field 
and later would score on an 

RBI single from 
senior 
catcher 

Harrison 
Wenson.

Lewis 
used 

his momentum 
to 
carry 
him 

into the second 
game. 
He 

notched 
two 

hits 
in 
three 

at-bats, but more 
importantly for 

Michigan, he earned these hits 
with men on base – driving in 
three runs in the third game of 
the weekend.

Though Lewis’ best day was 

Saturday, he proved once again 
Sunday that he could come in 
clutch when the Wolverines 
needed it the most.

With Michigan down by a 

run in the bottom of the third, 
Lewis led the offense to a four-
run inning. After sophomore 
second baseman Ako Thomas 
singled and stole two bases, he 
stood at third base with Lewis 
up to bat.

Lewis singled to right center, 

nothing 
particularly 
fancy, 

but it did the job, bringing 
Thomas home. After that, the 
runs just kept coming, with the 
Wolverines scoring three more 
times.

“Main thing is falling back 

on the training this fall, a lot 
of mental toughness training,” 
Lewis said. “That’s what our 
coaches prepared us for.”

After a stellar first weekend, 

Lewis leads Michigan with 
a .389 batting average and 
seven hits. With only one 
weekend under his belt, it will 
be exciting to see how Lewis 
grows with his new program.

SOFTBALL
Michigan thriving 
behind home runs

With a runner on first in the top 

of fifth inning, senior outfielder 
Kelly Christner shifted the force 
from her back leg to the front side 
of her body, reached her arms out 
over the plate and blasted the ball 
over the center field wall. North 
Carolina 
State 
pitcher 
Harli 

Hubbard could barely turn around 
in time to see the pitch descend out 
of sight, but she didn’t need to look 
to know the ball was gone.

It was Christner’s third home 

run in Friday night’s 12-0 rout of 
the Wolfpack, becoming the first 
Wolverine since 2009 and the 
fourth all-time to homer three 
times in the same game. She was 
honored the Big Ten Player of the 
Week on Monday for the effort.

“(Christner) was on fire that 

game,” said Michigan coach Carol 
Hutchins. “She really resonated 
with some of the timing things we 
had done in practice throughout 
the week.”

The blast proved to be a 

microcosm of the ACC/Big Ten 
Challenge for Michigan. The 
weekend’s four games saw the 
team tally a total of 10 home runs 
from six different players.

Sophomore second baseman 

Faith Canfield was one of those 
Wolverines. After ending Saturday 
night’s rematch against NC State 
with a grand slam, she struck again 
with a home run Sunday morning 
to help Michigan avenge an earlier 
loss to Notre Dame. Canfield, who 
was moved back to the cleanup 
spot in the team’s last two games, 
collected three hits and seven runs 
batted in during the second half of 
the weekend.

“It gives me a lot of confidence,” 

Canfield said. “But then again, you 
can’t get too high on the highs or 
too low on the lows.”

The 
performance 

demonstrated 
a 
strong 
early 

improvement for the sophomore, 

who hit just three home runs in 
44 games last season.

“All my freshman year, (power 

hitting) was the coach’s main focus 
for me,” Canfield said. “Coming in, 
I never really saw myself as a power 
hitter. I think that just buying into 
the coach’s plan of getting bigger 
and attacking harder with my 
swing and just looking to drive the 
ball has really been a huge focus. 
It’s really nice seeing all my hard 
work pay off.”

The 
weekend’s 
offensive 

production also proved to be an 
improvement for the entire team 
from the week prior, when the 
Wolverines averaged just 5.6 runs 
per game and hit only one home 
run in five contests.

But 
hitting 
homers 
wasn’t 

necessarily the focus of last week’s 
practices.

“Timing has been our focus,” 

Hutchins said. “Last weekend we 
barely hit the ball out of the infield, 
so I was very pleased to see our 
timing improved tremendously. It 
is still a work in progress, but we 
are hitting (for) power a lot better.”

As with any team that finds a 

burst of success at the beginning 
of the season, finding production 
with regularity will be crucial 
for the Wolverines during two 
tournaments in California over 
spring break. Naturally, that’s a 
focus for Hutchins this week.

“Certainly, we’re going to come 

together and get more of our kids 
to be consistent,” Hutchins said. 
“That’s a goal: to have more of the 
kids consistent throughout the 
lineup.”

