The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, March 13, 2019 — 7A

First tough competition brings 
mixed results for Wolverines

When the No. 23 Michigan 
baseball team (9-4) hopped off 
their plane at LAX on Feb. 27, there 
were a lot of questions to answer. 
The Wolverines were undefeated. 
Their bats were hot. Their pitchers 
were dominant. But the only 
competition the Wolverines had 
faced were virtual pushovers in 
Binghamton and the Citadel. 
Michigan’s eight-game, ten-day 
California swing, in which it faced 
face California State-Northridge, 
California 
State-Long 
Beach, 
No. 25 University of California-
Irvine, No. 3 UCLA, Southern 
California, and No. 19 Oklahoma 
State, presented its first tough 
competition of the season.
The California trip now behind 
them, there are just as many 
question marks swirling around 
the Wolverines. They defeated 
Northridge handily in the first 
three games of the series, but 
dropped the fourth, suffering 
their first loss of the season. 
Michigan defeated UCLA, which 
Bakich called “maybe one of the 
best teams in the country,” but 
ended the trip on a two-game 
losing streak, falling to Southern 
California and Oklahoma State.
“We showed a little bit of 
everything on this trip, but as 
a position player group we had 
opportunities 
to 
execute 
on 
this trip that we didn’t get done, 
whether it was getting bunts 
down or moving runners over,” 
said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. 
“Those are the things that just 
need repetition. Those are the 
things that we haven’t been able 
to do in training, and the areas we 
need to work on the most.” 
Going forward, the key to the 
Wolverines’ consistency will be 
their pitching. The pitching staff 
has showed flashes of brilliance 
this season, from a complete game 
one-hitter by junior left-hander 
Tommy Henry to a 10-strikeout 

gem from junior right-hander Karl 
Kauffman against Binghamton. 
When its pitchers are firing, 
Michigan has proven difficult to 
beat.
But when its pitchers struggle, 
as they did in California, so does 
Michigan. Long Beach scored 
six runs in the bottom of the 
third inning off sophomore right-
hander Blake Beers. In the game 
against Oklahoma State, freshman 
right-hander Willie Weiss, who 
has stepped into a closing role this 
season, loaded the bases on a walk 
and two singles before walking in 
the winning run. 
“A couple of hits, not getting a 
couple calls, and ending up with 
a couple of walks – sometimes 
that happens,” Bakich said. “It 
was magnified because it was the 
10th inning, but the numbers don’t 
tell the whole story here. (Weiss) 
made some gutsy pitches in some 
huge spots.”
The Wolverines’ bats were hot 
for most of the trip, continuing 
the tear they went on in their first 
two series of the season. They beat 
up Long Beach for seven runs and 
scored four runs off UCLA starter 
Zach Pettway – one of college 
baseball’s top pitchers – in the top 
of the first inning alone, going on 
to win the game 7-5. Senior third 
baseman Jimmy Kerr had two 
homeruns over the course of the 

trip, one of which was a two-run 
homer to move the Wolverines 
within one run of Long Beach in 
a late-game rally that eventually 
fell short, leaving the tying and 
go-ahead runs on base. 
The offense struggled to find 
consistency over the trip, however. 
Michigan’s offense was only able 
to put two runs on the board 
in its first loss of the season at 
Northridge. In the Long Beach 
game, the Wolverines’ ninth-
inning comeback rally fell just 
short. They only put up one run 
against USC and fell a run short 
once more against Oklahoma State 
in extra innings.
“All the games were close 
because of our pitching and our 
defense,” Bakich said. “We’re not 
even close to firing all cylinders 
offensively. That’s our biggest area 
for improvement right now. But I 
am 100 percent confident that our 
offense is going to start surging 
very soon.”
Michigan’s upcoming home 
opener, a four-game series against 
Manhattan, will be something 
of a return to easier matchups, 
but with contests against No. 3 
Texas Tech and in-state rivals 
Michigan State not too far down 
the road, the Wolverines will need 
to find consistency – especially 
offensively 
– 
to 
remain 
in 
contention this season.

