The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, April 3, 2018 — 7

Pitching, defense shine as ‘M’ extends win streak 

In the sixth inning of the 

Michigan baseball team’s game 
Sunday, freshman outfielder 
Jordan Nwogu miscalculated 
and decided to go for the catch. 
He missed — and crashed into 
the wall, allowing the Delaware 
hitter to secure a double.

In the seventh inning, as 

Michigan held a one-run lead, 
Blue Hens second baseman 
Erik Bowren launched a fly ball 
to deep left field over Nwogu’s 
head. 
This 
time, 
though, 

instead of going for the catch, 
Nwogu played the ball off the 
brick wall and fired a bullet 
to 
junior 
second 
baseman 

Ako Thomas, who tagged the 
runner out.

“When he made that play, I 

thought to myself … the kid who 
showed up here in September 
would’ve never been able to 
make that play,” said Michigan 
coach 
Erik 
Bakich. 
“(In 

September he) would’ve never 

had the arm strength to make 
that play, would have never had 
the savvy to play the ball off the 
wall, like he did.”

Spurred by Nwogu’s big play, 

the Wolverines (3-0 Big Ten, 
16-11 overall) would go on to 
take a 4-2 win over Delaware 
(13-12 overall) and clinch a 
series sweep for the third 
straight weekend.

Nwogu’s play was the epitome 

of 
the 
transformation 
that 

Michigan has experienced ever 
since its 12-game win streak 
began. The defense, which had 
been one of the Wolverines’ 
biggest weaknesses early on, 
appears much improved.

Through March 14, before 

the win streak began, Michigan 
averaged nearly two errors 
a game. During the streak, 
though, the Wolverines are 
averaging just 1.33 errors a 
game.

“You can see them start to 

improvise and (make) some 
really athletic plays,” Bakich 
said. “Early in the year, we 

didn’t have that. We were in 
more of a questioning and a 
doubtful state of mind, unsure 
of (ourselves).

“… We’re still growing, we’re 

still getting better, we’re still 
needing to improve on some 
physical aspects of our game, 
but mentally I really like the 
improvements that we have 
made and that’s gonna be most 
important for this team as we 
continue to move forward.”

The vast improvement in 

defense has opened up other 
aspects 
of 
the 
Wolverines’ 

game. According to Bakich, the 
defensive growth is a sign of the 
team’s increased confidence.

Freshman right-hander Jeff 

Criswell reaffirmed Bakich’s 
emphasis 
on 
the 
defensive 

improvement 
and 
explained 

that strong play in the field 
helps him as a pitcher.

“One of the most prevalent 

things I think for our team 
is just the solid defense that 
we’ve had,” Criswell said. “Day 
in and day out these guys work 

as hard as they can and it’s 
really showing on the field. It’s 
just been awesome to see. It’s a 
good feeling to have the defense 
back you up and to have trust in 
them because it makes your job 
a lot easier as a pitcher.”

Since the win streak began, 

Michigan’s pitching staff has 
posted a 2.33 team earned run 
average and this weekend saw 
its best overall performance 
yet, as it allowed just two 
earned runs in the three-game 
series.

“It’s just been that over 

and over and over again, guys 
making big pitches and guys 
behind us making big plays,” 
Criswell said. “It’s been a really 
fun thing to be a part of. It’s a 
fun group and I think there’s 
only good things to come.”

If 
the 
Wolverines 
can 

maintain the level of excellence 
their pitching rotation and 
defensive unit have displayed 
over the win streak, they are 
going to be a tough team to beat 
in a fairly weak Big Ten. 

CHRIS FCASNI/Daily

Freshman pitcher Jeff Criswell struck out three in two scoreless innings of relief against Delaware.

BENNETT BRAMSON

Daily Sports Writer

Miscues provide Wolverines 

with easy runs against Purdue

Throughout the course of a 

softball game, there are small 
plays that can change the 
outcome of the final score. Elite 
teams find ways to capitalize 
on these opportunities.

On Friday, Purdue second 

baseman 
Stephanie 
Ramsey 

fielded a groundball in the 
fifth 
inning 
from 
junior 

centerfielder Natalie Peters, 
looking to turn a double play. 
On an errant throw, the ball 
deflected 
off 
Boilermaker 

shortstop Halle Hixenbaugh’s 
glove and trickled away toward 
left field. Freshman shortstop 
Natalia Rodriguez popped her 
head up to track the ball, saw 
that it was rolling toward the 
outfield and sprinted to third 
base.

