8 — Tuesday, April 10, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan falters in final round, finishes ninth

The 
Michigan 
men’s 
golf 

team placed ninth at the Aggie 
Invitational, in part due to an 
uncharacteristic 
weekend 
of 

Texas weather.

“The weather, really all day 

(Saturday), it was up there for 
one of the two or three worst 
weather days I’ve ever had in 
fourteen years of coaching,” 
said Michigan head coach Chris 
Whitten. “It was so cold and 
rainy and windy.”

Up against seven top-10 teams 

in a field of 14, the Wolverines 
shot 36-over (900), 31 shots 
behind the champion, No. 1 
Oklahoma State.

Leading the way for Michigan 

was senior Kyle Mueller, who 
placed 
fifth 
individually 
at 

3-under par for the weekend. 
However, he and his team 
had an off round to begin the 

tournament.

“It’s a hard golf course to begin 

with, and we brought all the layers 
that we could,” Whitten said. The 
guys were absolutely prepared, 
but they were still absolutely 
freezing. And when you can’t feel 
your hands in golf, 
it gets tough.”

Despite 
the 

unfavorable 
conditions 
and 

suspended 
play 

due to darkness, 
the 
Wolverines 

rebounded, 
posting 
the 

second-highest 
team score in the 
second 
round 

early Sunday morning. The effort 
was led by Mueller as well as 
senior Ian Kim, who shot 1-under 
and even-par, respectively.

“That was just the guys’ 

complete, sheer determination,” 
Whitten said. “(The course) was 
still playing almost as tough in 

the afternoon as it was in the 
morning, and they just got in a 
groove and went to work.

“Kyle (Mueller) is just like 

a rock every single week. He’s 
always going to be in contention, 
which is fantastic for our team. 

And Ian (Kim) 
gave us a really 
good 
second 

round. And the 
guys felt good.”

Through the 

front 
nine 
of 

the final round, 
Michigan 
remained 
in 

contention, 
ahead of three 
top-25 
teams. 

The wheels came off on the back 
nine, though, which caused the 
Wolverines to settle for ninth in 
the tournament.

“I think we made a couple too 

many mistakes on the final nine 
holes of the final round, and I 
wish we would have finished a 

little bit higher,” Whitten said. 
“But the guys fought pretty hard 
the whole time.

“We just couldn’t hit enough 

good shots, and a couple guys 
missed some shorts putts, too. 
We had done well. It’s just that 
good play needs to continue all 
54 holes and until the very end 
of the tournament. You can’t just 
play two good rounds or two-
and-a-half good rounds.”

One underlying story that 

affected Michigan’s lineup this 
past weekend was that junior 
starter Nick Carlson missed the 
first tournament in his career due 
to a shoulder injury. Recognizing 
that it will take time for the 
injury to heal, Whitten continues 
to look forward with the players 
he currently has.

“The second round of the 

tournament was very good, and 
I think we can look at what we 
did there from top to bottom,” 
Whitten said. “And that’s what we 
need every round, every week.”

Kim leads Wolverines 
at Greensboro tourney

Spurred by freshman Ashley 

Kim, the Michigan women’s 
golf team came out strong at 
the Bryan National Collegiate 
in Greensboro, N.C. At the end 
of Friday’s opening round, the 
Wolverines sat in first with a 
team total of 291 — their best 
of the spring season.

But the team wasn’t aware 

that it led the field. The 
tournament had a shotgun 
start with 36 continuous holes 
on Friday. There was never a 
moment to cherish the lead.

Michigan couldn’t keep up 

the record pace. The team 
carded a 309 later on Friday to 
move into 10th. And Saturday, 
the Wolverines 
battled 
harsh 

weather 
and 

shot 
a 
310 

to 
finish 
in 

eighth. 
Wake 

Forest topped 
the 
17-team 

field with an 
888 
three-

day 
total 
— 

22 
strokes 

better 
than 

Michigan.

Due to her solid play early 

on Friday, Kim sat tied for 
fourth with an even-par 72 
heading into the afternoon. 
There, she carded a 74 to drop 
into a tie for ninth. Senior 
Emily White also excelled 
for the Wolverines during the 
first two rounds, reaching 
24th place with a two-day 
total of 149.

Michigan 
coach 
Jan 

Dowling was pleased with 
her team’s stellar play — 
especially 
putting 
— 
that 

helped it lead early on.

