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.