The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, March 16, 2017 — 7A
Wolverines rolling into Big Ten Tournament
The Michigan hockey team’s
change in mentality was wholly
apparent from the moment it
began around a month ago.
The Wolverines started to
come to terms with an unpleasant
reality:
with
a
record
well
below .500, Michigan would
not be securing a bid to the
NCAA Tournament during the
regular season. From there, the
Wolverines started to think of
themselves as the underdog.
If they were to qualify for the
NCAA Tournament at all, they
would need to run the gauntlet at
the Big Ten Tournament, winning
three games in as many days — a
scenario that players such as
senior forward and captain Alex
Kile were quick to point out as the
team’s ultimate goal.
And so, the second half of the
season became a trial run of sorts.
How much desperation could this
team play with, and how much
progress could it show before the
conference tournament? After all,
the same version of the team that
at one point held a 9-17-3 record
wouldn’t be likely to make it past
the first day.
But give Michigan credit: it
took its blows, and while some
may say the change in identity
took too long to happen, it has
the
Wolverines
experiencing
the most success they’ve had all
season. They have dropped only
one of their past five games, with
all four wins coming against
ranked teams that have either
locked up or are competing for
NCAA Tournament bids: No. 13
Ohio State, No. 5 Minnesota and
No. 15 Penn State.
And now, that long-awaited
moment is here. Michigan is
headed to Joe Louis Arena, where
it will fight to keep its season —
and in the case of the seniors, their
careers — alive, starting with an
opening-round game Thursday
night against the Nittany Lions.
“I think we had beginner’s
luck at the beginning of the year
with a couple of wins when we
didn’t really know ourselves yet,”
said senior defenseman Nolan
De Jong. “Then we obviously
struggled through the heart of the
season. Now we’ve come into our
own a little bit. We understand
how we have to play. …”
“We found our identity a little
more, and we know we can grind
out these games and hold a lead
better now than in the middle of
the season.”
The Wolverines are coming
off the heels of a sweep against
Penn State this past weekend that
included a 4-0 shutout Saturday.
Though the score was lopsided,
Michigan was well aware that it
didn’t play as well as it could have.
Berenson pointed it out after the
game, as did senior goaltender
Zach Nagelvoort, who stood on
his head and turned in a 46-save
performance as the Nittany Lions
outshot the Wolverines by a 2:1
ratio.
It was evidence that although
Michigan’s
record
may
be
red-hot
amidst
its
attitude
adjustment, the team still has a
lot of room for improvement. The
Wolverines, with their abysmal
Corsi numbers, don’t have the
firepower to play the way they
have in the past. Any postseason
run will involve a combination
of pucks bouncing the right way,
the team’s trio of goaltenders
continuing their stellar play and a
tangible improvement on defense,
which Michigan spent all week in
practice working for.
“It all comes down to the F3
and F2,” said senior forward Alex
Kile. “If you’re in on the forecheck
and (Penn State) breaks the puck
out, you’ve got to backcheck
because their defensemen are
really active and provide a lot
of offense for them. That’s been
our main focus. All their good
chances this weekend were off
rushes — 3-on-2s, 4-on-2s — with
no backcheck, as we’ve found.”
Yet the Wolverines, thanks to
Nagelvoort, withstood Saturday’s
onslaught, and winning the game
in that fashion only added to the
growing belief within the team
that they can write their own
Cinderella story this weekend.
“I think this is definitely the
most confident we’ve been all
year,” De Jong said. “We know
it’s going to be a challenge to beat
the same team three times in a
row because we know that we
got outplayed at certain times on
the weekend. But we definitely
have that confidence and we
know that we can win games
whether they’re tight games or
having to hold a lead. It’s the Big
Ten Tournament and anything
can happen — that’s the kind of
attitude we’re going in with.”
Added
Kile:
“Once
you’re
realistic with yourself and realize
other teams have better records
and you are the underdog in most
of the games you play, I think it
benefits you. … The past three
weeks have been the closest we’ve
ever been as a team this year. We
just have a belief in the locker
room right now.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
‘M’ to open WNIT run
The
Michigan
women’s
basketball
team
is
facing
a
postseason test — not of skill but of
character. The Wolverines (11-5 Big
Ten, 22-9 overall) were snubbed by
the NCAA Tournament selection
committee after finishing third in
the Big Ten, but their postseason is
not over.