Getting that power in addition 

to consistent contact from players 
throughout the order will make 
the Michigan’s lineup even more 
potent moving forward.

So early into the season, if 

nothing else, the dominance of 
the long ball is a sign of offensive 
improvement that will turn heads 
faster than Hubbard needed to on 
Christner’s home run Friday.

MARK CALCAGNO

Daily Sports Writer

In its five-year history, the 

Michigan men’s lacrosse team 
has never seen a season start 
like this one. After their 13-5 
victory over Bellarmine (0-2), 
the Wolverines (4-0) remain 
undefeated for the first time in 
program history.

More than 10 minutes of 

the first quarter passed before 
either 
team 
could 
manage 

a goal. It took until the 4:17 
mark for Michigan sophomore 
attacker 
Brent 
Noseworthy 

to 
break 
the 

stalemate. 
His 
goal 

was 
quickly 

followed 
by 

three more for 
the Wolverines, 
courtesy 
of 

sophomore 
midfielders 
Nick DeCaprio 
and 
Decker 

Curran 
and 

freshman 
midfielder 
Avery 

Myers.

Michigan’s 
4-0 
scoring 

run was briefly halted in the 
second period by the Knights’ 
Tucker Cisseau, but Curran 
and Noseworthy tacked on 
two more goals to give the 
Wolverines a 6-2 halftime lead.

Michigan continued to pad 

its lead through the remainder 
of the competition. In the third 
period, Noseworthy continued 
the success he has seen all 
season, notching three more 
goals for the Wolverines, two 
of which were assisted by 
sophomore 
attacker 
Rocco 

Sutherland.

While the Wolverines’ senior 

class dominated on defense and 
helped set up the offense, it was 
the underclassmen who found 
the scoring opportunities.

“Offensively, there’s a group 

of sophomores right now — 
Rocco 
Sutherland, 
Decker 

Curran — who are all a big part 
of our offense,” said Michigan 
coach John Paul. “Brent’s the 
beneficiary of what all of the 
other guys are doing. … We 

have a couple veteran guys out 
there, but we’re relying heavily 
on some of the younger guys, 
and they’re getting the job 
done.”

It wasn’t just the sophomores 

who 
played 
well, 
though. 

Senior attacker Ian King tied 
the school record of 113 career 
points, previously set by former 
Wolverine Kyle Jackson, and 
added two assists.

Defensively, 
Michigan 

played its best game of the 
season, allowing just five goals 
on 31 shots and winning 13 of 21 
faceoffs. Redshirt sophomore 

goalie 
Tommy 

Heidt made 11 
saves 
on 
the 

night.

“I 
thought 

it 
was 
more 

of 
a 
team 

performance 
today,” 
Curran 

said. 
“The 

offense 
has 

really 
been 

clicking, putting 

up some pretty big numbers 
on the (offensive) side. For any 
team, when the defense steps 
up, it allows the offense to just 
get going, and I think that’s 
what we did today.”

As 
impressive 
as 
their 

record may be, the Wolverines 
have yet to face some of their 
toughest 
competition. 
That 

will change soon as they look 
ahead to a meeting with No. 4 
Notre Dame next week.

“We’re not prepared yet, 

we’ve got a lot of work to do,” 
Paul said. “Something we’re 
going to be working on is just 
getting back to some really 
competitive 
practices 
we 

haven’t been able to do for a 
week.”

Still, with the way Michigan 

has 
played 
through 
the 

first part of its season, the 
Wolverines believe they can 
compete with the Fighting 
Irish.

“I think this team is a really 

talented group,” said junior 
attacker Patrick Tracy. “We 
know what to expect and we’re 
really excited for Notre Dame.”

MEN’S LACROSSE

FILE PHOTO/Daily

Michigan coach Erik Bakich and the Wolverines will benefit from Miles Lewis’ transfer from North Dakota.

PAIGE VOEFFRAY

Daily Sports Writer

“We were 
fortunate 

enough to get 

him”

‘M’ remains perfect

AZALEA HINOJOSA

Daily Sports Writer

“We’re not 
prepared yet, 
we’ve got a lot 
of work to do”

Michigan falls in close matchup with N.C. State

The No. 16 Michigan and 

No. 7 N.C. State wrestling 
teams both sport top-ranked 
wrestlers in multiple weight 
classes, but the lineups from 
both teams in their dual meet 
meant that bonus points and 
a few close matches would 
ultimately decide the outcome.

