The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Sports Thursday, April 13, 2017 — 7A ‘M’ to face test in No. 18 Oklahoma The Michigan baseball team has yet to claim a victory over a ranked opponent, but Thursday, that could change when No. 18 Oklahoma travels to Ann Arbor for a three-game bout this weekend. “I think it’s going to be like a heavyweight fight,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “I think it’s going to be two very good teams going at it.” The Sooners (5-4 Big 12, 27-9 overall) will certainly be a challenge, despite Michigan steamrolling through its competition to win 10 of its past 11 matchups and claim a third- place standing in the Big Ten. Oklahoma boasts a solid record in a tough conference, highlighted by two wins over No. 6 Texas Tech two weeks ago. Still, the 13th-ranked Wolverines (6-3 Big Ten, 26-7 overall) sport a high-octane offense that boasts a .292 overall batting average with 329 hits and 205 runs batted in total on the season so far, capping off an impressive start to the season. However, Oklahoma has similarly exhibited a strong showing on offense with a .284 cumulative batting average with 334 hits and 209 RBI led by catcher Renae Martinez with a .355 batting average. What sets the Sooners apart from the Wolverines, though, is their powerful pitching staff. Michigan has had incredible success from the mound with a 3.08 combined earned-run average. Oklahoma’s 2.73 ERA shows that the Wolverines’ bats will have to prove their worth in order to scrap hits from the Sooners. Jake Irvin spearheads their pitching staff with a 1.30 ERA over 34.2 innings-pitched. Just as Bakich hinted at, the matchup will be a showcase of a high-caliber pitching squad in Oklahoma against a Michigan offense that has consistently arisen in pressure-cooker situations and has stayed hot all season. The Wolverines are fresh off a win against Eastern Michigan on Tuesday in which sophomore right fielder Jonathan Engelmann launched a walk-off double in the 13th inning to grant Michigan the victory. On Sunday, though, the Wolverines dropped their final matchup against Illinois, 5-7, in a game marred by 11 forfeited hits. If Michigan wants success against its first real challenge of the season, it will need to stymie the cooling of its offense in the past two games, especially against the Sooners, who will take advantage of any sacrifice of opportunity. The Wolverines will likely turn to sophomore second baseman Ako Thomas, who claims a .346 batting average, and junior third baseman Drew Lugbauer, who claims 42 RBI, continue to perform the way they have been. On paper, it will be the toughest test Michigan has faced to this point, and perhaps the toughest test it will face the rest of the season — the Wolverines have no ranked opponents on their schedule. In order to accomplish this tall task, they will have to prove they deserve their own ranking. As Bakich put it: “You look at it and you say, ‘Okay, yeah, this is going to be a very good test, a very good challenge.’ ” ROBERT HEFTER Daily Sports Writer Oklahoma at Michigan Matchup: Michigan 6-3 Big Ten, 26-7 overall; Oklahoma 5-4 Big 12, 27-9 When: Thursday 4 P.M. ET Where: Ray Fisher Stadium Falk, Wolverines top Michigan State By keeping her mind free of distraction, Aidan Falk continues to show up when it counts. After going 6-for-9 at Ohio State last weekend, the junior right fielder put out another stellar effort Wednesday. She notched two doubles and three RBI en route to a 5-1 win for the Michigan softball team (9-1 Big Ten, 29-8-1 overall) against Michigan State (5-5, 21-13) during a game moved to Alumni field due to flooding in East Lansing. “I’ve been trying to see the ball and swing more freely, getting it off the brain,” Falk said. Following consecutive singles in the first inning, Falk launched a double to the left-center field gap to give No.18 Michigan a 2-0 advantage and, ultimately, its game-winning runs. She would again knock an RBI double in the third frame, as two Spartans collided on a Falk flare to left field, allowing a runner to score. Leading the team with 14 doubles, Falk has been a staple of the Wolverines’ offense all season. But contrary to her foothold in the batting order, she has found herself in a new spot defensively. With senior right-hander Megan Betsa and first baseman Tera Blanco in the lineup, Falk has been relegated to starting in the outfield — a place she played for just the first time this season last month. She was again penciled into the right field spot against Michigan State. But Falk’s performance Wednesday shows exactly why Michigan coach Carol Hutchins calls the junior’s offense the most versatile aspect of her game — rather than her ability to play yet another new position. Falk’s “versatility,” stemming from her ability to keep her mind clear in the batter’s box, has now become a focus for the rest of the Wolverines. “A lot of us have gone toward that now,” Falk said. “We know how to play the game, so turn off the brain and stop thinking. We all know how to hit, it’s just a matter of our minds getting in the way.” Clear minds seemed to be the case for