The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, March 29, 2017 — 7A

‘M’ defeats UMBC, 
continues hot start

Coming off a bye week 

following a run of three wins 
in a row, the No. 20 Michigan 
men’s lacrosse team defeated 
Maryland-Baltimore County by 
a final score of 10-7 on Saturday 
afternoon.

In its first game since the 

biggest win in the program’s 
history — a 13-12 victory against 
No. 10 Penn — Michigan (8-1) 
was able to avoid a letdown and 
outlast the Retrievers (3-5). 
With 
a 
pair 

of early goals 
from 
senior 

midfielder 
Mikie 
Schlosser, 
the 

Wolverines 
took a 2-0 lead 
early in the first 
quarter, which 
left 
UMBC 

fighting 
from 

behind for the 
rest of the game.

“We have a lot of respect for 

UMBC,” said Michigan coach 
John Paul. “They’re a very good 
team and they’ve been playing 
really well recently. We kind 
of had a feeling the way they 
play that this was gonna be a 
game we’d really have to gut 
out. More than anything, I’m 
just really proud of the guys for 
doing what we needed to do to 
get the W and move on.” 

As has been the theme for 

much of the regular season, the 
Wolverines were led by their 
three-star 
offensive 
players, 

sophomore 
attacker 
Brent 

Noseworthy (the team’s leading 
scorer for the season) senior 
attacker Ian King and Schlosser. 
The trio provided the offense 
needed for the victory. King 
and Noseworthy each tallied 
three goals on the afternoon, 
combining 
with 
Schlosser’s 

early pair for eight of the team’s 
10 goals.

“Mikie kind of put us on his 

back at the start, and he brings 

so much energy to us,” Paul 
said. “Our theme today was to 
start and finish. I’m glad to see 
that start.”

After controlling much of 

the first half and taking a 6-4 
lead into halftime, Michigan 
saw UMBC find its way back 
into the game in the middle of 
the third quarter. A three-goal 
lead was trimmed to one as the 
Retrievers began to find their 
offensive momentum with goals 
from Max Maxwell and Max 
Haldeman.

The following five minutes 

were extremely 
tense 
for 
the 

Wolverines, 
as 

they 
attempted 

to prevent the 
Retrievers from 
tying the game 
up. 
Finally, 

Noseworthy 
restored 
the 

multi-goal 
lead 

by 
completing 

his hat trick with 

four seconds remaining in the 
third quarter, and King iced 
the game with 5:03 remaining 
in the fourth quarter before 
completing his own hat trick 
with 1:01 left to finish the 
scoring for the Wolverines.

The 
well-rounded 

performance offered a great 
tune-up as the Wolverines 
embark on a final stretch of 
six games that feature five 
ranked opponents to conclude 
the regular season. As the 
young program has achieved a 
national ranking for the first 
time in its existence, figuring 
out how to put away winnable 
games before they get tight 
is essential for the ascent to 
continue.

“We stick with what works 

for us (when the game tightens 
up), working the ball around, 
getting a look and making the 
shots that we need to make,” 
Noseworthy said. “Once we 
played our game, we really 
calmed it down, and we have a 
chance against any team.” 

Michigan bench gains experience in blowout

While the Michigan baseball 

team’s 12-0 victory over Toledo 
(0-3 Mid-American Conference, 
5-19 overall) was just another 
day at the office for the starters, 
it was an eye-opening game for 
the Wolverine’s bench. 

“It’s two-fold,” said Michigan 

coach Erik Bakich. “Number 
one, it helps them because it 
gives 
them 
repetitions 
and 

opportunities 
to 
compete. 

And number two, it gives the 
starters, who have been in there 
every inning of every game, a 
little bit of a breather … We want 
to be able to take advantage of 
that and keep those guys fresh 
for the entire year.”

Once the Wolverines (1-2 

Big Ten, 18-6 overall) took a 
substantial lead, Bakich decided 
to use the comfortable margin to 
play some players who had just 
a few appearances this season. 
Five fielders — who had just 10 
appearances combined prior to 

Tuesday — were substituted in 
the game. 

The standout bench player 

was junior catcher Brock Keener, 
who came in to relieve junior 
catcher Drew Lugbauer behind 
the plate. In just his second 
at-bat in a Michigan uniform, 
Keener notched his first hit as a 
Wolverine with a single through 
the right side, earning his first 
run batted in as well.

Keener’s 
hit 
earned 

Michigan’s 
10th 
run 
and 

propelled the Wolverines to tack 
on two more before the end of 
the inning.

“Everything matters,” Keener 

said. “Not saying practice doesn’t 
matter, 
but 
you 
contribute 

towards the wins and losses. 
The game’s sped up a little bit 
and instead of playing against 
your team, everybody’s all going 
towards the same mission.”

But 
besides 
Keener, 
the 

bench’s hitting was off the mark. 

Redshirt freshman infielder 

George Hewitt appeared in just 
two games this season and had 

only one at-bat previously. His 
inexperience showed when he 
struck out twice.

While 
the 
field 
didn’t 

experience much action due 
to the lack of offense in the 
Rockets’ 
lineup, 
there 
was 

still an opportunity to see new 
pitchers go to work.

Freshman 
right-hander 

Karl 
Kauffman 
made 
three 

appearances for Michigan prior 
to the game’s matchup, but had 
his best game yet against Toledo. 
He came in to relieve junior 
right-hander Jayce Vancena on 
the bump at the start of the sixth 
inning.

Kauffman 
opened 
action 

against the Rockets with three 
straight strikeouts to retire the 
side. Immediately, he earned a 
new career high in strikeouts 
per game — a record he would 
add to in the next inning.

He has appeared in 3.1 innings 

this season and almost doubled 
that in one outing by pitching 
2.0 more Tuesday.

With the last two innings 

approaching 
and 
Toledo 

unlikely to make a comeback, 
the 
Wolverines 
brought 
in 

redshirt sophomore left-hander 
Grant Reuss. 

Reuss had pitched in just 1.1 

innings this season, but has 
managed to make his mark in 
what little playing time he has 
received. He had four strikeouts 
this season and added two 
more in the one inning that he 
pitched.

“Grant Reuss looked very 

good in his inning,” Bakich said. 
“He’s a junior now and really 
struggled with command his 
first couple years, and he’s done 
a very nice job of commanding 
his fastball in all the outings 
that he’s had so far this season.

“He’s a guy that is very much 

improved and looks very good 
out there on the mound.”

While it remains to be seen 

when these reserves will see 
the field again, experiences like 
the one they got against Toledo 
could prove to be vital as the 
season progresses. 

Wolverines survive against Central Michigan

In its series finale against 

Penn State on Sunday, the 
Michigan 
softball 
team’s 

offense exploded, scoring a 
season-high 17 runs on 13 hits. 
Yet 
amidst 
the 
ballooning 

production 
and 
excitement, 

Kelly Christner wasn’t herself 
at the plate, and hadn’t been for 
a while. 

Despite the Wolverines’ big 

game, the senior centerfielder 
had only one hit on the entire 
weekend. After starting the 
season on an offensive tear — 
22 runs batted in over the first 
22 games — Christner didn’t 
collect another RBI for two 
weeks, stuck in an offensive 
slump.

But Tuesday, not only did 

Christner make her presence at 
the plate known again, she was 
Michigan’s sole saving grace 
offensively.

Christner 
went 
2-for-2 

against Central Michigan (2-1 
Mid-American 
Conference, 

17-9 
overall), 
contributing 

both of the Wolverines’ RBI, 
with a third-inning solo shot 
to right field and a single up 
the middle in the fifth frame. 
Her production lifted No. 20 
Michigan (3-0 Big Ten, 23-7-1 
overall) past the Chippewas, 
2-0, in a midweek pitcher’s 
duel en route to the Wolverines’ 
ninth-straight victory.

“(Christner) was just locked 

in,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 

Carol Hutchins. “We needed 
somebody to come through for 
us, and we’re very pleased that 
Kelly did.”

Amidst its short one-game 

break from Big Ten competition, 
Michigan appeared to have 
backtracked — dealing with 
many of the same struggles 
that plagued the team early on 
in the season. The Wolverines 
demonstrated 
weak 
swings 

at the plate and did not have 
a hit until the third inning, 

leaving 
numerous 
runners 

stranded on base. These flaws 
were 
underscored 
in 
the 

seventh inning, when despite 
loading the bases with no outs, 
Michigan couldn’t score.

“We really couldn’t seem to 

get our kids to lock in and to 
stay with the game plan to try 
to drive our outside pitch to 
the righties,” Hutchins said. 
“We took a lot of really feeble 
swings, not what we’ve been 
working on, and not what I 
think we’ve gotten better at. We 
really didn’t look like we had a 
great edge to play today.”

Despite the poor offensive 

performance, the Wolverines 
still ended the game with a 
victory 
due 
to 
Christner’s 

RBI. A pair of hits and a single 
posted by senior shortstop Abby 
Ramirez and sophomore catcher 
Alex 
Sobczak, 
respectively, 

were Michigan’s only other hits 
on the day.

Central Michigan, on the 

other hand, couldn’t find a way 

onto the scoreboard. Aware 
that the Chippewas would start 
ace right-hander Rachel Knapp 
— who touts 135 strikeouts on 
the season — Hutchins decided 
to pitch senior right-hander 
Megan Betsa for a second-
straight game.

“They pitched their ace,” 

Hutchins said. “And we pitched 
ours.”

And as Hutchins’ prediction 

of intensity from the opposition 
in the circle and a low-scoring 
game became reality, Betsa 
verified that she was primed for 
the job. 