‘M’ looking forward to home crowd

When 
sophomore 
infielder 
Natalia 
Rodriguez 
played 
at 
Alumni Field for the first time last 
season, she didn’t expect how many 
fans would show up. They packed 
the stands. They brought volume. 
And they gave the recently snowed-
over stadium energy. 
Alumni Field brings excitement, 
and starting its home season 
Thursday, the Michigan softball 
team needs to adjust to that 
energy to succeed. Though the 
environment the first weekend 
in Ann Arbor can carry some like 
Rodriguez, playing at home can 
also present new challenges — ones 
that the Wolverines plan to shed in 
favor of home-field traditions and 
hype.
One 
such 
tradition, 
senior 
catcher 
Katie 
Alexander 
mentioned, is writing in the sand 
before games, along with a ‘no 
phones’ rule in the locker room for 
team bonding.
“Especially since we get to be 
in our own locker room, there’s 
definitely some pregame rituals 
and then the whole momentum,” 
Rodriguez said. “We also have 

our playlist, our walk-ups and that 
home feeling.”
Despite those team traditions, 
nerves accompanied Rodriguez’s 
first game at Alumni Field, but 
letting loose and playing the game 
she knew allowed her to overcome 
those pre-game jitters. Rodriguez 
expects the team’s six freshmen, 
following her lead, to also enjoy 
playing at home and focus on their 
game with the new environment 
and colder weather.
“Nerves are natural, but I think 
the way I took it differently is that 
I’m still playing the same game 
and having fun with it,” Rodriguez 
said. “I know we’ll play in the colder 
weather, but it’s natural. We’re used 
to it by now and you get thick skin 
pretty quick.”
Coming off a mixed start to the 
season on the road, with two sub-
.500 weekends, the Wolverines 
(12-10) have had success recently 
in tournaments in the Judi Garman 
Classic and ASU Invitational. 
Particularly, 
Michigan’s 
wins 
against No. 2 UCLA and No. 5 
Washington kickstarted the team’s 
momentum. The Wolverines hope 
returning home will bolster that 
momentum even further.
Regardless of players’ excitement 

and familiarity with the field, 
where they’ve practiced since this 
fall, coach Carol Hutchins noted 
the issues players may face coming 
home. 
Distraction 
from 
fans, 
working on their own schedules 
and dealing with schoolwork are 
some struggles that could affect 
Michigan this weekend.
“We’ve been playing on the road 
for 22 games and we don’t know 
how to play at home,” Hutchins 
said. “Being at home is a new 
distraction. They’re going to come 
straight from class. … They’re 
going to sleep in their own beds 
and they’re going to be away from 
all of the boundaries and rules and 
regulations that we give them.”
Despite those worries, playing 
at home still holds tremendous 
importance to the Wolverines, and 
they hope to carry that feeling from 
the locker room to the field this 
weekend in their first homestand.
“Whether it’s your first time or 
your 500th time, we’re playing on 
our home field in front of our home 
fans, in the place that we love and 
are so proud of,” Hutchins said. 
“After being on the road for five 
weeks, I’m going to tell you… if 
they’re not excited as hell to be out 
on the field I’d be shocked.”

T

he NCAA Tournament is 
just around the corner, 
and on Monday night 
the Michigan 
women’s bas-
ketball team 
(21-11 overall, 
11-7 Big Ten) 
will find out if 
it will receive 
a second con-
secutive bid.
Last sea-
son, the 
Wolverines 
got what they 
wanted, reaching the tourna-
ment for the first time since 
2012-13. The season before, 
they expected to earn a spot 
but ultimately did not. Still, the 
Wolverines went on to win the 
WNIT.
Heading into the previous 
selection shows, those Michi-
gan teams each had 22 wins 
under their belts. This year’s 
group has 21, yet it’s in a better 
position to get a bid — and to 
actually do something with it 
— than past groups.
Why? Because this team is 
trending up.
“I definitely think this team 
is going in a positive direc-
tion,” said senior guard Nicole 
Munger, before Tuesday’s 
practice.
And there is evidence to 
prove it. Michi-
gan has now 
won nine of its 
last 11 games, 
dating back 
to the start of 
February. In the 
final 11 games 
of the past two 
years, the Wol-
verines had 
secured just six 
and seven wins, 
respectively.
“Not to dwell on past years 
too much,” Munger said, “but 
there was a different feel 
around them.”