sophomore second baseman Faith Canfield and junior designated player Amanda Vargas too, who each added RBIs of their own. Sophomore left fielder Natalie Peters also smacked three singles. But it could have been a much larger margin of victory for Michigan. It left seven runners on base, including three in the third inning and two in the fourth inning. In the former, senior shortstop Abby Ramirez’s groundout helped the Spartans escape the frame having surrendered just two runs. An inning later, with runners on second and third with one out, consecutive strikeouts left the Wolverines empty handed. In the circle, senior right- hander Megan Betsa was once again victorious, striking out 17 batters — tying her career high — and allowing only one run. But the road to her 15th win of the season was bumpier than usual. After surrendering two walks and a hit to load the bases in the fifth inning, Betsa found herself with Michigan State’s best hitter at the plate — Leah Foerster — who looked to drive in the game- tying run. Betsa buckled down to strike out the next two batters, however, eliminating the Spartans’ best offensive chance all evening. Even more impressive was how Betsa finished the contest, retiring her last eight outs on strikes. “She’s been more consistent this year,” Hutchins said. “She’s our leader, and that’s one of the things we need from her. She needs to give us that sense of ‘I’ll get it done until the offense gets it done.’ ” In Falk and Betsa, Michigan had some of its usual candidates leading the charge. And for Falk to continue her hitting streak and possibly the Wolverines’ dominance in the Big Ten, it’s just about keeping softball off the brain. MARK CALCAGNO Daily Sports Writer ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily Junior right fielder Aidan Falk notched two doubles and three RBI against Michigan State, further proving how valuable her bat is to Michigan’s lineup. Hutchins helps Betsa in fifth-inning trouble Michigan coach Carol Hutchins walked in silence to the pitching circle in the bottom of the fifth inning to talk to her senior right-hander Megan Betsa. The PA speakers remained hushed. “I had said before the game, we were wondering whether I have a walk-out song when I go to the mound,” Hutchins said. “So when I went out there, I asked her ‘What are they playing?’ and (Betsa) goes ‘Nothing.’ … Then one came on and I said ‘What’s this song, this is not my song’ and she agreed it’s not my song. So we came to the conclusion that I don’t have one.” At that point, Betsa’s command was teetering, with back-to-back walks bringing the tying run to the plate for the Spartans. After a single by catcher Lindsay Besson loaded the bases and brought a vocally dormant Michigan State dugout to life, the Wolverines’ 4-1 lead appeared vulnerable. Perhaps more importantly, though, so did Betsa. Hutchins’ visit — in contrast to one from pitching coach Jen Brundage — signaled a mental fix rather than a physical one. Up to that point, Betsa was cruising, with a bloop single serving as the only real blemish on her day to that point. Hutchins knew what Betsa needed, and knew a light-hearted conversation was all it would take for her to regain focus and escape the jam. The senior ace has been adamant about her improved confidence this season — something she says she “had in the past, but… I don’t know if I’ve ever actually had this type of confidence.” But here was real adversity. With the bases loaded in a crucial midweek tilt against a Big Ten foe, even the most confident of pitchers would be fazed. It was a test of her mental acuity in a pressure situation; a test Betsa passed with flying colors. It was like Hutchins turned on a light only she could activate, as Betsa quickly mowed down Michigan State’s pinch hitter Jordan Davis to set up a showdown with the Spartans’ star centerfielder Lea Foerster. Foerster came into the game boasting team-highs in batting average (.420), home runs (9) and slugging percentage (.870). In addition, she had just three strikeouts all season. Foerster had already singled in the third inning to account for Michigan State’s only run on the day, and the first run Betsa has allowed at Alumni Field all season. But this time, Betsa came out on top, dialing a 2-2 fastball past Foerster to get the last out of the inning, stranding all three runners on base and preserving the 4-1 lead. “She pitched herself into the jam and she pitched herself out,” Hutchins said. “And what’s the approach? Do what you do. Spin the ball. When you spin the ball, you’re really hard to hit.” Betsa stayed in the groove, striking out the side in the sixth inning and the seventh inning en route to a complete-game, 17 strikeout performance. “I think she threw really well today,” said sophomore catcher Katie Alexander. “Even though she got deeper into the count… I think she did well fighting back from that.” All it took was a casual conversation with her coach — no mechanical tweaks or background music necessary — to get the job done. SOFTBALL BASEBALL MAX MARCOVITCH Daily Sports Writer Wilson, Wagner take different paths to draft As the Michigan men’s basketball