Michigan will play its first
game of the Women’s National
Invitational Tournament against
Kent State on Thursday night.
While this is not the tournament
it strove to end up in, it will give
the Wolverines the chance to
conclude their season on a high
note — and potentially prove the
NCAA wrong.
“Obviously, we’re extremely
disappointed,”
said
Michigan
coach Kim Barnes Arico. “But
it’s going to be about how we
move on from here and let that
disappointment fuel us.”
This will be Michigan’s eighth-
straight postseason appearance,
with its last two seasons ending
in the WNIT semifinals. The
Wolverines have never made it
past the semifinal round but they
certainly have the potential to
break that record this year.
The Golden Flashes (13-5 Mid-
Atlantic, 19-12 overall) have a
similar record to Michigan, but
the Wolverines’ schedule was
undeniably
more
challenging.
Michigan faced five top-25 ranked
teams, while Kent State only
played then-No. 5 Baylor, to whom
they lost 84-42 back in November.
The two teams have also
faced off against four common
opponents this season: Western
Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota and
Iowa. The Wolverines beat all
four, while the Golden Flashes
were victorious over just the
Broncos and the Bobcats. Kent
State suffered blowout losses
to the Golden Gophers and the
Hawkeyes, falling 92-62 and
83-48, respectively.
Yet, Michigan’s defense, led by
junior guard Jillian Dunston and
senior guard Siera Thompson, will
have to watch out for offensive
juggernaut guard Larissa Lurken,
who averages 23.6 points, 6.6
rebounds and 2.8 assists per
game. Forward Jordan Korinek is
the only other Golden Flash who
averages over 10 points a game. If
the Wolverines are able to shut the
duo down, Kent State will have a
hard time sinking shots.
Michigan’s
main
concern
will be regaining its scoring
confidence.
The
Wolverines
have not played since losing to
Michigan State 74-64 in the
Big Ten Tournament on Mar. 3.
In that game, freshman guard
Kysre Gondrezick, junior guard
Katelynn Flaherty and sophomore
center Hallie Thome scored 23, 18
and 16 points, respectively. Despite
their considerable efforts against
the Spartans, Michigan’s top three
scorers (and the highest scoring
trio in the Big Ten) were unable to
solidify the win.
The
Wolverines
also
lost
their last regular season game
to Penn State on Feb. 26, though
Gondrezick tallied 25 points,
Flaherty scored 22 and Thome
had 14. Against better teams, the
trio’s talent has not been quite
enough to push Michigan over
the brink. While it may not be a
deciding factor against the Golden
Flashes — who have not proven
to have a deep offensive unit this
season — the Wolverines could use
scoring help from Thompson and
sophomore guard Nicole Munger.
Even though Michigan has lost
four of its last five games, it has had
almost two weeks off to rest and
practice. With a proper mindset,
the Wolverines can shake off
lingering disappointment and still
make program history by winning
the WNIT.
“Our senior class has done a little
better than the year before it and
put our team in a better position
than the year before it every year
since I’ve been here,” Barnes Arico
said. “We’re definitely headed in
the right direction.”
Brdar, Thomas spark Michigan
as a potent infield combination
Through 15 games this season,
the
Michigan
baseball
team
has kept pace with last year’s
offensive
output.
The
2016
Wolverines scored at a rate of
6.35 runs per game, while this
year’s edition currently crosses
the plate an average of 6.33 times
per game.
With seven regular starters
returning from last year, this type
of production at the plate was
expected. But two other players
have also stepped up as offensive
contributors – senior shortstop
Michael Brdar and sophomore
second baseman Ako Thomas.
Last season, Brdar and Thomas
were new to the team – Brdar
as a junior college transfer from
Diablo Valley College in California
and Thomas as a freshman
from
Chicago.
Despite
their
lack of experience in Division I
baseball, the pair quickly became
mainstays in Michigan’s lineup,
both appearing in 53 games.
However, Thomas and Brdar
were relative nonfactors at the
plate, ranking just seventh and
10th on the team, respectively, in
batting average, and they drove in
just 32 runs between them.
This year, the pair lead the
Wolverines in batting average,
with Thomas hitting .339 and
Brdar putting up a .328 clip.
Thomas is also tied for second in
runs batted in with 10, and Brdar
has already eclipsed his home run
total from last season with two,
while driving in eight runs of his
own.
There isn’t anyone in the
Michigan
program
who
has
forgotten last season’s dismal
finish, in which the Wolverines
let a NCAA Tournament bid slip
out of their hands by losing seven
of their final nine games after a
34-12 start. The memory of that
slide has manifested itself as a
more aggressive mentality for the
Wolverines this season.
“There’s no taking the foot off
the gas pedal,” Brdar said. “We
saw last year the difference was a
couple games – every pitch, every
moment we have is important.
You always talk about that, but
we never really saw it until last
year.
“We’re more aggressive in
everything we do, with running
the bases, playing defense, coach
calling signs and in the weight
room. I think we have more intent
with everything we do.”
This new mentality has shown
itself most prominently on the
basepaths. Michigan was a solid
base-stealing team last season,
with 60 steals in 83 attempts, but
this season the Wolverines have
gone from decent to dangerous,
swiping 35 bases in 39 attempts to
rank sixth nationally.
Leading this improvement has
been Brdar and Thomas, who
combined to steal just four bases
while being caught six times in
2016. However, raw speed was
never the issue for the pair – it
was instead getting acclimated
to the pressures of Division I
college baseball. With a full year
of experience under their belts,
Thomas and Brdar now rank 15th
and 26th in the nation in steals,
respectively – Thomas with nine
and Brdar with eight.
“We’re just as fast as we were
last season, but it was our first
year, and we didn’t have all the
confidence we do now,” Brdar
said. “Now when we’re on the
bases, we have more confidence,
we trust our jumps and trust what
we see to be able to actually steal
bases instead of being hesitant.”
Added Thomas: “We’ve just
been more aggressive this year,
trying to get guys in scoring
positions as much as we can.”
But a team must be able to
reach base in order to steal bases
in the first place, and Michigan
has excelled in putting runners
aboard in a variety of ways. The
Wolverines are drawing one more
walk per game than they did last
season. Thomas (.438 OBP) and
Brdar (.418 OBP) have paced
the Wolverines with their plate
discipline, and they have excelled
at making contact as well, having
combined to strike out in just 13
percent of their at-bats.
“We can manufacture some
runs for sure,” said Michigan
coach Erik Bakich. “I like when
our offense is very disciplined
and doesn’t chase out of the zone,
and we’ve got a lot of speed in the
lineup that can really get around
those bases fast.”
Brdar and Thomas have also
formed
a
defensive
bedrock
in the middle of the infield.
Michigan has committed just
half as many errors per game as
it did last season, and Brdar and
Thomas have been central to this
defensive resurgence. Working in
combination with each other, the
pair has helped the Wolverines
turn 11 double plays already,
while the Wolverines recorded
just 26 for the whole of last
season. Thomas in particular
has displayed a penchant for
highlight-reel moments at second
base, while sporting a perfect
fielding percentage.
“What doesn’t show up in
the boxscore is the web-gem
play after web-gem play that
he makes,” Bakich said. “The
difficult play that you think is a
hit that somehow he’s got a glove
on it and then throws a guy out,
and the double plays that he’s in
the middle of with he and Michael
Brdar. He is a true sparkplug type
guy.”
Michigan shot out to a fast
start last season, and this year’s
version has done so as well. But
a more aggressive mindset in
all facets of the game and the
evolution of Brdar and Thomas
gives the Wolverines hope that
they can write a different final
chapter this year.
AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily
Senior defenseman Nigel de Jong and the Wolverines are experiencing the most success they’ve had all season.
ORION SANG
Daily Sports Editor
JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer
“There’s no
taking the foot
off the gas
pedal”
EVAN AARON/Daily
Senior shortstop Michael Brdar has stepped up as an offensive contributor in his second season as a Wolverine.
MAGGIE KOLCON
Daily Sports Writer