The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday, March 26, 2019 — 7

W

hen Alex Sobczak 
launched a three-run 
blast in the Wolver-
ines’ home-opener, the senior first 
baseman 
exchanged 
words with 
Michigan 
softball 
coach Carol 
Hutchins 
while round-
ing third base.
“It’s about 
time you 
swung,” 
Hutchins 
recalled telling her as she trotted 
home. “With runners on base in 
that RBI spot, we want to put the 
bat on the ball.”
Through the first month of 
the season, the Wolverines have 
searched every nook and cranny of 
the country for such swings.
Despite their efforts from 
Tampa, Fla. to Tempe, Ariz, Michi-
gan returned from each road trip 
without a season-altering revela-
tion at the plate. With multiple 
slap-hitters in the lineup, the team 
primarily relied on small ball to 
manufacture runs in its five weeks 
away from Ann Arbor.
For much of those five weeks, 
power was hard to come by. Home 
runs came few and far between — 

in 22 games, the team slugged just 
seven.
But when Michigan took the 
diamond at Alumni Field last week, 
the switch flipped. In the seven 
home games since, the Wolverines 
have launched 12 long balls en 
route to seven consecutive victo-
ries. With Michigan’s newfound 
power, those margins were no 
coincidence.
Senior second baseman Faith 
Canfield homered off the left-field 
flagpole in the team’s first home at-
bat, paving the way for her team-
mates to follow. Since Canfield’s 
long ball, each one of the team’s 
regulars — with the exception of 
slap-hitting sophomore shortstop 
Natalia Rodriguez — has gone 
yard.
Yes, the influx of home runs 
has come against weaker pitching 
staffs than the Wolverines saw 
in their previous non-conference 
slate. But the fact that eight of 
Hutchins’ regulars flexed pop in 
their bat over a stretch of just seven 
games suggests it isn’t a fluke.
“(Home runs) mean we’re 
swinging with better confidence,” 
Hutchins said. “If there’s anything 
that’s improved, it’s our presence 
and our confidence. We’ve been a 
talented team all along, but now 
we’re playing with the confidence 
we need.”

This may be a hot streak, but 
it could be a permanent change. 
Michigan has added a new dimen-
sion to its offense. The team’s 
recent slugging torrid is rooted in a 
roster-wide mindset change at the 
plate, not a dozen fly balls that just 
caught a gust of wind. Hutchins 
has said such things, mind you.
In 2017 and 2018, the Wolver-
ines also had power surges that 
looked sustainable — only to fade 
away in the heat of the schedule.
Since the graduation of Sierra 
Romero and Sierra Lawrence in 
2016, power hitting has seemingly 
eluded the program’s offensive 
arsenal. The duo combined for 30 
home runs that season, but only 
one player has recorded more than 
nine in a season since.
As a team, Michigan amassed 
84 home runs in 2016. In the two 
seasons since, their respective 
totals of 44 and 54 have fallen well 
short. Entering last week’s homes-
tand, this year’s group was on pace 
for just 23 homers.
“Obviously when Sierra Romero 
and Sierra Lawrence stepped out, 
we became more of a consistency 
team than a power hitting team,” 
junior third baseman Madison 
Uden told The Daily at a preseason 
media availability on Feb. 5. “We’re 
not so much of a power hitting 
team, but who says you can’t get 

