4B — April 17, 2017 SportsMonday The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com BASEBALL ‘M’ sweeps Oklahoma with sixth-inning rally Junior centerfielder Johnny Slater started what would become a five-run rally in the sixth inning with a hard-hit double to left field. Behind that high-scoring frame, the No. 13 Michigan baseball team (6-3 Big Ten, 29-7 overall) earned a 6-2 victory Sunday to sweep its non-conference adversary, No. 18 Oklahoma (5-4 Big 12, 27-12 overall). After a scoreless first inning for both teams, the Sooners got on the board first with a duo of singles off junior right-hander Alec Rennard in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Michigan was quick to respond, though, with a run in the third. After sophomore right fielder Jonathan Engelmann singled to left-center field, senior catcher Harrison Wenson walked and, with an infield hit from sophomore second baseman Ako Thomas, the bases were loaded. Junior centerfielder Johnny Slater launched a sacrifice fly into the outfield to bring Engelmann home from third to tie the game, 1-1. Neither team produced runs in the fourth or fifth innings, highlighted by groundouts and flyouts. “The conditions played a factor,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “You knew there weren’t going to be any long balls today with the wind howling in. So it was going to be a game that probably was going to come down to some two-out hits, some situational hitting, some bunting, some stealing, pitching and defense.” When Slater doubled off the left-field wall in the bottom of the sixth inning, senior shortstop Michael Brdar followed it up with a double of his own to give the Wolverines baserunners on 2nd and 3rd. After intentionally walking redshirt sophomore left fielder Miles Lewis, Oklahoma hit junior first baseman Jake Bivens by a pitch for the second time to send Slater home for Michigan’s first run of the frame. Sophomore designated hitter Nick Poirier then forced a walk, sending Brdar home. With a two-run lead already in hand, Engelmann singled to left field to send two more runs in. Wenson finished up the scoring with a sac fly to left field, forcing Poirier home to give the Wolverines a 6-1 lead. Junior right hander Jayce Vancena relieved Rennard in the top of the seventh inning, but as Oklahoma tacked on a run on an RBI double from catcher Brady Lindsly, Bakich substituted senior right hander Mac Lozer in. He would go on to retire the side on two groundouts. “I’m glad I could be there for my guys,” Lozer said. “We took three games away from a really competitive and really good Oklahoma team.” While the Sooners were missing some pivotal characters from their squad, such as Jake Irvin, who boasts a 1.30 earned- run average over 34.2 innings pitched, the Wolverines have to be pleased with three wins over a highly-touted opponent. Five Things We Learned: Spring Game It was both a good and bad day for the Michigan football team, depending on how one would look at things. On one hand, the Wolverines won. On the other hand, the Wolverines also lost. Such is the result of Michigan’s annual spring game. Saturday’s game was certainly more exciting than those of past years, featuring a late comeback from one team before a well-executed drive by the Maize team gave it a 31-29 victory. Here are five things we learned from Saturday: 1. Wilton Speight’s backups are pretty talented The quarterback competition seems fairly decided in redshirt junior Wilton Speight’s favor. After all, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh went on the record on April 10 in saying Speight is the starter. But on Saturday, it was Speight’s presumed backups who dazzled. Aside from one key mistake — an ill-advised throw that resulted in a pick-six — redshirt freshman Brandon Peters was outstanding. He displayed poise in the pocket while also showing off a cannon for an arm. He even led the Maize team on the game-winning drive, which included a deep bomb to redshirt freshman wide receiver Nate Schoenle. Peters finished 9-of-17 for 160 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception, and even scrambled for a 12-yard touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Fifth-year senior John O’Korn was impressive as well, although much of his success didn’t come until late. O’Korn, who started against Indiana last season when Speight was hurt, ran three times for 42 yards while completing three passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. 2. The Glasgow family name is in good hands Graham is already in the NFL, and Ryan will be soon. Meanwhile, Jordan — the youngest of the three Glasgow brothers — continues to carve out a role for himself in Ann Arbor. Glasgow earned a reputation as being a special teams dynamo last year, and appears poised for a breakout season this year. He has been practicing mostly at the VIPER position vacated by Jabrill Peppers. In the spring game, however, he was exceptional at safety, flashing excellent ball skills throughout the day while coming up with the biggest play of the game, a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown after picking off Speight in the endzone. 