That different feel is in part 
due to fewer losses in this 
final stretch. But the losses 
also appear to be more quality 
defeats. This team’s two recent 
losses came against Michigan 
State, over two weeks ago, and 
against No. 8 Maryland, Satur-
day night in the Big Ten Tour-
nament semifinals.
In East Lansing, the Wolver-
ines fell 74-64 in a game they 
could have easily won, if they 
hadn’t committed 25 turnovers 
and given up 27 free throw 
attempts. That said, some 
credit should be given to the 
Spartans, who were a quality 
team that had spent consider-
able time in the top 25.
The defeat against the Ter-
rapins, too, had some positives. 
Michigan entered that game as 
the clear underdog, but came 
within arm’s reach of reaching 
the program’s first ever confer-
ence tournament final, eventu-
ally falling 73-72.
“(The Maryland game) is 
something to be proud of,” 
Munger said. “We were down 
ten going into the fourth 
quarter. I think what’s most 
important is the team fought. 
We didn’t roll over and die, 
and we could have done that a 
couple times throughout the 
game. And they made their 
runs but we fought right back. 
I think that just 
goes to show 
that we know 
we can play with 
anybody, and 
I think we’re 
really excited 
for that.”
Saying this 
year’s team 
trends up more 
than past groups 
isn’t an aside to 
those teams. The differerent 
iterations of the Wolverines 
found success at different 
moments in the season, too. It’s 
difficult to make sure everyone 

is healthy and 
harmoniously at 
the peak of their 
game heading 
into tournament 
time. However, 
timing can pay 
dividends and 
Munger takes 
note.
“I think tim-
ing is every-
thing,” Munger 
said. “ … And this team, like 
I said, it’s just very confident 
moving forward and I think 
that’s what makes a team very 
dangerous to play. When a 

team is feel-
ing really good, 
playing with 
nothing to lose, 
that’s really 
tough to beat. 
So, it’s excit-
ing going into 
the final few 
weeks.”
Assum-
ing Michigan 
does make the 
tournament, it has just over a 
week before it starts. Munger 
mentioned taking care of 
the basketball and defensive 
transition as two areas the 

team hopes to sharpen during 
the break. It’s 
important for 
the Wolverines 
to maintain the 
momentum dur-
ing the down 
time. If they 
do, they could 
ride the upward 
trend when it 
matters most.
“I think we’re 
lucky that we 
have this week,” 
Munger said. “ … We’re focus-
ing solely on what we can do 
and what we can do better, and 

that’s pretty exciting going 
into the ‘final 
season,’ as we 
call it, of the 
full season. It’s 
gonna be an 
exciting time 
and I’m excited 
to see what 
improvements 
we can make 
moving for-
ward.” 

Kumar can be 
reached via email at kumar-
rp@umich.edu.

ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer

LILY FRIEDMAN
Daily Sports Writer

Unlike in past years, the Michigan women’s basketball team ended the regular season comfortably in the Tournament
Trending up

ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Senior guard Nicole Munger said this year’s Michigan women’s basketball has a different feel from the previous three she has been on during her career.

And this team, 
like I said, 
it’s just very 
confident.

We’re focusing 
solely on... 
what we can do 
better.

ROHAN 
KUMAR

I think we’re 
lucky that 
we have this 
week...

FILE PHOTO/Daily
Senior infielder Jimmy Kerr hit two homeruns during the Spring Break trip.

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Sophomore infielder Natalia Rodriguez expects the Alumni Field crowd to provide an important boost to the team.