the job done with consistency?”
That approach didn’t work, to 
say the least, mostly because the 
Wolverines struggled to achieve 
consistency. They mustered a lack-
luster 3.59 runs per game in their 
22 road contests — including an 
uninspiring 16 total runs in eight 
games against ranked opponents — 
before last week’s turnaround.
After a two-year hiatus from 
mashing long balls, Michigan has 
returned to its old ways. The same 
old ways propelled it to a No. 2 
national ranking. The same old 
ways made Romero the clear-cut 
favorite for National Player of the 
Year honors in 2016. The same old 
ways made the program an annual 
staple in the Women’s College 
World Series.
This year’s Big Ten race is shap-
ing up to be the tightest in recent 
memory. Indiana, Minnesota, 
Wisconsin and Northwestern all 
pose formidable threats to the 
Wolverines, who have won 10 of 
the last 11 regular season titles. 
With three conference foes ranked 
ahead of them in the national poll, 
adding another championship to 
that historic run looks like it may 
be an uphill battle.
But after seeing the team’s rein-
vigorated approach at the plate, 
Michigan has itself an offensive 
revival, consistent pitching and 
coaching brain trust — a trio of 
advantages that could make that 
climb manageable.
If this team was going to have 
a kryptonite, it was going to be its 
lack of power on offense. But after 
watching the Wolverines plate 
an astronomical 64 runs in seven 
games, one thing has become cer-
tain: Michigan’s key to winning 
the conference once again lies in 
its power, something the rest of the 
nation thought it left in the past.
“I love home runs,” Hutchins 
said. “They’re like a 3-point shot 
in basketball — it’s a nice thing to 
have in your back pocket.”
It was about time Sobczak and 
her teammates swung as such.

Dash can be reached on 

Twitter at @danieldash428 or by 

email at dashdan@umich.edu.

Nemitz solidifies her presence

Mackenzie Nemitz started 
her birthday well.
Walking up to the booming 
guitar 
solo 
from 
Queen’s 
“Bohemian 
Rhapsody” 
with 
the momentum of her team’s 
4-0 
home-field 
lead behind her 
Sunday, Nemitz 
started 
her 
at-bat by taking 
two high balls. 
She 
stepped 
back, readjusted 
her 
grip 
and 
lifted her bat for 
the third time. 
A moment went 
by. And then the 
pitch.
Nemitz struck the ball, and it 
flew.
It was the senior infielder’s 
second 
home 
run 
of 
her 
Michigan career.
The afternoon before, on 
Michigan softball’s “Mackenzie 
Nemitz Day,” Nemitz hit a 
soaring home run past the right 
field wall at Alumni Field. The 
blast, with an RBI groundout 
single in the fourth inning, 
topped Nemitz’s total statistical 
performance at the plate this 

season. But it meant more than 
that.
“I was wrapping third and 
I was like, ‘Please don’t wake 
up,’ ” Nemitz said. “As I was 
rounding third and running to 
my teammates, I was thinking, 
‘This is real.’ So it just felt 
awesome.”
Where other 
seniors’ 
might 
be, 
Nemitz’s 
presence at the 
plate 
wasn’t 
long-cemented. 
Nemitz had only 
played 
in 
six 
games 
before 
this 
season. 
But now, with 
16 
starts 
this 
season, she has 
secured a place in the hitting 
order as a regular for the 
Wolverines.
Starting 
regularly 
at 
designated player, Nemitz has 
grown into embracing her role 
and hitting consistently, despite 
the 
difficulty 
that 
playing 
designated player and waiting 
long periods of time between 
at-bats presents.
“It was a position that was 
open and up for grabs, and she 
grabbed it,” said Michigan coach 
Carol Hutchins. “(She) really 

has just hung in there through 
her career and has gotten this 
opportunity. It’s been fun to 
watch.”
That moment of euphoria, 
running home to popsicle stick 
Mackenzie heads waving in the 
stands and beaming teammates 
meeting her at home plate, 
exemplified the work ethic and 
commitment that the Michigan 
softball program rewards.
“She’s always been a great 
teammate and worked hard, and 
it’s just great that she’s taking 
advantage of that opportunity,” 
Hutchins said. “The toughest 
kids of all have come from the 
wings. …They didn’t get their 
heads down or their nose bent 
out of shape. They didn’t start 
blaming or get sour. They just 
kept working and trying to help 
the team win, and those are the 
kinds of kids that you love to 
coach, and those are the kids 
who keep you coaching for 35 
years.
“A lot of people have to work 
their way up. And (Mackenzie) 
has really worked her way up.”
Yesterday’s 
ecstatic 
atmosphere as she ran into home 
plate certainly showed that.
So happy birthday, Mackenzie 
Nemitz. Yesterday you gave 
yourself one hell of a gift.

Wolverines place fifth at NCAAs

Going 
into 
Saturday 
morning, Michigan wrestling 
needed a strong day.
After aiming to win their 
respective divisions, only three 
of the eight Michigan wrestlers 
at nationals advanced to the 
quarterfinals. 
Those 
three 
wrestlers — fifth-year senior 
Alex Pantaleo, redshirt junior 
Stevan 
Micic 
and 
redshirt 
junior Myles Amine — were 
all two-time All Americans, 
all in their third quarterfinal 
appearances 
at 
the 
NCAA 
Tournament and all looking to 
push the Wolverines to a top-
five team finish.
And that they did.
The 
Michigan 
wrestling 
team placed fifth in the NCAA 
Championship this weekend, 
with 
third 
place 
finishes 
and All-American honors for 
Pantaleo, Micic and Amine in 
the 157-, 133- and 174-pound 
weight classes, 
respectively. 
Despite 
disappointing 
outcomes 
for 
several 
wrestlers, 
including 
heavyweight 
freshman 
Mason 
Parris, 
the Wolverines’ 
performances 
secured a team finish on par 
with the No. 5 ranking the team 
sustained throughout the dual 
meet season.
Thursday’s rounds proved 
tough for Michigan, with losses 
in multiple weight classes. At 
heavyweight, Parris lost in 
the first round to Iowa’s Sam 
Stoll. Sophomore Drew Mattin, 
redshirt 
sophomore 
Kanen 
Storr and redshirt junior Logan 
Massa also sustained defeats 
early in the second round in 
the 125, 141 and 165 divisions, 
respectively. Parris’ loss in 
particular marked a premature 
end to the season considering 
his breakout performance after 
burning his redshirt earlier in 
the season.

“He 
had 
a 
tremendous 
freshman year and out of the 
eight All-Americans, he beat 
four of them this year,” said 
Michigan coach Sean Bormet. 
“He fell a little short first round 
but he had a great run in the 
wrestlebacks and scored a lot of 
points for the team in the blood 
round. But he really wrestled 
really hard.”
Despite 
early 
losses, 
all 
four contributed to the team 
score with their 
regular 
bracket 
performances 
and wins in the 
wrestleback 
rounds. 
Even 
with 
those 
early 
letdowns, 
with 
fifth-year 
Malik 
Amine’s 
1-2 
elimination 
from contention 
in consolations, 
Pantaleo, 
Micic 
and 
Myles 
Amine found success in early 
rounds of the tournament.
In the first two rounds of 
the 
tournament, 
Pantaleo 
defeated Buffalo’s Alex Smythe 
in a major decision and Army’s 
Luke Weiland, 5-3. In similar 
fashion, Micic plowed through 
Stanford’s Mason Pengilly, 18-7, 
and Purdue’s Ben Thornton, 
11-2, and Amine beat Rutgers’ 
Joe Grello and Navy’s Spencer 
Cary in a 12-3 major decision.
“They 
competed 
with 
everything they had and did a 
tremendous job battling their 
way to a third place finish,” 
Bormet said.
Entering 
Friday 
morning 
with those wins under their 

belt, 
the 
three 
Wolverines 
advancing to the quarterfinals 
all lost in that round. While 
Amine 
defeated 
Lehigh’s 
Jordan 
Kutler 
before 
his 
eventual loss to No. 1 seed 
Mark Hall of Penn State, Micic 
and Pantaleo both lost in the 
first match of the quarterfinal 
round. All three moved into 
the third place consolation 
round on Saturday to finish the 
weekend.
“It was a really tough round 
on Friday night and Stevan, 
Miles and Alec’s goals were to 
be NCAA champions, so they 
were disappointed on Friday 
night,” Bormet said. “But we 
had a brief team meeting and we 
talked about the opportunities 
that were still in front of them 
on Saturday and how important 
it was to them to dig deep and 
put their best performance on 
the mat for Michigan, our fans, 
our alumni, their high school 
programs and their families.
“They dug deep and did a 
great job.”
In a 6-0 bout Saturday, 
Amine, Pantaleo and Micic 
all won both their respective 
matches and the third place 
title. 
Those 
places, 
with 
wrestleback wins, earned the 
team 62.5 points, just enough 
to edge out Missouri — which 
finished with 62 points — for 
fifth place.
“We had many ups and 
downs, but I was really proud 
of the strong finish we had on 
Saturday to produce three third 
place All-Americans and finish 
fifth as a team,” Bormet said. “I 
feel good about our season.”

