The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
Monday, February 12, 2018 — 3B
Two dominant wins Friday.
Two harrowing losses Saturday.
A closeout win and a sigh of relief
Sunday.
For the softball team, it was
déjà vu.
Opening their season in the
annual
USF
Wilson-Demarini
Tournament,
the
Wolverines
tallied three wins and two losses
over the span of three days.
Similar to the year prior, the team
put on a first-day show, only to let
the next two closely-contested
games slip away before bouncing
back with a convincing win.
The difference? This year’s
team
is
younger
and
less
experienced but has plenty of
room to grow.
On Friday, Michigan posted
back-to-back
shutouts
—
7-0
against
Alabama-Birmingham
and 8-0 against Georgia State
— through the efforts of senior
starting right-hander and first
baseman
Tera
Blanco
and
freshman left-hander Meghan
Beaubien.
In an otherwise stressless
day, the biggest scare for the
Wolverines came at the end of their
first game against the Blazers.
After Blanco had weathered the
storm by keeping UAB scoreless
through seven innings, Beaubien
came in for her first collegiate
appearance to close it, attempting
to hold a 7-0 lead.
Throwing
her
first
pitch,
Beaubien hit the batter squarely
in the chest, awarding the UAB
hitter first base. Shortly after,
she allowed consecutive infield
and right field singles to load the
bases.
Facing the pressure of loaded
bases and a potential comeback,
though, was no scare for the
freshman, as she struck out
two Blazers before forcing a
groundout to second.
“Just one pitch at a time, you
know, go after the hitters, trust
my defense, don’t think too hard
about the runners on base or the
next batter coming up,” Beaubien
said. “Just one pitch at a time and
relax.”
Her mentality gave her the
start against Georgia State, where
she pitched a six-inning no hitter.
Her defense, however, paved the
way for her success, allowing her
to pitch with little to no pressure.
Up five at the bottom of the
fifth, senior utility player Aidan
Falk dove to the ground in pursuit
of the ball. With a one-handed
grab, she came up with the play
— one of many crowd-stirring
defensive play — to further
prevent any chances of an upset
from the Panthers.
Despite the shutout, there were
mistakes here and there.
But to Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins, those mistakes were
necessary to show the team that it
still had room to improve.
“You know, we saw some
great moments from our team,”
Hutchins said. “We had some
great offense. We had some great
pitching. We made some great
defensive plays and played some
good softball.
“And then I thought we showed
some signs that there are some
areas to improve and not just at
the game of softball. But I told
them today, I think our mindset
needs to become more consistent,
and to have a consistency to our
game we’re gonna need to have a
consistency to our minds.”
The lack of consistency in its
mindset showed after the first day.
Before Saturday, the Michigan
offense was rolling. Against UAB,
Falk had three RBI and two hits.
Sophomore shortstop Madison
Uden
and
pitch-hitter
Abby
Skvarce added an RBI each.
Against
the
Panthers,
the
Wolverines recorded 12 hits.
Senior
utility
player
Taylor
Swearingen recorded two hits,
using offense to build confidence
in her defense after she committed
an error in the field where she
allowed the ball to bounce off the
top of her glove.
Junior catcher Katie Alexander
scored the game deciding run
before adding another RBI to
round out her performance on
Friday.
But the standout of the day,
was junior second baseman Faith
Canfield who hit two home runs
in two games, including a three-
run homer over the left field wall
against Georgia State. Seeing the
ball sail over the fence sent a smile
to Canfield’s face as she crossed
home plate.
“It felt awesome. I mean, we’ve
been practicing inside for the past
month,” Canfield said, “so actually
getting to see those balls go over
the fence and not just hitting the
top of our indoor facilities was
pretty exciting, felt really good.”
However,
that
smile
disappeared soon after as the
team faced No. 2 Florida.
Despite
going
against
a
perennial powerhouse in the
Gators, Michigan didn’t change
its approach as it had the two
preceding games. To the players,
they were just “going out to play
softball like they had always
known.”
“It’s Florida,” Beaubien said,
“and everyone talks about that
because they’re such a good
program, but we don’t approach it
any differently.”
Just as they had before, the
Wolverines came out strong.
Canfield led off with contact,
which was likely to be a double
before it was ruled foul. And in
a moment’s notice, Michigan’s
offense
became
stagnant
as
sophomore
outfielder
Thais
Gonzalez popped out to second
base and Falk grounded out to
second to cap off the first inning.
Beaubien held Florida to just
four hits and two runs, but her
effort wasn’t enough as those two
runs proved to be all that was
needed to win. The Wolverines’
stagnant offense stranded 10
total runners on base against the
Gators and South Florida, many of
which were in scoring position.
Inning after inning, Michigan
produced extra base hits.
But whether they had zero
outs or two outs, the Wolverines
couldn’t muster a way to convert
the opportunities. Faced with
its final set of outs in the seventh
inning
down
two,
Michigan
brought out freshman shortstop
Natalia Rodriguez to try to ignite
the offense.
