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April 02, 2019 - Image 8

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The Michigan Daily

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8 — Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

From backup to cleanup hitter,
Sobczak finds her stride at first

When the Michigan softball
team opened its season in Tampa,
Fla., Alex Sobczak’s name wasn’t
on the starting lineup card.
Instead,
the
senior
utility
player lost a competition for
the Wolverines’ everyday first
baseman
role
to
sophomore
infielder Taylor Bump back in
February.
Sobczak saw limited action
as a pinch hitter throughout the
opening weekend, but Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins ultimately
kept her out of the starting lineup
until the team’s fourth game.
For the first two weeks of the
season, the first baseman job was
a race between two players who
didn’t have much experience on
the right side of the infield. In
Sobczak’s case, her 63 previous
starts had primarily come at
catcher and third base.
When Hutchins first proposed
the idea of shifting her to first base
in the preseason,
Sobczak
embraced
the
challenge.
“When
I
first
got
an
opportunity
to play at first
(base), I just felt
like I wanted to
give more to the
team,”
Sobczak
said. “At times, I
haven’t had that same outlook of
being a badass, so to speak, and
really owning it.
“It’s really fun to get to play
different positions in college. I’ve
really enjoyed it, but (first base)
is definitely very different. It’s a
different role. As a third baseman,
I remember having to be super
aggressive with everything, but
first base is more about being there
for your teammates and making
sure you pick them up and you’re
ready for them.”

It wasn’t until the third week of
the season when Sobczak began
to establish the upper hand over
Bump. During the week of Feb. 22,
Sobczak won the job for good with
a pair of singles against then-No. 9
Louisiana State and Memphis.
When
Sobczak
took
over
permanently, her batting average
sat at a lackluster .125. Today, her
.385 clip is the 11th-best in the
Big Ten. She’s been locked in at
the plate during
the
Wolverines’
current
11-game
win
streak,
racking
up
15
hits in 29 at-bats
during
this
stretch — good for
a batting average
of .517. And that’s
no small sample
size, considering
she has a total of
65 at-bats on the season.
In Michigan’s series sweep of
Rutgers last weekend, Sobczak
racked up six hits in nine at-bats,
including three home runs, nine
RBI and five runs scored. On
Monday, she was named Big Ten
Player of the Week for her efforts.
She is the second Wolverine to
earn the honor this season, joining
freshman left fielder Lexie Blair.
As Michigan enters the heart of
its conference schedule, Sobczak’s
.708 slugging percentage and .535

on-base percentage are both team-
highs. Her 1.243 OPS is the highest
the program has seen since Sierra
Romero notched a 1.460 OPS en
route to National Player of the
Year honors in 2016.
To Sobczak, it’s just her way of
contributing.
“I definitely don’t have the
speed that Lexie (Blair) does, so
I have to find a different role,”
Sobczak joked. “Being cleanup
hitter, it’s awesome being able to
score your teammates, and I think
that’s one of the best feelings.”
Hutchins knew Sobczak would
produce at the plate, but she didn’t
expect her defense to emerge as
a strong suit. For the Wolverines,
Sobczak’s stellar .992 fielding
percentage is the cherry on top of
the sundae.
“She’s gotten it done for us (on
defense),” Hutchins said. “She’s
out there because of her bat, but
she gets it done. She’s certainly
helped her infield out when they
haven’t made good throws. … She’s
playing hard for her team and she’s
having fun.”
After spending most of the
opening weekend in the dugout,
Sobczak is now a staple in the
heart of Michigan’s batting order
and one of its most reliable fielders.
At this point, the possibility
of a starting lineup card without
her name penciled in seems
preposterous.

DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer

Pitching, defense key to ‘M’ success

Consistency is key. But in its
absence, balance can prove just as
important.
Despite its ability to dominate,
the Michigan baseball team’s
offense
has
struggled
with
consistency — evident in last
season’s
early
end
after
a
promising 20-game win streak, as
well as its sporadic performances
against mid-major opponents this
year. In light of this, Michigan’s
pitching and defense have been
essential in holding opponents
to few runs and securing wins
even when the offense can’t pull
through.
With
big-name
matchups
coming up against offensively-
strong
Minnesota
and
Ohio
State over the next two weeks,
this dynamic could prove quite
helpful.
The defense’s utility was on
display in last Wednesday’s low-
scoring doubleheader wins (1-0
and 2-0) against San Jose State.
While the offense couldn’t always
produce, solid performances such
as sophomore left-hander Angelo
Smith’s pitching during the second
game and the quick fielding
that forced several 1-2-3 innings

during the first game ensured that
the Spartans never capitalized on
Michigan’s difficulty at the plate.
Over the weekend against
Michigan
State,
the
defense
even balanced itself out as the
Wolverines’
fielding
strengths
bailed out some difficulties in
pitching. When junior right-
hander
Karl
Kauffman
and
freshman
left-hand
reliever
Walker
Cleveland,
frustrated
by the persistent rain, allowed
several runs and walks, clutch
fielding — such as Jordan Brewer’s
double play in the second inning
that stifled the Spartans’ scoring
opportunity

ensured
the
margin never narrowed beyond
comfort.
Indeed, even with efforts to
create a more balanced squad,
Michigan fundamentally remains
a defensive team.
“We’re built on pitching and
defense,” said Michigan coach
Erik Bakich. “We’ve had good
defense when we needed to and
when we didn’t have much going
on offensively.”
With so much reliance on
defense, it can get ugly when
things don’t go the Wolverines’
way — especially against strong
opponents. A disappointing sweep
at the hands of No. 17 Texas