‘M’ tops Niagara, 16-5

The small, yellow ball soared 
from stick to stick as senior 
Bronwyn 
Shields 
connected 
with her teammate, who sent 
that small, yellow ball to the 
back of the net.
The horn sounded, the crowd 
cheered and the two embraced as 
the Michigan women’s lacrosse 
team increased its lead to 10. 
More importantly, however, 
was the emotion from freshman 
Caroline Cullinan, who had just 
scored her second career goal 
with the Wolverines. She didn’t 
see the field for the Dartmouth 
game that went into double 
overtime on Feb. 17, or for either 
Big Ten matchup 
— 
arguably 
Michigan’s 
three 
biggest 
games 
of 
the 
year. 
But 
she 
had just put her 
team back into 
a 10-goal lead 
as the clock ran 
down with 4:43 
left to play. 
The support, 
the cheers, the emphatic goal all 
served as a big reminder.
This is why you play.
With the help of Cullinan’s 
goal — in addition to goals 
from senior Adriana Pendino, 
freshman Erin Garvey, juniors 
Catherine 
Granito, 
Molly 
Garrett, Lilly Grass and Nadine 
Stewart and hat tricks from 
sophomores 
Erin 
Daly 
and 
Maggie 
Kane 
— 
Michigan 
topped Niagara (3-6), 16-5.
The 
Wolverines 
held 
a 
convincing lead through the 
whole game with the help of 
key saves from within the net, 
despite numerous fouls and 
yellow cards. As the Purple 
Eagles scored three goals within 
the last 20 minutes of play to push 
itself out from the running clock 
rule, Michigan’s defense upped 
the ante and the Wolverines 

scored three statement goals to 
close out the game.

The 
eighth-ranked 

Wolverines improved to 12-0 on 
the season, growing the nation’s 
longest winning streak of 14, 
dating back to Apr. 21. 
Michigan is one of three 
Division I teams that remain 
unbeaten, which puts them in 
the company of No. 1 Boston and 
No. 2 Maryland. As a new varsity 
sport, only in its sixth season, 
Michigan women’s lacrosse is 
now on the map and a force to be 
reckoned with.
“Winning 
talks,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach 
Hannah 
Nielsen. 
“Winning 
gets 
attention. Obviously being 12-0, 
I think it’s the best record in the 
country 
right 
now, and I think 
that says enough. 
This is obviously 
the best season 
we’ve 
had, 
and people are 
paying attention 
to that.”
The 
Wolverines 
led, 6-0, just 10 
minutes 
into 
the game and finished the half 
up 9-1. This allowed for players 
who don’t usually see as much 
playing time, like Cullinan, or 
sophomore goalkeeper Arielle 
Weissman, to see the field and let 
their hard work come to fruition. 
“I think that those same 
players are the players that 
either push us in practice as 
starters playing the scout team, 
or just they’re competing with 
us and pushing us to do our best 
each and every day,” said senior 
starting goalkeeper Mira Shane. 
“So, to see them out on the field, 
you know, that’s the reason why 
you play. I think sports are great, 
but in the long run … for them 
to get time, and to have fun, 
and to get to play the game that 
we all love, I don’t think there’s 
anything better than that.
“Except winning, of course.”

SHIRA ZISHOLTZ
Daily Sports Writer

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

DANIEL 
DASH

ALEC COHEN/Daily
The Michigan softball team has hit for more power since returning to Alumni Field, a departure from the norm.

More than just a power surge

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior infielder Mackenzie Nemitz hit the second home run of her career on Sunday, “Mackenzie Nemitz Day.”

LILY FRIEDMAN
Daily Sports Writer

I was wrapping 
third ... like, 
‘Please don’t 
wake up.’ 

LILY FRIEDMAN
Daily Sports Writer

To see them 
... that’s the 
reason why you 
play.

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
The Michigan wrestling team placed fifth at the NCAA Championships.

They 
competed with 
everything they 
had.