team gathered with family and friends to celebrate the past season, two of its players were looking forward to an exciting, yet uncertain future. Sophomore forward Moritz Wagner and redshirt sophomore forward DJ Wilson both declared for the NBA Draft on Monday. But both players opted to do so without hiring agents, leaving the door open for a possible return to Ann Arbor for the 2017-18 season. In the weeks that followed the Wolverines’ Sweet 16 loss to Oregon, Wagner and Wilson spoke with family, the Michigan coaching staff and consulted with reports from the NBA Advisory Committee to make an informed decision on their respective futures. “After we got all the facts — we got great input from the Advisory Committee — and they looked at those facts and I encouraged them to look at this aggressively and go after it,” said Michigan coach John Beilein. “Don’t go into this if you’re not going after it all.” Beilein has yet to have an underclassmen declare for the draft since the new rules were established two seasons ago. They allow younger players to ‘test the waters’ and go through the NBA Draft Combine, interviews and workouts before making a final decision to go pro. So the process Wilson and Wagner will be going through the next couple months is just as new to Beilein as it is to his two players. “It’s so new to so many different people,” Beilein said. “Everybody’s learning, because it’s like a game. You throw a game up and are they zone? Are they man? Are they pressing? Are they not? Are they overplaying? Are they not? And it’s the same thing we deal with when we talk about their futures.” Just like preparing for any game, Wilson and Wagner will be treating the draft process the same way — working out regularly, checking the tape and gathering any information out there — despite the different end goal. Beilein says he believes both forwards will receive invites to next month’s NBA Draft Combine in Chicago, and that will be the greatest source of information for both of them as they make the decision. The final deadline to pull out of the draft is May 24, and neither Wilson nor Wagner have any idea if it will take that long for them to make the final commitment to stay or go. As for how events will transpire between now and the deadline, Wilson and Wagner seem to have different approaches on how they each attack the draft process. Wilson said he started thinking about his potential NBA prospects as early as the beginning of the season, when coaches began to instill the confidence in him that with a breakout season he could get on some teams’ radars. Within the past few weeks, Wilson has reached out to the likes of Marquese Chriss, Kelly Oubre Jr., Stanley Johnson and Ben Gordon about the draft process and life in the NBA. Based on early feedback and the conversations he has had with coaches and current NBA players, Wilson realizes at this point he should be focused on working out and improving all areas of his game, rather than focusing on just his strengths or weaknesses. “I think it’s just working on my overall game, working on everything,” Wilson said on where he’s looking to focus on improving in the coming weeks. “I can get better in all facets of the game, so there’s not really one particular area where I’m gonna key in on more.” As for Wagner, his focus has been much narrower, as he’s only recognized himself as a viable prospect for a few weeks now, unlike Wilson. “As a basketball player, you don’t think that far (ahead),” Wagner said. “You’re not successful if you don’t focus on the next thing. I’ll focus on preparing for the workout and for the combine and then we’ll see.” Wagner has talked to former Michigan guard Caris LeVert and some other individuals he knows back from when he played in Germany. He says that from what he’s learned, moving onto the NBA will be nothing like what he’s experienced in Ann Arbor the past two years and completely different from the experiences he went through playing for his professional club — ALBA Berlin — through his prep days in Germany. The sophomore has also been planning for the summer as if he’s staying at Michigan. Wagner believes he’s going to attend summer workouts in Ann Arbor and enroll in spring-term classes. Neither Wilson nor Wagner will commit to saying if they’re leaning one way or another in terms of staying or leaving. Right now, the pair is focused on learning as much as they can about how well their games can carry over to the next level and if they personally are ready to bear the responsibility of NBA life. While it may be agonizing for others waiting for their decision, Wilson and Wagner are taking solace in knowing they have time to make what could be the biggest decision of their lives, and are confident whatever way they choose to go will be the best choice for them. “I have no idea what I’m going to do,” Wilson said. “As of right now, I’m a Michigan Wolverine. Ask me in a few weeks and that might be different. But right now, I don’t know.” SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily Moritz Wagner and DJ Wilson will each test the waters of the NBA Draft. BRANDON CARNEY Daily Sports Writer