“Just phenomenal golf for 

our program and a much-
needed confidence booster for 
our team as well,” Dowling 
said about the opening round. 
“To be totally honest, we 

haven’t played our best golf in 
a couple tournaments. It was 
nice for the team to see what 
we are capable of.

“The team started to see 

some putts fall, which was a 
really nice thing.”

Rough playing conditions 

made Saturday difficult. The 
fairways were drenched from 
pouring rain, and heavy winds 
worsened the situation.

With the tough conditions, 

Kim and White slipped up. 
They both tallied scores of 78 
on Saturday and finished the 
tournament in 12th and 29th, 
respectively. The team as a 
whole, though, did damage 
control and gave up only one 
double bogey on the day.

The 
tournament 
marked 

Kim’s 
third 
consecutive 

time 
leading 

the 
team. 

The 
southern 

California 
native is used 
to 
playing 

in 
pleasant 

conditions. 
Since the start 
of her freshman 
year, 
she’s 

worked 
with 

the 
coaching 

staff 
on 
controlling 
her 

trajectory, and this helped her 
score well over the weekend. 
Dowling closely followed her 
performance.

“What was really fun for 

us to see was her play so well 
in difficult conditions. It was 
kind of a new experience for 
her,” Dowling said. “A top-
12 finish in that field, as a 
freshman on that golf course, 
is really impressive.”

Sophomore Alisa Snyder, 

junior Elodie Van Dievoet 
and 
sophomore 
Hannah 

Ghelfi also competed for the 
Wolverines and finished 40th, 
47th and 63rd, respectively.

“There are certainly a lot 

of positives to take away,” 
Dowling said. “It was a great 
field and a hard golf course.”

WOMEN’S GOLF

Pitching has become backbone

M

uch like the team as a 
whole, the Michigan 

baseball pitch-
ing staff strug-
gled through 
the first 15 
games of the 
season, post-
ing an earned-
run average of 
4.66. 

Since then, 

the Wolverines 
have recovered 
in dramatic fashion, both from a 
team and pitching perspective. That 
ERA has decreased to 2.20 — the 
byproduct of younger pitchers 
stepping up and bettering the 
performances of returning starters 
from last year. 

Coming into the season, senior 

right-handers Alec Rennard and 
Jayce Vancena were expected to 
anchor the rotation. Alongside 

veteran outfielder Myles Lewis and 
shortstop Ako Thomas, Rennard 
and Vancena were the only players 
seated for preseason Media Day. 

Following three outings earlier 

in the season, over which he had 
posted a 3.38 ERA, Rennard was 
shut down while recovering from 
a prior injury. For a struggling 
pitching staff, the loss of their 
supposed ace was an unwelcome 
blow. 

Vancena, on the other hand, has 

struggled mightily thus far and has 
been demoted from a starting role 
to being used intermittently as a 
reliever.

The unexpected turn of events 

provided the perfect opportunity 
for the young guys to step up. And 
they have certainly done so. 

If you need an example, look no 

further than the staff’s weekend 
performance against Big Ten foe, 
Northwestern. 

In game one of Saturday’s 

doubleheader, sophomore left-
hander Tommy Henry posted 
a career-high nine strikeouts in 
six shutout innings of work. His 
dominant performance paved the 
way for junior reliever Troy Miller 
to finish the shutout with four 
strikeouts of his own. 

The second game saw freshman 

Ben Dragani claim his third win of 
the season in similar fashion. The 
understated left-hander, who has 
posted a stellar 1.13 ERA thus far 
this season, allowing only one hit 
in seven innings. Fellow freshman 
Jeff Criswell kept the Wildcats off 
the scoreboard, too before junior 
left-hander Will Tribucher struck 
out two of the final three batters to 
close it out. 

“Ben’s very talented,” said 

Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “He 
was the Gatorade Pitcher of the 
Year in Wisconsin as a high school 
senior. So he came in very skilled 
to begin with. It’s one thing to have 

multiple pitches that you can throw 
for strikes, but what makes him 
very good is the competitiveness 
with which he pitches and the poise 
he has on the mound as well.”

Thanks to the Wolverines’ 

pitching staff, Northwestern 
suffered two shutouts in one 
afternoon. 

The youthful contingent 

of Henry, Dragani, Criswell, 
Tribucher and sophomore right-
hander Karl Kauffman have 
become the backbone of the team. 
More specifically, a streaking team 
which has won its last 15 games and 
currently sits atop the Big Ten.