3. The kids might be alright Youth has been a common theme for Michigan this offseason, as the Wolverines seek to replace over a dozen graduated starters from both sides of the ball. Key among those are the receiver and tight end spots. The trio of Amara Darboh, Jehu Chesson and Jake Butt graduated and is off to the NFL, while sophomore wide receiver Grant Perry — who would be one of the most experienced returning players — remains in limbo while he faces four criminal charges and an impending court case. On Saturday, though, several key youngsters stood out at each position. At receiver, early enrollee Tarik Black impressed the most, snagging several balls down the sideline, including an 11-yard touchdown reception from O’Korn. At tight end, meanwhile, Zach Gentry and Nick Eubanks played well. Gentry, converted to the position from quarterback, scored the first touchdown of the game, catching a pass up the seam before making a safety miss and taking it to the house for a 55-yard score. His counterpart Eubanks looked smooth as well, making two catches and nearly hauling in a deep ball down the sideline that popped loose from his grasp at the last second. 4. No Kenny, no problem? Michigan graduated kicker and punter (there’s a recurring theme here) Kenny Allen after last year. Allen was adept at both of his jobs, knocking in 37 field goals at an 82-percent clip over two seasons while averaging 43.3 yards on 54 punts last year. But like at other positions, there may not be too much of a drop-off from Allen’s replacements. Quinn Nordin, formerly the No. 1 rated kicker out of high school, knocked in a 48-yard field goal that would have been good from 50-plus, and Kyle Seychel kicked the game- winning field goal (even after an attempted icing) to give the Maize team steak for dinner. Will Hart handled punting duties for both sides, kicking it eight total times for an average of 39.5 yards per punt. 5. The defense still looks good The Wolverines have said it many times over through the offseason: they expect there to be little drop-off between last year’s defense — No. 1 in the nation — and this year’s unit. Game action against real opponents will tell whether that is the case, but for now, this year’s defense does indeed look pretty good. The defensive line and blitzing linebackers created problems in pass protection, beating the offensive line for five total sacks. Meanwhile, there were three total interceptions — two of which went the other way for touchdowns — made on presumed starter Speight and Peters. Players such as sophomores Khaleke Hudson and Devin Bush Jr. laid the wood, and defensive coordinator Don Brown was as aggressive as ever with his play-calling. There will be some struggles along the way as this youthful unit continues to develop and gain experience — after all, the offense did record several big plays on the day. But the ceiling for the defense remains as high as ever. Peters leads Maize to victory At the start of last season, Jim Harbaugh didn’t know who his quarterback would be. Redshirt sophomore Wilton Speight and redshirt juniors John O’Korn and Shane Morris all presented compelling cases for the starting job. But on the first Saturday of September, Speight stepped onto the field at Michigan Stadium to take the first snap of the 2016- 17 season and never looked back. Starting all but one game — due to a shoulder injury — Speight threw for 2,538 yards and 18 touchdowns with a 61.6 completion percentage. Coming into the 2017-18 season, it would be safe to assume that the now-redshirt junior would take the field for the Michigan football team in its season opener at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. But that’s not the way redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Peters sees it. After the Wolverines’ annual spring game Saturday, Peters was asked if he was trying to be the starter for this season opener. “Of course,” Peters said with a smile. “Why would I not want to?” His performance Saturday proved that sentiment. As the starting quarterback for the Maize team that topped the Blue team, 31-29, Peters tackled the competition against Speight and O’Korn, both of whom led the Blue team, head on and came out on top. He completed 9 of 17 passes for 160 yards and tallied both a touchdown and an interception. Meanwhile, Speight went 9-for-26 for 78 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns, and O’Korn went 3-for-6 for 60 yards and a touchdown. Peters struck first halfway through the first quarter, finding junior tight end Zach Gentry wide open in the middle of the field. Gentry returned the favor, making junior defensive back Louis Grodman miss and taking it to the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown. It wasn’t until the third quarter that Peters made his first mistake. Off balance, he threw the ball to no one in particular, and senior cornerback Brandon Watson pounced on it. Peters tried to stop him, but Watson took the pass straight to the end zone for a pick- six, giving the Blue team its first lead of the game. “As soon as I let go of it, I just followed the play,” Peters said. “... I didn’t really see him when I threw it.” Eager to make up for his error, Peters quickly marched his side down the field, and then handed the ball off to sophomore running back Kareem Walker for what looked to be an easy score. But an illegal formation penalty negated the touchdown right before the end of the quarter. Peters didn’t let that drive go to waste, though. Just eight seconds into the fourth quarter, he scrambled into open space and rushed 12 yards into the end zone to retake the lead at 21-17. “I just felt the pressure and my read wasn’t there, so I made myself check down and made a big play,” Peters said. Though the game looked to be over when junior safety Jordan Glasgow intercepted a pass from Speight in the red zone and took it 100 yards to the opposite end zone, O’Korn came into the game with just under five minutes remaining and made his presence felt. Leading two straight scoring drives, one in which he threw an 11-yard touchdown to freshman wide receiver Tarik Black and another in which he handed it off to junior running back Karan Higdon for a two- yard touchdown, O’Korn carried the Blue team to a 29-28 lead. With just 1:38 left on the clock, it looked like O’Korn had sealed the comeback victory. But the day belonged to Peters, and he made sure of it. “The first play, I was like, ‘Let’s call a deep shot,’ ” Peters said. “And (offensive coordinator Tim Drevno) was like, ‘OK, let’s do it.’ ” From his own 40-yard line, Peters unloaded a rocket pass toward sophomore wide receiver Nate Schoenle, who was running down the right sideline. The ball came down perfectly into his grasp for what looked like a 50-yard completion. “I saw it was man coverage and that route is perfect for man coverage, and we just executed,” Peters said. Strategically moving the ball and calling timeout in a four-play sequence, Peters set junior kicker Kyle Seychel up for a chance at the game-winner with just a few seconds left. Seychel left no doubt about it, nailing the 31-yard field goal as time expired. Peters — ranked as the sixth- best pro style quarterback nationally in his class in the ESPN300 — didn’t take part in the quarterback competition last year, eventually redshirting in his freshman season. Though a quarterback battle hasn’t been expected to take place this year, he acknowledged that Harbaugh preaches competition above all else. And while Speight is undoubtedly Michigan’s starter, Peters made it clear that he intends to turn it into a competition. Bush shines on defensive side When Devin Bush Jr. came to Michigan, waiting wasn’t an option. As defensive coordinator Don Brown recalls, the Wolverines made Bush the second-string WILL linebacker “virtually when he walked in the door.” And on Saturday afternoon, almost a year after walking in that door, it was easy to see why. Bush finished with three tackles on the day, serving as one highlight of a Michigan defensive unit that put Wilton Speight under pressure during the entirety of the spring game. The redshirt junior quarterback took three sacks — a number that could have been inflated if not for Speight’s own evasiveness — and threw two interceptions, one of which resulted in a 100-yard pick- six in the fourth quarter. If the Wolverines weren’t barred from tackling the men behind center, Speight would probably be hurting, and Bush would have been a big reason why — accounting for two of the three sacks himself (for a loss of 21 yards) and showcasing his ability to blow up plays in the backfield if Brown calls for such. More importantly, though, Bush’s performance Saturday afternoon was a microcosm of the accumulation of factors that contributed to his development over his first year in Ann Arbor. And that first year of development was a busy one. Though the sophomore linebacker was featured at the WILL linebacker spot during his freshman year, he lined up as a starter at the MIKE position during the spring game. Contributing early on at the WILL had benefits in and of itself, as Bush was given the opportunity to learn behind Mike McCray, the early de facto leader of this Wolverine defensive unit. “Mike’s always gonna be there when I need help,” Bush said. “He’s always gonna correct me when I’m wrong. He’s hard on me too. He wants me to make the play that no one thinks I can make. “We’ll be in meeting rooms, I’ll probably drop a pick, he’ll turn back, look at me, and just stare at me like, ‘Why ain’t you catch the ball?’ ” But as Bush explained, being forced to learn the responsibilities of both roles slowed the game down for him and allowed him to quickly acclimate himself within Brown’s system — pinpointing the Orange Bowl as the moment that things finally clicked into place and he began feeling comfortable in meetings for the linebacker corps. “I think he’s just more comfortable because he’s been here since last spring, been here for a whole year now,” McCray said. “It looks like he’s just more comfortable out there and just having fun.” Outside of the on-field improvements and the mentorship he received from McCray, though, Bush has evolved physically as well. Despite being only four pounds lighter than he was at the beginning of Michigan’s spring practices — something Bush joked was a byproduct of eating more salad and grilled chicken — he says he has still dropped fat and added muscle. And Brown has taken notice of his sophomore linebacker’s new physique. “I mean, just look at him,” Brown said. “I teased him yesterday — he walked by me and he didn’t have a shirt on — I go, ‘I remember last year, you were a short, pudgy guy.’ And he’s chiseled. He’s got a Division I body now.” That “Division I” body, coupled with his newfound comfort on the defensive side, could make Bush an enticing marvel come the fall. After all, Brown is looking forward to seeing it himself. “It’s so nice when you have a young guy like that and he can play two spots,” Brown said. “You could ask some guys to do that, and they’d look at you like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ But he handled it really with ease. “We’re excited to see him when it’s live and in color, for sure.” OKLAHOMA MICHIGAN 2 6 ROBERT HEFTER Daily Sports Writer EVAN AARON/Daily The Michigan football team showcased its youth, particularly at receiver. ORION SANG Daily Sports Editor AMELIA CACCHIONE/Daily The Michigan football team played its spring game Saturday, and the Maize team overtook the Blue team, 31-29. BETELHEM ASHAME Managing Sports Editor KEVIN SANTO Managing Sports Editor “You knew there weren’t going to be any long balls”