Just like her fellow freshman
Beaubien, pressure proved to be
ineffective, as she hit a single to
centerfield. With a runner on first
and hope in the dugout, the team
rallied around the possibility of
tying or winning the game.
“I brought her in the leadoff
batter and she got on base against
Florida,” Hutchins said. “That
was fantastic, high-pressure, that
is softball at its highest pressure.
I think she’s a confident kid. I
think she believes in herself.
She’s talented, and she’s got that
great body language that comes
with it. What we call swag. I like
that swag. Shows me that she’s
confident in her abilities.”
But just as quickly as the
Wolverines’ hopes began, Florida
ended
them
by
inducing
a
groundout by Canfield.
“I thought we had, you know,
we had a great game against
Florida, and I liked our mindset,”
Hutchins said. “I thought we put
ourselves in a position to win the
game, and we didn’t win the game,
but we were in the game to win it.
“And then I did not see that
out of them in the South Florida
game. We seemed, it was kind
of like a letdown type of thing.
This morning we came out strong
the first inning but then we shot
ourselves in the foot almost every
inning, just cues that I don’t think
we’re locked in enough.”
Coming out of the bus to go into
its fourth game in two days, the
team’s lack of energy was evident.
That lack of energy made all the
difference.
Despite putting up a fight, the
Wolverines fell, 3-2, to the Bulls,
an unexpected loss just like the
year prior. Finding themselves
down one late in the game,
Hutchins made a tough call to
pull Blanco for Beaubien, relying
on the left-hander to maintain the
slim gap.
However, even though the
defense kept the margin to one,
the
offense
struggled
again,
failing to take advantage of an
opportunity in the seventh, as
three
pinch-hitters
hit
three
straight pop outs or groundouts to
end the game.
Bouncing back from a rough
loss, the Wolverines proceeded
to
convincingly
beat
Illinois
State, 6-1, to end their opening
tournament run. While the result
of the weekend might not have
gone the way the team had hoped,
there were many takeaways that
offered a good look at not just
the strengths of the team, but the
potential offered by its youth.
“We’re here for one reason, is to
be locked into play good softball,”
Hutchins said. “So hopefully, you
know, it’s a learning curve, and
there’s a lot of new kids playing
every game.”
“I think you’re never fully as
good as you’re going to be,” Canfield
said. “So I think all around, we
can sharpen up and if anything,
just improve our presence, which
I think will come with time as we
get more comfortable as the season
goes on.”
EAST LANSING —With 50
seconds left against Michigan
State,
down
64-61,
Kim
Barnes Arico called a timeout.
Despite drawing up a plan, the
Wolverines were unable to get
off a shot, turning the ball over
with 36 seconds left.
This left a blank stare of
frustration on Barnes Arico’s
face,
as
No.
21
Michigan
women’s basketball (9-5 Big
Ten, 20-7 overall) went on to
lose, 66-61, to the Spartans
(5-8, 15-11).
“We were trying to get Hallie
(Thome) a touch in the post,
first and foremost, because we
felt like she was having a lot of
good one-on-one situations,”
Barnes Arico said. “Then when
we didn’t have her to try and
get Katelynn (Flaherty) off
a flare screen to a rescreen.
I think everybody became
hesitant right there, a couple
people had some open looks
and then we just kept passing
the ball.”
For the first three quarters,
the Wolverines seemed to leave
their talents in Ann Arbor.
Michigan was unable to
sustain
consistent
play
on
either side of the ball. When
the offense prospered, the
defense was ineffective and
vice versa.
After a 7-0 run to start the
game, the Wolverines went
cold. In the final eight minutes
of the quarter, Michigan scored
just four points. Excluding
senior
guard
Katelynn
Flaherty,
the
Wolverines
were out of sync – resulting
in a 21-11 Michigan State lead.
Offensively, Flaherty was the
only one who could convert,
scoring nine of the Wolverines’
11 points. To make matters
worse, Michigan turned it over
eight times and struggled in
transition on defense, allowing
Michigan State to knock down
three 3-pointers.
In
the
second,
the
Wolverines picked up their
offense by scoring 21 points.
Unlike
the
first
frame,
Flaherty struggled and her
teammates picked up the slack.
Thome returned to form after
posting just two points in the
opening quarter, scoring 10
points – including six from the
line.
Despite
the
offensive
turnaround,
Michigan’s
defense was still horrendous.
The
Wolverines
allowed
another
21
points
as
the
Spartans
were
incredibly
efficient
from
the
field,
shooting
50
percent
from
three and 53.3 percent from
the floor. This impressive play
had Michigan State up 42-32 at
the half. When the teams last
played each other, Michigan
State scored 48 points in the
entire game.
The
second
half
wasn’t
much better.