This allowed Peters, who had 

reached base on the previous 
play, to steal second –– putting 
two 
runners 
into 
scoring 

position for senior utility player 
Tera Blanco. Blanco took the 
opportunity to drive in both 
runners, increasing Michigan’s 
lead to 4-0.

It was just one instance 

of 
heads-up 
base 
running 

that allowed the Wolverines 
to capitalize on opponents’ 
errors 
and 
create 
scoring 

opportunities.

Over 
the 

weekend, 
Purdue 
committed 
four 
fielding 

errors 
and 

threw 
several 

wild 
pitches, 

contributing 
in part to 21 
total Michigan 
runs. 
In 
the 

first 
inning 

on Friday, the 
Wolverines scored two runs on 
a series of three wild pitches 
which allowed both Blanco and 
Peters to score. Similarly, in 
the first inning of Saturday’s 

game, runners advanced and 
later scored on a wild pitch and 
a passed ball.

“If a team’s gonna give us 

bases, we need to take them,” 
said Michigan coach Carol 
Hutchins. “If they’re gonna 
give us balls at the plate, we 
need to take them and take our 
walks. Being on base is critical, 
and we take whatever we can 
get.”

For all the opportunities 

that the Wolverines capitalized 
on, though, there were several 
instances over the weekend 
where they stranded runners 
in scoring position. In the 
three games against Purdue, 
Michigan left a total of 16 
runners on base.

On Friday, three runners 

were 
left 
on 
base 
before 

Blanco’s fifth-inning two-RBI 
single. The opening frame on 
Saturday ended with the bases 
loaded. 
Sunday 
saw 
three 

separate instances in which 
the inning ended with a base 
runner standing on third base, 
before the Wolverines finally 
pulled away.

“We know we have to do a 

better job at that,” said Blanco. 
“And I think that we can even 
score more runs than we did 
this past game. I think we had 
a lot of missed opportunities, 
and it’s something we need to 
get better at this week.”

Against 

a 
team 
like 

Purdue, 
being 

unable to take 
advantage 
of 

an 
opponents’ 

miscues 
may 

not change the 
final result. But 
as 
Michigan 

moves forward 
in Big Ten play 
and 
competes 

against tougher 

opponents, the errors, walks 
and heads-up plays will become 
increasingly important. Failing 
to capitalize on them may come 
back to haunt the Wolverines.

SOFTBALL

JORGE CAZARES
Daily Sports Writer

“If a team’s 
gonna give us 
bases, we need 
to take them.”

Only tears

H

eartbreak knows noth-

ing of circum-
stance.

There’s 

no sense in 
telling Zavier 
Simpson, 
sulked deep 
into 
his 

locker 
and 

speaking 
in 

a hushed-tone, that his team 
wildly 
outperformed 
any 

expectation this season. Not as 
the team with a trophy was 100 
feet down the hallway.

Duncan Robinson doesn’t 

particularly care that the the 
upstart defensive scheme that 
came to prominence this year 
will pay major dividends down 
the road. That’s no solace for a 
senior who just lost by 17 in his 
last game.

Don’t 
expect 
Charles 

Matthews, draped in a towel 
over his head, to delve deep 
into the bright future ahead of 
a shining beacon of a college 
basketball program. He didn’t 
sit out a year just to ignore the 
here and now.

With 
the 
clock 
winding 

down, a graceful end to a slow, 
painful bludegoning in the 
National Title Game, fifth-year 
senior guard Jaaron Simmons 
could only summon a word to 
describe his emotion.

“Damn.”
The clock read 79-62, an 

anti-climactic 
ending 
to 
a 

season that has been anything 
but.

“At the start of the season 

there’s a probably handful of 
teams, 10 teams, that would say 
‘We need to be in the National 
Title Game,” said assistant 
coach Luke Yaklich.

Michigan was decidedly not 

one of those teams.

But?
“We grew into that team.”
This was a team unranked 

in the preseason, picked tied 
for fifth in the Big Ten and 
labeled as a fringe bubble 
team. This was supposed to be 
a rebuilding season, left to plug 
gaps left by Derrick Walton Jr. 
and DJ Wilson and anxiously 
await next year’s heralded 
recruiting class. 

Instead, 
it 

won a Big Ten 
Tournament and 
came one game 
shy 
of 
taking 

the whole damn 
thing.

“Hell 
nah,” 

Simmons 
said, 

when asked if 
he’s 
thinking 

about preseason 
predictions “Right now, you’re 
thinking, ‘We just lost. It’s 
over. But we knew people didn’t 
expect us to get here. But that 

don’t mean we didn’t expect to 
get here and we didn’t expect 
to win.”

Don’t believe him?
“We 
talked 
about 
being 

National 
Champs 
and 
Big 

Ten champs at our culture 
meeting in July, said assistant 

coach 
Luke 

Yaklich. 
“We 

referenced that 
again 
tonight. 

It’s been on our 
mind. The word 
‘champion’ has 
been 
on 
our 

mind at the start 
of every single 
meeting.

“Just 
40 

minutes short of 

just a perfect ending.”

Monday night, those dreams 

were 
shattered 
by 
Donte 

Divincenzo, 
a 
particularly 

cruel and unforseen way to 
go out. The Villanova guard 
ended 
Michigan’s 
season 

with a 31-point outburst off 
the Wildcats’ bench. Instead 
of national player of the year 
Jalen Brunson or future first-
round pick Mikal Bridges, the 
players in the locker room 
were left answering questions 
about how an Italian guard 
from 
Delaware 
sliced 
and 

diced one of the best defenses 
in the country.

There 
were 
self-inflicted 

wounds, too. It would be 
hard for any team to win 
after 
shooting 
an 
abysmal 

3-for-23 from 3-point range 
and 
allowing 
12 
offensive 

rebounds. There was a time 
midway through the first half 
when it appeared junior center 
Moritz Wagner could carry 
them to glory on his lonesome, 

scoring nine of his team’s first 
11 points, leading Michigan to 
a quick 11-6 advantage.

That hope, though, continued 

to dwindle by the minute, 
with each Divincenzo heave 
and bruising team rebound. 
It was the Wildcats’ night, 
the 
Wildcats’ 

tournament and 
the 
Wildcats’ 

season. 

The 

Wolverines 
can take some 
consolation 
that 
their 

season 
ended 

by 
the 
clear, 

unquestionable 
best team in the 
country, a team that led the 
field beginning to end. but that 
does nothing to ease the harsh, 
momentary pain.

Michigan coach John Beilein 

sniffled as left the locker room 
to head to the podium, eyes red. 
He shared the sentiment of an 
entire locker room, an entire 
university.

There’s a harsh reality of 

an ending to a run — one so 
abrupt and defiant that the 
numbness 
overwhelms 
the 

disappointment. 
It 
won’t 

mask the accomplishments of 
a special team in the bigger 
picture, but for the players in 
the locker room, nine months 
of work doesn’t get properly 
contextualized minutes after 
the buzzer.

There’s reality, a realm in 

which this Michigan team — 
a group threaded together at 
its seams with transfers and 
no-name recruits — came 40 
minutes short of a national title, 
ran into a buzzsaw and finished 
as the national runner-up. 

That’s 
a 
sentence 
that 

would’ve seemed preposterous 
not even a month ago.

“I think that when the pain 

ends, whenever it is for each 
person, I know they’re going 
to look back on this and be 
thankful for the experiences 
they 
had,” 
Yaklich 
said, 

“the relationships that were 
developed, all of the wins, 
all of the losses, just the time 
together. 

“They’ll all get to that point 

when they need 
to.”

There’s 
no 

room 
in 
the 

Michigan 
locker 
room 

for 
that 
right 

now, 
though. 

Not while the 
wounds are still 
fresh.

Only tears.

Max Marcovitch can be reached 

at maxmarco@umich.edu or at 

@Max_Marcovitch on Twitter.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily

Freshman guard Jordan Poole sits at his locker following Michigan’s 79-62 loss to Villanova in the NCAA Tournament Final.

MAX

MARCOVITCH

“Just 40 

minutes short 
of just a perfect 

ending.”

There’s a harsh 

reality of an 

ending to 

a run.