Tech two weekends ago saw
the Wolverines stuck in the low
singles in terms of runs while the
Red Raiders scored many more
and capitalized on numerous
errors.
“We couldn’t hold (Texas Tech)
down with our bullpen,” Bakich
said after the difficult series last
month. “They hit against us like
they knew every pitch that was
coming.
“… What stood out is that we
were right there with them for
about half of each game. But they
were able to separate thanks to
some costly mistakes of ours.”
When the team’s offensive and
defensive
strengths
combine,
the Wolverines can be dominant:
They scored 23 runs against
Manhattan, 12 over Western
Michigan and 16 runs against
Michigan State over the weekend.
Of course, a strong offense is
equally as, if not more, important
on the diamond than defense. But
they do complement one another,
and Michigan stands to benefit
from continued investment in a
clutch defense that can step in
and save the day against tough
opponents.
Minnesota and Ohio State will
be far more formidable if they
don’t.

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior Alex Sobczak won the starting first baseman job from Taylor Bump.

(Sobczak has)
gotten it done
for us (on
defense).

Michigan ventures into new waters

BELLEVILLE — Faster. Faster.
It was the last 500 meters of the
1V8 race, and the No. 9 Michigan
rowing team found its first varsity
eight boat trailing behind No. 5
Yale’s. But what was once a four-
seat gap had narrowed to just
inches.
Faster. Faster.
Sophomore
Charlotte
Powers urged freshman Jessica
Schoonbee to increase the pace.
As the rhythm setter, it was up to
Schoonbee to execute the orders
of her coxswain and lead the
pace for the Wolverines. Before,
Michigan’s attempts to close the
distance had been unsuccessful,
as the Bulldogs simply fended off
the pushes each time.
But in the last stretch of the
race, the gap drew smaller and
smaller as the Wolverines’ stroke
rate grew faster and faster.
Faster. Stop.
The sprint to the finish created
a photo finish. Taking a chance,
the Wolverines ventured into new
waters, and the gamble paid off.
They finished the race in 6:35.32, a
mere .77 seconds faster than Yale.
The game plan for Michigan
was to stay composed and stay
true to itself, the first 1,500. Don’t
let the other team’s boat affect
you, and don’t let up. And if that
holds up, see where the other

boat is and respond accordingly.
Only, when the Wolverines looked
over to Yale’s line at the last 500
meters, they knew they needed
more than just composure to win.
Sprinting is not something
they practice often — Saturday
was the first day they did so all
year. So before the race, the 1V8
got the approval from Michigan
coach Mark Rothstein to use one
solid, decisive move — sprinting.
And after rowing from behind
since the start, the boat decided
to implement the newly acquired
move. The Wolverines closed out
the race, rowing at 42 strokes per
minute.
“I mean, we were down the
whole race,” Powers said. “And
we as a boat, at the 500, decided
we were just going to stop them
from moving up any more and
hold then we kind of just inched
into them.”
All aspects of the boat executed
in the clutch. The pressure came
from the Bulldogs, but Michigan
didn’t bite, instead, heeding the
advice from Powers and following
through.
“We did a great job executing
today,”
said
senior
Kathryn
Grotto. “But I think continuing to
stay internal and not focusing on
what other boats are doing and
just rowing our own race to make
sure that we’re putting ourselves
in the best position to finish the
piece.

“And our stroke (Schoonbee)
is a freshman. It was her first
weekend. Absolutely killed it.
Every time a coxswain would say
something, she just executed. And
she did it, and she took the rate
up.”
Schoonbee, in her weekend
debut, highlighted a unified effort
to set an aggressive pace for the
Wolverines. Following suit, the
rest of the varsity boats succeeded
to win their respective races.
The 2V8, contrary to the
first varsity eight, took an early
lead from the start. Starts were
something the team had been
practicing in the past week.
It paid dividends when Yale
proceeded to bite into the four-
seat
lead.
However,
toward
the last stretch of the race, the
Bulldogs relinquished pressure
and Michigan won with an open-
water lead, tallying 6:57.22.
The 1V4 and 2V4 boats finished
equally as dominant, recording a
7:50.29 and 8:01.86, respectively.
Both created open-water leads
that they didn’t give up, similarly
to the second varsity eight boat.
The
weekend
sweep
was
denied, however, by the novice
boats who failed to close the race,
finishing 7:28.93 to Yale’s 7:25.50.
Despite the failures of the
novice boats, Michigan will chalk
up the weekend as a success,
nearly sweeping both days of the
regatta.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
The Michigan rowing team’s 1V8 boat sprinted towards the end for a photo finish win on Saturday morning.

TIEN LE
Daily Sports Writer

EVAN AARON/Daily
The Michigan baseball team’s defense will be key in upcoming matchups against Minnesota and Ohio State.

AIDAN WOUTAS
Daily Sports Writer

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