The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Friday, February 8, 2019 — 7

A study in contrasts: ‘M’ packs 
combo of youth and experience

Two years ago, the Michigan 
baseball team had 11 players 
selected in the draft, the most 
by any one school. All eleven of 
them signed contracts. Seven 
were juniors. 
A year later, the absence of 
the seven would-be seniors 
leaves 
some 
gaps 
in 
the 
Wolverines’ lineup. And with 
those gaps come opportunities 
for young players to step into 
bigger roles. 
Michigan’s 
reliance 
on 
younger, 
less-experienced 
players caused the team to 
struggle at points last season. 
The Wolverines got off to a 
slow start, losing 11 of their 
first 15 games. After that, 
though, they went on a tear, 
winning 20 straight games. 
Ultimately, though, the team’s 
collective lack of experience 
caught up to them in the Big 
Ten Tournament. After beating 
Iowa 2-1 in extra innings to 
start the tournament, their 
season ended with consecutive 
losses to Purdue and Ohio State. 
 
But this year, with another 
year of experience, Michigan’s 
younger players look poised 
for success. The team has also 
taken the offseason to get 
stronger and faster, and that 
increased level of physicality 
has already been evident in 
how the team has been playing 
in practice. 
“It’s a little bit of an older 
team, so I see a group of kids 
who’ve had another birthday, 
who’ve gotten stronger, who’ve 
become 
more 
physical, 
so 
I would like to think we’re 
capable of hitting for more 
power this year,” said Michigan 
coach Erik Bakich. “I like to 
think some of our pitchers 
are going to be stronger, more 
durable. 
We’ve 
seen 
some 
bumps in velocity from some 

of our pitchers, and they look 
more physical on the mound as 
well.”
Among those looking to make 
the jump is Jesse Franklin. The 
sophomore outfielder struggled 
to adjust to college baseball at 
the beginning of his freshman 
season, hitting an average of 
.095 with two hits over his first 
nine games. But he soon found 
his stride, hitting his first of 
a team-high 10 home runs on 
Mar. 20 to kick off a hot streak 
that 
lasted 
several 
weeks. 
Despite his slow start, Franklin 
finished the season with a solid 
.327 average and 47 runs batted 
in. 
Franklin was part of a strong 
freshman 
recruiting 
class 
that stepped into big roles last 
season. Another notable now-
sophomore is right-hander Jeff 
Criswell, who “has a lightning 
bolt for an arm” according to 
Bakich and who will now be 
in competition for a starting 
role. Criswell had a 2.23 ERA 
last season over 32.1 innings of 
relief, pitching several scoreless 
innings and one perfect inning 
in the process. 
Also in a position for a strong 

year is senior Jimmy Kerr, 
who will play at either first or 
third base. Kerr made 19 starts 
at third last year. In 2017, his 
sophomore season, he was part 
of a defensive infield that was 
statistically among the best in 
college baseball. 
“Jimmy Kerr has been in this 
program – this is his fourth 
year now – and he’s earned 
a starting job,” Bakich said. 
“He’s put on a lot of size, a lot of 
strength, a lot of explosiveness, 
he’s hitting the ball with a lot 
of juice in the bat, so it’s really 
good to see.”
Overall, 
expectations 
are 
high for Team 153, whose 
combination 
of 
youth 
and 
experience 
coupled 
with 
improved strength could be 
enough to send the team into a 
deep playoff run this spring. 
“We’ve got our goals set as 
high you can set them, and in 
terms of how we’ve prepared 
and 
being 
around 
these 
guys every day, it feels like a 
championship team,” Bakich 
said. “Everything feels right in 
terms of what type of group this 
could be. It feels like a special 
group.”

ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer

Wolverines not focused on rankings

After a disappointing ending 
to a season that was not up to the 
Michigan softball team’s lofty 
aspirations, coach Carol Hutchins 
had a simple answer for the 
softball team’s focus throughout 
the offseason.
“Pitching, offense and defense. 
You know, you catch and throw.”
With the winningest coach in 
college softball at the helm, the 
Wolverines recognize that any 
sort of rebound from last year 
starts with the fundamentals.
Ranked No. 19, according to 
the USA Today, Michigan once 
again is predicted to come out 
victorious in the Big Ten with 
No. 21 Minnesota being the only 
other team from the conference 
appearing in the rankings.
But winning the Big Ten isn’t 
going to be enough for what the 
Wolverines have their sights set 
on. 
“In 
every 
aspect 
of 
our 
program, we are gearing up for 
a chance to be a World Series 
contender,” 
Hutchins 
said. 
“That’s the expectation of the 
program, so all we can do is hold 
the standards of the program 