The 
senior 
right-hander 

threw 
her 
fifth 
straight 

complete-game 
shutout, 

delivering nine strikeouts and 
allowing only one hit. The 
ace has found her groove as of 
late, striking out 68 batters and 
allowing no runs over her past 
36 innings in the circle.

Her prowess shined in the 

third inning, striking out the 
side, and then again in the 
fourth when she got out of 
a two-runner, one-out jam, 
tossing back-to-back strikeouts 
that allowed the Wolverines to 
leave the frame unscathed.

“Honestly, 
(Betsa) 
did 

amazing, which isn’t unusual 
for her,” Christner said. “She 
goes out there and just attacks 
them from the start, and it 
really just sets the tone.” 

Though Michigan managed 

to escape the game through the 
tenacity of Betsa and Christner, 
the Wolverines will need more 
contributions 
throughout 

the lineup when they face 
tougher opponents. They know 
that relying on a sole player 
to produce offensively is an 
unsustainable practice. 

“I think we could have made 

an 
adjustment 
(to 
Knapp) 

earlier,” Christner said. “You 
need to know what (the pitcher) 
is going to throw you and what 
her process is. We have to find 
better ways to get on base, find 
longer at-bats and find better 
at-bats overall.”

MEN’S LACROSSE

JAKE KARALEXIS

For the Daily

“Once we play 
our game, we 
really calmed it 

down.” 

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
‘M’ contributes to win
in Pac-12/B1G challenge

With 
a 
series 
of 
solid 

individual performances, the 
Michigan women’s track and 
field team helped the Big Ten 
win in the Pac-12 vs. Big Ten 
Challenge. 

With 
their 
57 
points, 

the 
Wolverines 
finished 

considerably behind first-place 
Nebraska’s 142, finishing eighth 
out of eight teams overall in the 
tournament.

Junior Claire Kieffer-Wright 

led 
the 
way 

for 
Michigan 

with her 1.75-
meter jump in 
the high-jump, 
enough to finish 
first after a tie-
break.

“I 
always 

enjoy it when 
I get to open 
up my season 
pretty strong,” 
Kieffer-Wright said.

Kieffer-Wright was able to 

bring home the victory after 
neither her nor her opponents 
were able to clear the 1.78-
meter jump. Since she had fewer 
misses throughout the day she 
was awarded the win.

“She’s just a workhorse,” 

said Wolverines’ coach James 
Henry. “She’s willing to work 
hard … (and) set an example as 
a captain.”

Kieffer-Wright’s consistently 

solid 
performances 
are 

especially impressive given that 
she is also a part of Michigan’s 
volleyball team.

While Henry said that this 

commitment has taken a toll on 
her body, he praised her ability 
to balance both sports.

Kieffer-Wright was not the 

only Wolverine to have a good 
showing. Junior Aaron Howell 
followed 
her 
teammate’s 

victory, finishing third in the 
high jump with her 1.70-meter 
jump. Juniors Claire Borchers 
and 
Sydney 
Badger, 
along 

with redshirt freshman Meg 
Darmofal, finished 5-6-7 in the 
1,500-meter run.

Freshman 
Jade 
Harrison 

finished fourth in the 100-meter 
run, starting her outdoor season 
strong after a very good first 
indoor season with Michigan.

Despite the series of good 

performances, Henry stressed 
that he was not increasing his 
expectations of her.

With 
some 

athletes 
sitting 

out 
after 

competing in the 
NCAA 
Indoor 

Championships 
two weeks ago, 
the 
challenge 

also 
served 

as 
a 
good 

opportunity 
for many of the 
younger athletes 

to compete.

While the transition from 

indoor to outdoor takes place 
over 
a 
short 
time-period, 

neither Henry nor Kieffer-
Wright viewed the shift as 
particularly difficult.

“It’s a lot of the same,” 

Kieffer-Wright said. “You strive 
for your best every meet.”

Henry 
also 
stressed 
the 

importance of recovering and 
rehab after a tough finish to the 
indoor season.

“We’ve got to do well in the 

long-term,” he said.

With a good start to the 

outdoor season behind her, 
Kieffer-Wright 
— 
a 
bronze 

medalist at last year’s Big Ten 
Outdoor 
Championship 
— 

stressed that her focus remains 
on contributing to her team, 
saying “as long as I can score 
points for my team, that’s all 
that really matters to me.” 

CHRISTIAN NEUBACHER

Daily Sports Writer

“It’s a lot of the 

same. You strive 

for your best 

every meet.”

AARON BAKER/Daily

Junior catcher Brock Keener notched valuable playing time against Toledo on Tuesday afternoon and gave the Wolverines their 10th run of the game. 

PAIGE VOEFFRAY

Daily Sports Writer

ANNA MARCUS
Daily Sports Writer

MARINA ROSS/Daily

Senior centerfielder Kelly Christner went 2-for-2 with a two-run homerun against the Chippewas on Tuesday.