Just as Michigan cranked
up its defense by allowing
only 13 points in the third, its
offense again went quiet. The
Wolverines could only muster
13 points, holding the deficit
at ten.
Michigan
showed
some
resilience to open the final
quarter
by
quickly
knocking down
two
3-pointers
–
cutting
the
deficit
to
four.
But,
the
Spartans
held
tough and never
surrendered
their lead.
For
the
Wolverines, the
game itself wasn’t the only
loss. Freshman forward Hailey
Brown went down with an
unknown leg injury and her
status is to be determined.
Michigan
never
seemed
to find their groove. The
Wolverines shot an abysmal
36 percent from the floor. To
make matters worse, Michigan
couldn’t hold onto the ball,
committing 23 total turnovers.
“(Turnovers)
that’s
been
really the problem,” Barnes
Arico said. “We work on it
every day. I think coming into
the year we really knew that
might be something that could
be a problem for us because
we
weren’t
returning
a
point guard.”
The
only
thing that kept
the Wolverines
in
the
game
was
their
effectiveness
from the free
throw
line.
They knocked
down 21-of-24;
Thome accounted for nine of
them.
Despite a successful season,
Michigan has now lost three
of its last four. And turnovers
have been a big part of the poor
play. If the slide continues, this
could have them missing out on
the NCAA Tournament, again.
Michigan out of sync, loses to MSU
Hailey Brown suffers left leg injury
EAST LANSING — A loss
wasn’t the only calamity the
Michigan women’s basketball
team suffered on Sunday.
Freshman
forward
Hailey
Brown went down with a lower
left leg injury late in the fourth
quarter. Brown was trying to
defend a transition drive from
Michigan State’s Branndais Agee
when the injury occurred.
Brown fell underneath the
basket
and
was
helped
off
without putting weight on her
left leg. On the bench, a trainer
put an ice pack around Brown’s
ankle. She did not return.
Just minutes earlier, Brown
hit a 3-pointer to bring the
Wolverines within four points.
Those were the last of her seven
points on the day, which Brown
scored on 3-of-4 shooting from
the field, the latest in a run of
impressive performances.
The quietest starter during
the first part of the season,
Brown broke out with a 23-point
performance against Indiana last
month. She followed that up with
double-doubles in two of her next
three games, adding a fourth
reliable scorer to Michigan’s
starting trio of senior guard
Katelynn Flaherty, junior guard
Nicole Munger and junior center
Hallie Thome.
Without her, the Wolverines’
offense lagged in the game’s
final minutes. What had looked
like a promising
comeback
lost
steam,
as
Michigan
blew
a chance to tie
the game in the
last
minute,
committing a shot
clock
violation.
Then, with nine
seconds
left
in
the contest and
three on the shot
clock, sophomore
forward Kayla Robbins fouled the
Spartans’ Victoria Gaines. Two
free throws later, any chance for
a win had evaporated.
“Hailey’s
a
great
3-point
shooter and she obviously made a
3 (just before the injury), and you
know, she’s tough with the pick-
and-pop and the flare screens to
Kate,” said Michigan coach Kim
Barnes Arico. “... Definitely not
having her in at the end of the
game took away one of our best
3-point shooters. Next to Kate,
she’s probably shooting it the best
of anyone on our team right now.”
Brown will be evaluated in
the coming days. No immediate
update
on
the
injury
was
provided.
Should
Brown
miss
Wednesday’s
game
at
Minnesota, either Robbins or
freshman guard Deja Church,
the only two bench players to
get consistent minutes for the
Wolverines, will likely move into
the starting lineup. Church was
the immediate replacement for
Brown, but Robbins also played
in crunch-time because senior
forward Jillian Dunston fouled
out.
It’s hard to overstate the
potential impact of this injury
if Brown is out for a significant
time. Michigan’s last two games
are in Minneapolis and home
against Maryland, a top-10 team.
The Wolverines would have been
happy to win one of the two with
a healthy squad. Without Brown,
disaster looms.
Michigan will likely make the
NCAA Tournament regardless.
The Wolverines
are 34th in RPI
and the Big Ten
features a slew
of
tournament
contenders,
making it hard
to see a repeat
of last season
even
with
a
similar slog to
the finish.
But finishing
the year with
two more losses — and dropping
five of their last six — would
open the door to ambiguity
heading into the Selection Show.
Michigan lived the perils of such
a situation last season. Without
Brown, it might do so again.
DARBY STIPE/Daily
Kim Barnes Arico and Michigan took their third loss in the past four games with a 66-61 loss to Michigan State.
HUNTER SHARF
Daily Sports Writer
ETHAN SEARS
Daily Sports Writer
The Wolverines
never seemed
to find their
groove.
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Junior infielder Faith Canfield hit two home runs in a two-game stretch at the USF Wilson-Demarini Tournament as Michigan compiled a 3-2 record.
‘M’ shows highs and lows of a young team in early-season tournament
No immediate
update on the
injury was
provided.
TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer