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FOR RENT
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT
By Paul Coulter
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/07/19
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
02/07/19
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Thursday, February 7, 2019
ACROSS
1 Correspondence
sign-off
5 Musical series
set at McKinley
High
9 “Wealth of
Nations” author
Smith
13 Pot for paella
14 Speaks up?
15 Bit of folklore
16 Mature gentle
treatment?
18 B’way hit signs
19 News letters
20 “Have some”
21 Decides not to
dele
22 Bodega miss
25 Roe-producing
fish
26 Mature sprightly
piano classic?
30 Canaanite deity
32 Half a cocktail
33 Handler of “Sex
and the City”
34 Costa del __
35 Mature young
infatuation?
39 Taking a sick
day, presumably
40 Trivial, as talk
42 Versailles ruler
43 Mouselike
animal
45 Mature news
newbie?
49 Salty margarita
glass spots
50 Low-alcohol
beverage
54 Dries gently
56 French menu
word
57 Singer Grande’s
perfume brand
58 “__ move”
59 Mature “Agnus
Dei” translation?
63 Air
64 Word with
offering or officer
65 “Who __
knows?”
66 Scandinavian
literary work
67 Lie next to
68 Wedding couple?
DOWN
1 Phony
2 Run secretly to
the chapel
3 Dispatched, as a
dragon
4 Ankle pic
5 Cavern
6 Brit’s facilities
7 Bud on a spud
8 Snaky curve
9 On the line
10 Stunt performer,
say
11 Boatloads
12 Food in a hall
14 Braid
17 Notable Ford of
the ’70s
21 “__ Persisted”:
children’s
book about
inspirational
women
23 Andean tuber
24 Pit-digging insect
25 Handmade blade
27 Eastern “way”
28 Second-oldest
Ivy
29 NBC show since
1975
30 Portend
31 Versatile
34 Bro or sis
36 Rich rocks
37 Political initials
since 1884
38 Exceedingly
41 Asmara’s nation
44 Poetic sphere
46 Rental ad abbr.
47 Veto
48 Brownish gray
51 Birdie topper
52 Jagged, as a
leaf’s edge
53 Carnival
attractions
54 Data unit
55 Musician’s forte?
59 Place for a
chemical peel
60 Lang. of the Torah
61 __ minérale:
French spring
supply
62 Gratified
Question:
What goes
great with your
morning coffee?
Answer:
michigandaily.com
5A — Thursday, February 7, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Meghan Beaubien, perhaps,
knows better than anyone.
“We graduate one and bring in
another,” the sophomore pitcher
said Tuesday evening.
Four-year
starting
first
baseman and veteran pitcher,
Tera Blanco, has left a void in the
No. 19 Michigan softball team’s
rotation and batting order. While
most softball programs are able
to rely on a rotation of two or
three strong pitchers, Blanco’s
graduation has left Beaubien
the sole pitcher
with significant
experience
returning
this
spring.
Beaubien
started
her
college
career
with a bang last
year – playing in
over 50 games
and
pitching
three complete-
game
no-hitters
—
earning
both the Big Ten Freshman and
Pitcher of the Year titles.
“Sometimes it’s really hard
to come back from a really great
season,” said Michigan coach
Carol Hutchins. “I think that’s
probably
Meghan’s
biggest
challenge.”
Not only will Beaubien face
high expectations this year, but
she will also face off against
opponents who know how she
pitches.
“Everyone
prepares
for
the opponent’s best pitcher,”
Hutchins said. “There’s a lot of
scouting out there on her and
we asked her to come back with
better spin. Spin the ball, break
it more and obviously mix it up a
little more.”
Of course, Beaubien won’t
have Blanco alongside her in the
rotation, either. The physical
exhaustion of playing so many
consecutive innings, potentially,
took its toll on Beaubien as her
performance began to falter in
the last few games of the season.
In the last five games of the
year, Beaubien had a 3.19 ERA,
more than two points above her
season average of 1.16. That is one
mistake the Wolverines do not
want to repeat.
“If I had my wish, I’m hoping
for a good step-up pitcher,”
Hutchins said. “We have our
sights set on Alex Storako, a
freshman. We think she’s going
to give us some
innings,
some
really
good
innings.”
