8 — Thursday, April 12, 2018
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Michigan infielders settling into their roles after tough start to season

When the Michigan baseball 

team took the field eight weeks 
ago in Port St. Lucie, Florida, 
for its opening day matchup 
against Army, junior shortstop 
Ako Thomas was the only 
remaining starter from the 
star-studded infield that led 
the Wolverines to an NCAA 
tournament berth a year ago.

At the time, the team and 

its coaching staff expected to 
experience growing pains. But 
the extent of those pains was 
not clear until a few weeks 
into this season, when the 
Wolverines opened their home 
season with an 8-3 loss to 
Lawrence Tech.

“We’d like to think that 

coming 
into 

this 
season 

that we’ve put 
ourselves 
into 

a 
position 
to 

reload 
and 

not 
rebuild,” 

said 
Michigan 

coach 
Erik 

Bakich after an 
earlier loss to 
Lipscomb. “But 
clearly 
we’re 

rebuilding right now. We’ll see 
how we progress from here, but 
so far this has been nothing but 
disappointment.”

Now, the Wolverines are 

riding a 15-game win streak 
into 
this 
weekend’s 
series 

against 
Maryland. 
While 

Thomas remains entrenched 
atop the lineup, the rest of the 
infield consists of players who 
were not in Ann Arbor a year 
ago.

Even 
Thomas, 
the 
unit’s 

mainstay, had to work through 
early-season 
defensive 

struggles to establish himself 
as the leader he was expected 
to be. He has just one error over 
his last 13 games, while hitting 
.310 with 12 stolen bases during 
the win streak.

To his left, freshman Jack 

Blomgren has started all but 
one game at shortstop. But the 
defensive-minded 
Blomgren 

started the season as a black 

hole in the lineup, batting just 
.154 with no extra-base hits 
in Michigan’s 4-11 start. Since 
then, he has hit .341 with four 
doubles and his first collegiate 
home run, while providing 
excellent defense.

“You just want him to be able 

to be consistent,” Bakich said 
“… He’s a consistent worker, 
he’s got a great attitude, he’s 
a tough kid. He brings all the 
intangibles to the table.”

In the corners, Bakich has 

inserted two newcomers in 
recent weeks after losing Jake 
Bivens and Drew Lugbauer to 
last year’s MLB Draft.

Despite 
a 
rocky 
start, 

freshman first baseman Jesse 
Franklin has emerged as the 
starter out of an early-season 
platoon, hitting .354 with a 

team-leading 
four home runs 
since 
winning 

the 
full-time 

starting job.

“Besides 

having 
really 
good 

upperclassmen 
role 
models, 

I 
think 
the 

biggest 
thing 

is just that all 

of the coaches really believe 
in us,” Franklin said after a 
3-for-5 
performance 
against 

Central Michigan. “Even if we 
do poorly in the field, they still 
encourage us, and I think deep 
down they really think we can 
do it. You can really see and feel 
that when you talk to them.”

Perhaps the most striking 

example of that faith has come 
across the diamond in junior 
third baseman Blake Nelson. 
The college transfer had one 
at-bat 
in 
13 
games 
before 

starting the finale at Lipscomb. 
Since then, he has started every 
game and been moved into the 
clean-up spot.

“He’s a tough gritty kid. He’s 

a (Junior College) bandit. He’s 
a high baseball IQ guy,” Bakich 
said. “I think he’s gonna be a 
great coach some day.

“He’s not your prototypical 

four-hole 
hitter, 
because 

we’re not asking him to hit 

(extra-base hits), but he moves 
runners along and gets on base 
and knocks runs in when the 
opportunity presents itself. … 
He’s a tough out, he can hit and 
run, he can bunt, he can steal, 
he can handle the bat.”

Nelson’s 
greatest 

contribution, though, has been 
completing 
the 
Wolverines’ 

infield. After seemingly playing 
a different combination every 
game early in the season, 
Bakich has run out the same 
infield in 11 of Michigan’s last 
12 games — all wins.

“Guys are starting to settle 

into their roles so that breeds 
confidence, and they can start 
to express themselves more 
freely and play more loosely,” 
Bakich said. “We were bouncing 
Ako between short and second 
and rotating third basemen, 
first basemen, second basemen. 
We had a lot of moving parts, 
and I think that (caused) the 
inconsistency.”