in everything we do, whether 
it’s working hard, whether it’s 
showing up on time, whether it’s 
doing the little things properly.”
Being ranked towards the 
bottom of the top-20 would 
be 
encouraging 
for 
most 
programs. For Michigan, it’s 
uncharacteristic. However, the 
players have their blinders up.
“Honestly, 
we 
don’t 
talk 
rankings in here,” said sophomore 
pitcher Meghan Beaubien. “Like, 
coaches don’t bring it up. I don’t 
think the team has brought it up 
as a group, it’s just not something 
we focus on. Because ultimately, 
the preseason ranking doesn’t 
mean anything when you get to 
the end of the year. So much time 
and anyone can beat anyone, you 
know.”
“We try to not pay attention 
to 
rankings, 
what 
happens 
outside of us,” added junior third 
baseman Madison Uden. “I mean, 
we have our own little thing 
where we just try keep everything 
within us. You know, a lot of great 
players talk about just trusting 
the process and doing what you 
know. And that’s what we’re kind 
of working on right now.”
But questions have arisen about 
whether the Wolverines’ style is 

primed to defeat the Pac-12 and 
SEC powerhouses that make up a 
majority of the top-15 teams. With 
college softball slowly shifting to 
power-hitting over consistency, 
Hutchins’ 
long-standing 
(and 
proven) offensive philosophy will 
continue to be challenged.
Michigan trusts her, however, 
and knows that 35 years of 
coaching has brought some tried 
and true methods to Hutchins’ 
name.
“I think we keep to what 
(Hutchins) wants us to do, but 
I think actually, it just kind of 
depends on who she brings in,” 
Uden said. “Obviously when 
(former 
Wolverines 
Sierra 
Romero) and Sierra Lawrence 
stepped out, we became more of 
a consistency team than a power 
hitting, which they’ve adapted 
to that great over the past couple 
of years. We struggled with that, 
I know, my freshman year. But I 
know this year is gonna look a lot 
better.
“We are a more consistent 
team, not so much of a power 
hitting team but who says you 
can’t get the job done with 
consistency?”
If Uden’s point is to hold true, 
the rankings should follow suit.

Michigan gets third straight win

Heading into the final frame, 
the Michigan women’s basketball 
team trailed Nebraska, 49-48. 
Two tense minutes went by with 
neither side able to find the nylon 
and break the silence.
The 
Cornhuskers 
(5-7 
Big 
Ten, 10-13 overall) spoke first 
with a layup, but the Wolverines 
responded with a free throw from 
senior center Hallie Thome.
Then, more tension followed 
— in the form of over four 
more scoreless minutes — until 
freshman forward Naz Hillmon 
made her way to the line, making 
both shots to tie the game.
Thome soon followed suit, with 
two more from the charity stripe 
to give her team a two-point lead. 
That — coupled with the stellar 
defensive effort that followed — 
was enough to propel Michigan 
(6-6, 15-9) to a 67-61 win Thursday 
night at Crisler Center.
“Before the fourth quarter even 
started, we were all kind of tensed 
up — I think we could feel that,” 
said junior forward Akienreh 
Johnson, who finished with 14 
points and six steals. “So Hallie, 
she brought us in a circle and said 
‘Guys, no matter what happens 
just go out and have fun.’ … So after 
she said that, it kind of just calmed 

us down.”
With less than four minutes 
left in the opening frame and the 
score tied, 8-8, things took a turn 
for Michigan.
Freshman guard Amy Dilk 
made a contested floater but 
landed awkwardly. She collapsed, 
grasping her right knee, and sat 
out the rest of the game. Back 
in high school, Dilk injured that 
same knee two times and had 
surgery.
“She’s gonna get an X-ray 
tomorrow,” said Michigan coach 
Kim Barnes Arico, “and then we’ll 
have more information about her 
tomorrow.”
A 
few 
possessions 
later, 
Nebraska drained a 3-pointer 
to take the lead and build some 
momentum off the Wolverines’ 
misfortune.
But then Hillmon — who 
entered the game when Dilk went 
out — had her say. She notched two 
layups that sparked a 7-0 run for 
her team. Michigan led, 17-13, at 
the end of the quarter.
“She’s my roommate. We’re 
pretty close, so seeing (Dilk) go 
down 
wasn’t 
something 
that 
any of us expected or wanted, of 
course,” Hillmon, who scored a 
team-high 18-points, said. “So that 
was hard for us, but we knew we 
had to adjust in that moment. Amy 
wouldn’t want us to sit around and 