Added
Beaubien:
“I
spend a lot of time
with
(Storako)
as pitchers. She
stands
out
to
me,
personally.
I think she’s got
a lot of passion
and fight in her. She’s a very hard
worker. She’s very driven. I know
pitching that Alex will definitely
have an impact. ”
Though both pitchers have
been
training
side-by-side
all year, they each bring very
different skill-sets to the mound.
While Beaubien focuses on speed,
Storako is more of a spin pitcher.
“I like (Storako’s) moxie,”
Hutch said. “I like her presence
on the mound. She’s a totally
different pitcher from Beaubien.
I like the fact that they’re so
different.”
The
pitching
rotation
is
rounded
out
by
sophomore
pitcher Sarah Schaefer, who
ended
last
season
with
26
appearances and a 1.57 ERA. How
many innings these two will take
off Beaubien’s hands is unclear at
this point.
“We need some innings from
Sarah Schaefer,” Hutchins said.
“We definitely need her to give
us some innings. How much
is yet to be determined. She’ll
determine that when she gets her
opportunities.”
Blanco’s presence won’t just be
missed on the mound, but also at
the plate. The graduated senior
led the Wolverines last year,
both with 44 runs batted in and
a .495 on-base percentage. The
Wolverines will have to adapt
their offensive strategy in the
coming season.
“Tera was a huge bat,” Uden
said. “I’m interested to see how
we will adjust to it. I think there’s
a little bit of a different dynamic.
She had a little bit more power. I
think our girls this year are line-
drive hitters. We’re going to get
a lot of bases. Tera got us a lot of
runs but we’re going to go base to
base this year I think.
“I’m not so sure if anyone’s
going to fill her role, but we’re
going to pick up in areas where it
will fill the gap.”
Staring at your own imminent
successor would stir conflicting
feelings for most. For Katie
Alexander, it’s her day job.
Now in her third season as the
No. 19 Michigan softball team’s
starting catcher, the senior has
established herself as one of the
best backstops in the conference.
Last season, she slugged her way
to a .314 batting average and 24
runs batted in while picking up
All-Big Ten Second Team honors
as a junior.
Though this weekend’s Wilson-
DeMarini Tournament will mark
the beginning of Alexander’s
final chapter, Alexander is more
focused on her role in writing
the first chapter of freshman
catcher Hannah Carson’s much-
anticipated career.
Perhaps
much-anticipated
is an understatement. Carson
— FloSoftball’s No. 21 2018
prospect — verbally committed to
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins
during December of eighth grade.
Five years later, the Weidman,
Michigan native tallied a .571
batting average and 31 home runs
as a senior in high school en route
to her fourth consecutive All-
State First Team selection.
To Alexander, leadership is
more important than numbers.
“I take pride in being (a mentor)
because I want to leave the
program better than I found it,”
Alexander said. “That’s something
I’ve always wanted to do. I know
that’s something I’ve done so far
this year (with Carson), but really
want to help her understand how
it all works and make sure she’ll
be able to lead just like I’ve been.
She’s an amazing player, and she’s
obviously been catching for a long
time.”
Today, Carson is the rookie
that Alexander once was. But at
the end of the day, mentoring the
program’s next catcher seems
more like glancing in the mirror
than teaching an outsider.
“I see myself in her,” Alexander
said. “I’ve watched videos of
myself hitting while she’s catching
and I think, ‘Am I catching? Is
that me?’ She pays attention to
detail, and I think she’s going to
do really well because she already
has the physical stuff. Now it’s
about the mental game — getting
in there, getting reps and knowing
the speed of the college game.”
When the Wolverines take the
field this weekend, they’ll see No.
7 Arizona and No. 5 Florida on the
other side of the diamond. With
an early opportunity to capture
two statement victories, Hutchins
knows her newcomers will have to
contribute immediately. Michigan
returns seven starters from last
year’s Big Ten championship
team, meaning Hutchins will have
to call upon a pair of freshmen
or 2018 reserves for a spot in the
starting lineup.
Though
Alexander
has
established
herself
as
the
Wolverines’ starting catcher and
a staple in the heart of the team’s
batting order, Carson’s presence
can spark mutual growth for both
catchers.
“It’s my goal to give (freshmen)
as much of an opportunity
as
possible,”
Hutchins
said.
