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Thursday, June 7, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

To put it bluntly, the bookends of 
the Michigan baseball team’s season 
were a disaster.
The Wolverines started their 
season 4-11, a mark they won’t soon 
forget, and ended it 2-7. However, 
in the middle portion, Michigan 
found itself successful in amassing a 
20-game win streak.
In a rebuilding season, the 
Wolverines faced almost everything 
you can experience in baseball. 
From heartbreaking defeats to 
walk-off wins, Michigan and its 
young core was there through it 
all and gained a crucial element 
that can’t be found in any statbook: 
experience.
Heading into the season, the 
hope was that the Wolverines could 
fill the vacancies left by their 15 
departing juniors and seniors with 
fresh, young talent and avoid the 
pangs of rebuilding. After a long 
recruiting season, Michigan was 
poised to do just that. It acquired 
the 10th-ranked recruiting class in 
the nation, good for the best batch 
of incoming freshman in the history 
of the Big Ten. But to whom much is 
given, much is expected.
And after a long road trip to begin 
the season posited the Wolverines at 
4-11, a large cloud of disappointment 
loomed large over Ray Fisher 
Stadium.
“We’d like to think that coming 
into this season that we’ve put 
ourselves into a position to reload 
and 
not 
rebuild, 
but 
clearly 
we’re rebuilding right now,” said 
Michigan coach Erik Bakich after 
a series loss to Lipscomb. “We’ll 
see how we progress from here, 
but so far this has been nothing but 
disappointment.”
Then, it was as if someone 
flipped a switch. The Wolverines 
began winning at an unparalleled 
rate, and the freshmen adapted to 
college ball. The young guys began 
showing what they were capable of: 
cementing their legacy at Michigan.
Frequently contributing to the 
Wolverines’ game on a daily basis 
were slugger Jesse Franklin, left-
hander Ben Dragani, left fielder 
Jordan Nwogu, shortstop Jack 
Blomgren and right-hander Jeff 
Criswell.
Franklin led the team with 10 
home runs, and Dragani worked 
his way into the weekend starting 
rotation highlighted by a 2.76 ERA 
and a 6-2 record—all impressive 

stats for any college baseball player, 
let alone one in his first season.
Supporting 
and 
mentoring 
the freshmen throughout their 
inaugural season were the juniors 
and seniors in the the Wolverine 
dugout.
“The future is really bright,” 
said junior center fielder Jonathan 
Engelmann. “As you can tell, we had 
a lot of younger guys contributing on 
a day-to-day basis, and it’s inspiring 
to the older guys too. This is a team 
where it’s good to be in a mentorship 
role, but I feel like I learn as much 
from them as I’ve taught them.”
Added Bakich: “What I’ll take 
away (from this team) is that the 
older guys, the guys that have 
evolved into leadership roles, like 
(senior catcher Brock Keener) 
and Engelmann and others, they 
just didn’t let the team go in the 
wrong direction when so many 
teams could’ve just said, ‘This is a 
rebuilding year and it’s a bad year.’ 
And we were clearly heading in that 
direction.”
Seeing that resolve in the older 
guys will be monumental going 
forward. It’s one thing to merely 
develop your physical tools as an 
athlete, but completely something 
else to experience true team 
cohesion and mental toughness. In 
a sport where failure is abundant, 
the strength of one’s character 
is determined by their ability to 
overcome rather than their success 
in the scorebook. If this season is any 
indication, the freshmen’s character 
is as strong as its ranking suggests.
Besides grit and resilience, the 
freshmen have also learned, and will 
continue to learn, the importance 
of representing the block-M well. 
Michigan and championships are 
synonymous, so the more a player 
wears a maize and blue jersey, the 
more they understand the weight it 
carries.
“I hope more than anything that 
they understand the significance of 
playing for Michigan,” Engelmann 
said. “That above all is the most 
important 
thing. 
Wearing 
the 
block-M over your jersey, that’s 
the main thing that I think is the 
most important, and I hope that’s 
the most important thing they’ve 
learned this year.”
Looking back, the Wolverine 
faithful will debate whether this 
season was a failure or success. 
In many ways it was both, but 
regardless of how you feel, one thing 
is certain: a strong foundation has 
been laid for the future.

Eight Wolverines qualify for NCAA 

After losing to Notre Dame 
2-1, the Michigan softball team 
(43-13 overall,18-3 Big Ten) saw 
its season come to an end in the 
NCAA Regionals.
For much of this season, it 
seemed like the Wolverines’ 
early exit in the 2017 NCAA 
Tournament was a fluke. The 
Wolverines reclaimed the Big 
Ten regular season title, put 
together multiple 15-plus game 
win streaks, and statistically 
had one of the most dominant 
pitching staffs and defenses in 
the country.
The warning signs, though, 
were real. Throughout the season, 
Michigan failed to capitalize 
with runners in scoring position 
— especially when it mattered 
most. Against the Fighting Irish, 
that trend that came back to bite 
it. Despite a dominant stretch 
in the middle of the season, the 
Wolverines saw blowout losses 
to Western Michigan and Ohio 
State at home nearing the end of 
the season.
By the time Michigan State 
eliminated 
Michigan 
in 
the 
second round of the Big Ten 
Tournament, its fate seemed 
all but sealed. The Wolverines 
narrowly missed out on hosting 
an NCAA Regionals group, and 
Michigan’s momentum — and 
more importantly, its confidence 
— was all gone.
The Daily breaks down the 
highlights of the 2018 softball 

season, and ultimately where 
Michigan and head coach Carol 
Hutchins might go from here.
Most 
Valuable 
Player: 
Meghan 
Beaubien, 
freshman, 
pitcher
Most 
freshmen 
don’t 
just 
walk into a softball program like 
Michigan’s and get the proverbial 
keys to the Ferrari, but the left 
hander made it clear right away 
that she was no ordinary rookie, 
leading the NCAA in wins with 
a 33-6 record and compiling a 
1.16 earned-run averaged. In her 
first collegiate start, Beaubien 
tossed a six-inning no-hitter and 
proceeded to accomplish that 
feat two more times. As a result 
of her early heroics, Hutchins 
wasn’t afraid to make Beaubien 
the workhorse of the rotation, 
putting the left hander in for 
217.0 innings pitched, over 100 
more innings than the next 
closest pitcher.
It didn’t take long for Beaubien 
to gain national recognition, 
either. The left hander notched 
countless Big Ten Pitcher of 
the Week awards and ended 
the season as one of only three 
freshman finalists for the USA 
Softball Collegiate Player of 
the Year award. For a team that 
needed an ace after Megan Betsa 
graduated, Beaubien fit the bill. 
She’s well on the path to becoming 
the next great Wolverine pitcher.
Honorable Mention: Faith 
Canfield, junior, second baseman
Breakout Player: Madison 
Uden, sophomore, third base
After only seeing 47 at-bats 

all of last season, Uden initially 
struggled — hitting just .186 
through her first thirteen games 
as the starting third baseman. 
But as the season progressed, 
the sophomore morphed into 
one of the teams most consistent 
hitters, finishing second on the 
team in batting average (.357) and 
on-base percentage (.448), and 
third in runs batted in (35).
One of the areas where Uden 
improved considerably was her 
plate discipline. In the offseason, 
the third baseman did extensive 
vision training to process pitches 
more quickly and efficiently and 
has since become a key cog as 
the fifth hitter in the Michigan 
lineup. 
When 
Uden 
earned 
a walk-off walk against Ball 
State, Hutchins summed up the 
sophomore’s improvement best.
“Last year’s Maddie might 
have torn herself out of the 
at-bat,” Hutchins said. “I think 
she’s matured. I think she’s 
done a nice job of staying within 
herself.
If Uden can continue to 
maintain that calmness and 
maturity 
at 
the 
plate, 
the 
Wolverines can safely plug her 
into the lineup and not worry 
about third base for the next two 
years.
Honorable Mention: Natalia 
Rodriguez, freshman, shortstop
Best Moment: Michigan beats 
Ohio State 8-0 to clinch the Big 
Ten regular season title

JACOB KOPNICK
Summer Managing Sports Editor

RIAN RATNAVALE
Daily Sports Writer

BASEBALL

ALEC COHEN / DAILY
The Michigan softball team ended its season in dissapointing fashion after clinching the Big Ten regualar season title outright

See documents for this story on 
MichiganDaily.com

Laying the Foundation