mope and ask her about her knee 
in the middle of the game.”
Within the first 80 seconds 
of the second stanza, Johnson 
notched a triple, two steals and 
a fast break layup. Senior guard 
Nicole Munger also excelled. 
She tallied a jumper and then a 
3-pointer midway through the 
frame to give her team a 10-point 
advantage — its biggest of the half.
The 
Cornhuskers 
battled 
with more pressure on defense 
though, while having their own 
success from beyond the arc. They 
made two 3-pointers that fueled 
a 13-4 run, and at the half, the 
Wolverines’ lead shrunk to three 
points, 35-32.
After 
the 
break, 
things 
remained 
close. 
Michigan 
retained the upper-hand for much 
of the third frame but Nebraska 
kept chipping away. With less 
than three minutes to go in the 
third, the Cornhuskers grabbed 
the lead and soon added some 
security 
with 
another 
triple. 
However, Michigan had the final 
say, squeaking out a win and 
improving its NCAA Tournament 
hopes.
“It feels awesome,” Barnes 
Arico said about winning her third 
consecutive game. “I wish we were 
healthy, but way for everybody else 
to find a way to grind it out and pull 
away a victory tonight.”

Johnson steals show in women’s 
basketball victory over Hawkeyes

With just over two minutes 
remaining in the fourth quarter, 
Nebraska inbounded the ball 
down 
by 
two. 
As 
Hannah 
Whitish tried to push the ball 
up the court, however, Akienreh 
Johnson intercepted the pass and 
sprinted down the floor for a lay-
in that would put the Michigan 
women’s basketball team up by 
four points.
The play was one of the game’s 
biggest moments, and it’s only 
fitting that Johnson was the one 
to initiate it. In the Wolverines’ 
67-61 victory, the junior guard 
scored 14 points on five-for-seven 
shooting, dished out three assists 
and recorded a whopping six 
steals. It was an absolute clinic 
that cemented Johnson’s role 
as one of Michigan’s key pieces 
going forward, especially with 
questions surrounding freshman 
guard Amy Dilk’s availability 
after she suffered a gruesome-
looking injury in the first quarter 
after finishing a layup in traffic.

While 
the 
loss 
of 
Dilk 
appeared to be cause for concern, 
the Wolverines found their spark 
in Johnson, who stole the show 
on the defensive side of the ball.
Johnson picked off a Nebraska 
pass on her first possession of the 
game, making her presence felt 
almost immediately. She then 
opened the second quarter with a 
three from the top of the key and 
proceeded to follow that up with 
two consecutive steals and a layup 
in transition. Her preparation 
in practice and ability to read 
plays on the fly helped her crack 
the 
Cornhuskers’ 
pass-heavy 
offense.
“I knew that they were gonna 
go ball fake and then pass it 
opposite,” Johnson said.
While it was the defensive 
side 
where 
Johnson 
shined 
brightest on Thursday night, 
she provided one of the night’s 
highlight plays on the offensive 
end as well. With six seconds 
left 
in 
the 
second 
quarter, 
Johnson received a pass on the 
right wing from senior forward 
Nicole Munger and proceeded to 

nail a tough fadeaway jumper as 
time expired. It was a shot that 
Johnson practiced routinely. She 
said that Munger trusting her to 
take the shot helped encourage 
her to be aggressive with time 
winding down.
“Her giving the ball to me gave 
me the confidence to take that 
shot,” Johnson said.
After breaking her left hand 
this past fall and missing over 
30 practices, Johnson has been 
slowly working her way back 
to full strength. After showing 
flashes on occasion, Johnson’s 
19-point 
outing 
last 
Friday 
against 
Iowa 
and 
defensive 
showcase 
against 
Nebraska 
on Thursday seemed to finally 
indicate that she is back at full 
strength. Michigan head coach 
Kim Barnes Arico has always 
known that the talent was 
present, and now she’s thrilled 
that the rest of the nation is 
beginning to see it too.
“She’s a kid that can do so 
many things for your team, and I 
think everybody’s starting to see 
that now,” Barnes Arico said.

FILE PHOTO/Daily
Sophomore outfielder Jesse Franklin is a candidate for a breakout season.

AKUL VIJAYVARGIYA
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Junior third baseman Madison Uden believes her team can win with an offensive approach focused on consistency.

ROHAN KUMAR
Daily Sports Writer

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Freshman foward Naz Hillmon helped lead a 7-0 run at the end of the first quarter to guide Michigan to an early lead.

TEDDY GUTKIN
Daily Sports Writer

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior guard Akienreh Johnson shined brightest on the defensive end Thursday night, sparking Michigan’s win. 