“Hannah Carson looks up to our
senior catcher tremendously, and
I think our upperclassmen have
really been great mentors for
these guys, really showing them
the ropes. Katie’s totally helping
Hannah get ready, but Hannah
really needs some playing time so
she can give Katie some rest and
get ready for the future. You never
know when the future’s going to
show up.”
Regardless of how the playing
time is split, 2019 has the potential
to be a special year behind
the plate in Ann Arbor. With
Alexander’s career set to come
full circle, perhaps there isn’t a
more fitting way to leave a lasting
legacy than by setting an example
for her successor.
Wolverines finding footing heading into matchup against Nebraska
After
notching
two
consecutive wins for the first
time
since
November,
the
Michigan women’s basketball
team (5-6 Big Ten, 14-9 overall)
will host Nebraska (5-6, 10-12)
Thursday night.
Nebraska has had an up-and-
down season, picking up big
wins against ranked opponents
such
as
Minnesota
while
dropping tight contests to lower-
tier squads such as Wisconsin.
Junior guard Hannah Whitish
leads the team with a scoring
mark of 10.2 points per contest,
and is efficient from beyond
the arc, shooting the three
ball at a 36.4 percent clip. The
team’s best shooter from deep,
however, is sophomore guard
Taylor Kissinger, who shoots
44.6 percent and converts 86.4
percent of her free throws.
Overall, the Huskers have eight
players who score more than
seven points a night and have
plenty of weapons who can come
up big any given night. While
Nebraska is just 3-7 on the road,
it could prove to be a pesky foe
for the Wolverines, as many of
their losses have been sealed in
the game’s final moments.
On Jan. 27, a tough 77-73
loss to Michigan State dropped
the Wolverines to 3-6 in Big
Ten play and put their NCAA
Tournament
hopes
on
life
support. Michigan — as it has
all season — found a way to fight
back.
On the heels of securing
victories over No. 17 Iowa and
Wisconsin on the road, the
Wolverines find themselves on
the NCAA Tournament bubble
(per ESPN), helping to make
what was a pipe dream into a
reality in just under two weeks.
A
major
catalyst
for
Michigan’s
recent surge has come in the
form of senior forward Nicole
Munger. Munger, who suffered
a
seemingly-gruesome
ankle
injury in the team’s loss to
Michigan State, returned for
Friday’s game against Iowa.
While she only scored eight
and 10 points in each respective
contest, Munger’s return has
given the Wolverines new life
heading into Thursday night.
When discussing her star senior,
Michigan
head
coach
Kim
Barnes Arico said that Munger
has to be essential if Michigan
is to qualify for the tournament.
“She is just everything for our
program,” she said to WTKA
Tuesday. “She just does all the
little things because of her
experience and how hard she
plays.”
While Munger has garnered a
significant amount of attention
since her return, the Wolverines
have received a nice boost
from junior forward Akienreh
Johnson, who scored 19 points
in the win against Iowa and was
a factor on defense in Sunday’s
victory at Wisconsin.
“We knew (her breakout) was
coming, we were just sitting on
when,” Munger said on Friday.
Though its win against Iowa
was big for its tournament
resume, the Wolverines’ victory
on the road against Wisconsin
was important for a different
reason.
The
win
marked
the
team’s
first
victory
in
conference play on the road and
helped Michigan clear one of its
biggest hurdles.
While
Thursday
night’s
contest will be played in Ann
Arbor, Barnes Arico knows that
the task of beating a Nebraska
team that previously handed
Michigan
a
70-56
loss
in
December will still be a tough
one.
“They’re just a really good
team,” she said. “We gotta take
advantage of having them at
home.”
TEDDY GUTKIN
Daily Sports Writer
LANE KIZZIAH
Daily Sports Writer
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
Tests off the bat
New rotation and offensive roles starting to take shape for No. 19 Michigan ahead of competitive opening weekend
FILE PHOTO/Daily
Junior guard Akienreh Johsnon scored 19 points in last week’s win over Iowa and was a defensive factor at Wisconsin.
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior catcher Katie Alexander is coming off a season in which she earned second-team All-Big Ten honors.
I like (Storako’s)
moxie... I like
her presence on
the mound.