“It’s all contagious,” Bakich 

said. “Everybody’s feeding off of 
each other. The bullpen guys go 
in and see what the previous guy 
did before him that had success 
and follows that blueprint. The 
confidence among the whole 
pitching staff is obviously extremely 
high right now.”

Allan finds her groove 
in sweep of Penn State

Lou Allan was waiting for the 

changeup.

It was the same pitch from Penn 

State pitcher Madison Shaffer that 
had fooled the freshman earlier in 
Saturday’s game. In fact, it had 
fooled Michigan’s entire lineup. 
But in the seventh inning, with 
senior right-hander Tera Blanco 
on second and the score tied 0-0, 
Allan knew she wouldn’t be fooled 
again.

When the pitch came, she was 

ready.

Joining the Wolverines as the 

No. 8 prospect in the country 
according to FloSoftball, Allan 
was expected to make an impact 
right away. But things never turn 
out quite as expected, and for 
Allan, her fate was particularly 
crushing: a knee injury just before 
the start of the season.

“I was super down the first 

couple — the first week,” Allan 
said. “ … I had this stupid injury, 
and 
(Michigan 
coach 
Carol 

Hutchins) just came in there every 
day (while) I was doing rehab 
during practice and say, ‘You’ve 
gotta come back stronger.’ ”

Hutchins’ 
words 
of 

encouragement changed Allan’s 
mentality. Instead of viewing her 
injury as a crushing blow, she saw it 
as something that would make her 
stronger. She recovered faster than 
the doctors expected and seized 
the starting designated player job 
shortly before conference play. 
Still, recovery from injury is a 
process, and it took time for Allan 
to hit her stride.

“I was kinda behind on games 

compared to the rest of the team,” 
Allan said. “So for me, it was just 
seeing more pitches and getting 
back into the swing of things.”

Against 
Penn 
State, 
her 

resilience paid off.

On Friday, Allan hit the ball 

over the fence in the top of the 

fifth for her first career home run. 
It extended the Wolverines’ lead 
to 6-0 in an eventual 14-2 win.

“Every week, she gets a little 

better,” Hutchins said. “ … She 
makes adjustments better than 
probably any kid I’ve ever seen. 
She can make an adjustment in 
one pitch.”

Which brings us back to the 

changeup.

Sure, the game was scoreless, 

but 
the 
scoreboard 
can 
be 

deceiving. 
Michigan 
left 
11 

runners on base through the first 
six innings. The Nittany Lions, on 
the other hand, had just five total 
baserunners. At the heart of the 
Wolverines’ woes was that pitch. 
Just when it seemed Michigan 
was about to break through, 
Shaffer would go to her changeup 
again. It would drop off the table 
as the batter swung right over.

“We were swinging at decent 

pitches,” Allan said. “But then she 
would throw her changeup and all 
of a sudden, we were swinging out 
of our shoes.”

Allan stepped up to the plate 

in the seventh knowing that 
she couldn’t let that pitch defeat 
her again. She would come back 
stronger.

She took two balls and waited 

for the pitch she knew was 
coming. She swung. And, when 
the Wolverines needed her most, 
she delivered.

“All I needed to do is hit it to the 

outfield,” Allan said. “Make it hit 
the green.”

It did more than that. The 

ball sailed over the fence for a 
home run to get Michigan on the 
board, 2-0. The Wolverines would 
eventually win the game, 3-0, 
and took Sunday’s contest, 11-1, to 
secure the sweep.

Whether 
faced 
with 
a 

significant injury or a baffling 
changeup, some players would 
have succumbed to frustration. 
But for Allan, it was just another 
challenge to tackle head-on.

SOFTBALL

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

AKUL VIJAYVARGIYA

Daily Sports Writer

ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer

RUCHITA IYER/Daily

Freshman left-hander Ben Dragani and his fellow underclassmen have helped lower Michigan’s team ERA to 2.20, making the pitchers the backbone of the team.

CONNOR 
BRENNAN

FILE PHOTO/Daily

The Michigan men’s golf team struggled to get anything going in the freezing weather at the Aggie Invitational and eventually finished 31 shots back.

After a strong start to the weekend, the Wolverines couldn’t hang on

“When you 

can’t feel your 
hands in golf, it 

gets tough.”

“Just 

phenomenal 
golf for our 
program.”