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer

CARTER FOX/Daily

Junior third baseman Blake Nelson has started in every game since having just one at-bat in Michigan’s first 13 games.
“Guys are 
starting to 

settle into their 

roles.”

Michigan beats Spartans, 1-0, thanks to defense

Outstretched 
and 
tumbling, 

Thais Gonzalez dove to tap home 
just as the Michigan State catcher 
reeled in the ball and flew toward 
her in a desperate attempt to get 
her out.

By the slimmest of margins, 

Gonzalez was safe.

The No. 17 Michigan softball 

team was then tasked with 
protecting the lead in an otherwise 
offensively-lacking day. Where the 
offense failed, the defense thrived, 
as the Wolverines won, 1-0.

“We’re not swinging real well 

right now,” said Michigan coach 
Carol Hutchins. “I can’t tell you 
why, but yesterday, I didn’t think 
we swung well, and we didn’t 
swing well tonight. And I think we 
allowed the opposing pitcher to 
get in our heads a little bit.

“So as a coach, your job is to find 

another way to get it done, and 
that’s what we did today. And I 
knew it was going to be a defensive 
game, and I was not at all surprised 
that it was a close game and a low-

scoring game.”

The Wolverines put on a clinic 

defensively, making plays when 
they needed to be made. Junior 
catcher 
Katie 
Alexander 
and 

freshman 
left-hander 
Meghan 

Beaubien understood this and 
played their roles to perfection.

With one out and a runner 

on first in the top of the second, 
Beaubien baited the Michigan 
State batter into swinging with 
two consecutive rising fast balls, 
striking her out on a full count. 
Without a second of hesitation, 
Alexander rose after catching 
the final strike and threw a bullet 
to freshman shortstop Natalia 
Rodriguez to catch the runner 
attempting to steal second. With no 
margin for error, Rodriguez tagged 
the Spartan to end the inning.

Later, with two outs in the top of 

the sixth inning, Rodriguez threw 
a rapid, aimless ball to senior first 
baseman Tera Blanco in hopes 
of preventing a base hit. It flew 
nowhere near Blanco and looked 
due to give extra bases.

However, 
Alexander, 
in 
a 

fundamentally sound play, trailed 

the baserunner and stayed close 
to the dugout so that she would be 
ready for a play like that.

“Every single time there’s a play 

in the infield, the catchers follow,” 
Alexander said. “It’s just a routine 
play. Not all, we don’t throw the 
ball away a lot, but to be ready for 
it to actually happen, it just shows 
that we practice it, so just to be 
ready for it was cool.”

Not only did Alexander assist 

the defense with plays in the field, 
but she helped Beaubien on the 
mound as well mentally. Right 
after her extra-base-saving play, 
Alexander met with Hutchins 
and Beaubien on the mound. They 
needed to calm the freshman’s 
nerves.

“Tonight, she told me, ‘You 

were born to do this.’ ” Beaubien 
said. “And I thought that was 
really cool, because like, I’ve 
wanted to be here for so long, and 
she was just like, ‘Hey, you love 
this. You want to do this.’ And 
then you kinda remember, like, ‘Oh 
yeah, I do,’ and it kinda gets you 
back in the right mindset. So she’s 
awesome at knowing what to say at 

the right time.”

Despite 
the 
inconsistency, 

Beaubien still performed at an 
elite level, recording a shutout. Up 
until being met at the mound for a 
conference, she had only allowed 
two hits and proceeded to close out 
the game, throwing a groundout 
and a line out in the final inning 
before striking out the last batter. 
While she loaded the counts on 
more at-bats than usual, she found 
ways to strike out the batter in 
many situations — finishing the 
game with seven strikeouts.

On the offensive end, nothing 

Michigan tried was effective. 
Until it was.

After three scoreless innings 

— one of which had an error 
the Wolverines couldn’t exploit 
— Michigan found its first run 
in a hustle play by Gonzalez. 
Alexander found first on a fielder’s 
choice, and Gonzalez got the nod 
from Hutchins to do her role: 
pinch running.