The 

Wolverines got 
off to a strong 
start in their 
last dual meet 
of the season. 
They 
started 

in the heart of 
their 
lineup, 

with 
three 

straight 
wins 

starting 
at 

the 157-pound 
weight 
class. 
Ninth-ranked 

senior Brian Murphy delivered 
a 7-4 decision to put Michigan 
up 3-0. No. 2 redshirt freshman 
165-pounder 
Logan 
Massa 

nearly got a technical fall in 
the final seconds of his match, 
but could not secure his final 
takedown, putting Michigan 
up 
7-0. 
No. 
8 
freshman 

174-pounder 
Myles 
Amine 

had a dominant finish to his 
match, riding out his opponent 
the entire third period to a 5-2 
decision.

After the first three matches, 

the Wolverines had a 10-0 
lead, but then the Wolfpack 
stormed 
back. 
N.C. 
State’s 

No. 11 184-pounder Michael 
Macchiavello started to swing 
the momentum with an 18-7 
major decision.

One of the closer matchups 

of the dual came at the 197-
pound weight class, between 
redshirt 
freshman 
Jackson 

Striggow and N.C. State’s No. 
25 Malik McDonald. Striggow 
captured an early lead, but 
McDonald 
outlasted 
him 

for a 9-5 win, narrowing the 
wolfpack’s deficit to three.

In the heavyweight class, 

junior 
Payne 
Hayden 
was 

quickly pinned by N.C. State’s 
Mike Kosoy. Hayden was slow 
to get up, and clearly shaken, 

but it was unclear how he was 
injured. 
Kosoy’s 
dominant 

show 
against 
Hayden 
put 

Michigan down 10-13.

The closest match occurred 

in 
the 
125-pound 
match 

between 18th-ranked Michigan 
senior 
Conor 
Youtsey 
and 

N.C. State’s 12th-ranked Sean 
Fausz. Youtsey had a 3-0 lead 
heading into the third period, 
but Fausz scored a last-second 

takedown 
to 

force 
overtime. 

Youtsey 
shot 

a single leg at 
the 
start 
of 

overtime, 
but 

Fausz scored on 
a counterattack, 
to 
give 
the 

Wolfpack a 16-10 
lead.

With 
the 

momentum 

firmly in favor of NC State after 
earning 16 unanswered points, 
Michigan’s No. 7 freshman 
Stevan Micic had to deliver to 

keep the match close (against 
No. 18 Jamal Morris). He did 
just that, with a dominant win, 
securing the technical fall with 
a feet-to-back trip in the final 
moments of the match.

“It was pretty loud in there, 

the place was pretty packed 
and everyone was screaming,” 
Micic said. “But I was pretty 
focused on what I had to do.” 

Micic kept Michigan in the 

match, as the 
Wolverines 
trailed by only 
one 
leading 

into 
redshirt 

freshman 
Sal 
Profaci’s 

match.

Profaci had 

a tough task 
ahead of him, 
wrestling 
second-ranked 
Kevin Jack from N.C. State, and 
he fell 19-5. The final match 
was very close for redshirt 
sophomore Zac Hall, and was 

ultimately decided on riding 
time in favor of N.C. State. This 
put the final score at 23-15.

“They were a good team. 

They had proven it over the 
season,” said Michigan coach 
Joe McFarland. “If maybe a 
few things hadn’t happened, 
a few things gone our way, we 
could’ve come away with it. 
But in the end we competed 
hard, and that’s what matters 

as we shift into 
tournament 
mode.” 

Michigan 

will be headed 
to the Big Ten 
Championships 
in three weeks, 
and 
soon 
after 

that to the NCAA 
championships. 
But 
if 
the 

Wolverines 

want to be successful heading 
forward, they will need to 
make a few more things go 
their way.

MAX KUANG/Daily

Freshman Stevan Micic kept things close for Michigan, but the Wolverines ultimately fell short against N.C. State.

“But in the end 
we competed 
hard, and that’s 
what matters”

“But I was 

pretty focused 
on what I had 

to do”

ALEX SAYLOR

For the Daily