When her time came, the 

sophomore 
went 
without 

hesitation. Freshman designated 
plater Lou Allan reached first, soon 
followed by a bunt by sophomore 
third baseman Madison Uden 
to advance the bases. Gonzalez 
was then pushed into the role 
of designated pinch runner for 
Allan. On a ground ball up the 
middle that resulted in a fielder’s-
choice out at first, Gonzalez kept 
running around third toward 
home. Recollecting themselves, 
the Spartans threw the ball home. 
But it was too late.

With a wrap-around touch of 

home base, Gonzalez scored the 
only run of the game.

The remaining innings turned 

into fruitless attempts to add to the 
lead, however.

Stranding six runners on base 

and recording just six hits all 
game, the Wolverines failed to find 
an offensive rhythm for a second 
game in a row.

But it didn’t matter. With a slim 

lead and an impenetrable defense, 
Michigan did what it needed, even 
if it took a low-percentage play to 
do so.

Baserunning leads to 
win for the Wolverines

Thais Gonzalez isn’t your 

stereotypical hero.

The sophomore has all of 28 

at-bats this season, just three 
of which resulted in hits. She’s 
started 10 games, has four runs 
batted in and has an on-base 
percentage of .219.

On 
Wednesday 
against 

Michigan State, Gonzalez didn’t 
have a hit. She didn’t have an 
RBI, and she didn’t get on base. 
But with her legs, she made all 
the difference for the No. 17 
Michigan softball team, scoring 
the only run of the game.

For 
both 
teams, 
offense 

was hard to come by. But the 
Wolverines demonstrated that if 
they couldn’t create separation 
on offense, they’d do it on the 
basepaths. 
And 
ultimately, 

what separated Michigan from 
the Spartans in a 1-0 win was 
its ability to make the most of 
its few opportunities.

In the bottom of the fourth, 

senior 
first 
baseman 
Tera 

Blanco sent a ground ball 
through the third baseman’s 
legs for a single. She was 
pulled 
for 
a 
pinch-runner, 

senior outfielder Nikki Wald, 
but there, things didn’t go 
according 
to 
plan. 
Instead 

of stealing second or taking 
the extra base on a hit, Wald 
was tagged out on a fielder’s 
choice off the bat of freshman 
designated player Lou Allan.

But the Wolverines got a 

second chance.

Sophomore third baseman 

Madison 
Uden 
laid 
down 

what looked like a sacrifice 
bunt, but she sped down to 
first base and beat the throw. 
Gonzalez pinch-ran for Allan, 
and suddenly it was first and 
second, 
one 
out. 
Gonzalez 

knew what she had to do.

“When she put me in at 

second, I knew she just wanted 
me to score on anything on the 
ground,” Gonzalez said. “So 
just trusting her instincts and 
finding home plate somehow.”

Junior 
catcher 
Katie 

Alexander came to the plate 
and slapped a ground ball 
hard behind second base. For 
a fleeting moment, it seemed it 
would get through for a single, 
but it was instead collected by 
the shortstop, who threw to 
first for the easy out.

Except 
Michigan 
State 

paused, and Gonzalez never 
stopped running until she had 
slid in under the tag at home. 
Michigan had its first — and 
ultimately, only — run of the 
game.

“It wasn’t much decision-

making (to send her),” said 
Michigan 
coach 
Carol 

Hutchins. “I saw the ball going 
up the middle, and I did not see 
the kid field it. I was sending 
her — I thought the ball was 
getting through and midstream 
I realized she actually had it 
and I thought, ‘We’re gonna 
keep going,’ and we snuck it in 
on them.”

The two teams combined 

for three baserunners the rest 
of the game. Freshman left-
hander Meghan Beaubien took 
control from there, and the 
Wolverines had their victory.

That 
was 
all 
it 
took. 

Michigan hustled while the 
Spartans 
hesitated. 
And 

with their baserunning, the 
Wolverines manufactured the 
run — and the win.

“It’s 
just 
a 
matter 
of 

taking 
advantage 
of 
your 

opportunities,” 
Gonzalez 

said. “We hadn’t really gotten 
a lot of runners into scoring 
position, so … you just really 
wanted to make sure you were 
taking good jumps off the bag 
and taking advantage of every 
opportunity you got.”

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily

Junior catcher Katie Alexander left her impact on Tuesday’s game with strong defense and mental fortitude. 

SOFTBALL

TIEN LE

Daily Sports Writer

