The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Thursday, April 4, 2019 — 7

At end of season, Poole carries weight of unfulfilled expectations

As Jordan Poole sat by his 
locker on the eve of Michigan’s 
NCAA 
Tournament 
opener 
against Montana two weeks ago, 
the questions flowed toward 
the sophomore forward. They 
always do, positive or negative.
This 
time 
— 
three 
days 
removed 
from 
Poole 
not 
speaking 
with 
media 
after 
his 
3-for-11 
performance in 
the Wolverines’ 
Big 
Ten 
Tournament 
title game loss 
to 
Michigan 
State 
— 
they 
were 
negative, 
ranging from his shot selection 
down the stretch against the 
Spartans to his mood amid a 
season filled with personal ups 
and downs.
Eventually, Poole had enough.
“We lost five games,” he said. 
“What have we lost, five or six? 
It felt like all hell broke loose, 
right? Won 28 games? Welcome 
to 
college 
basketball. 
Think 
about that. Won 28 games, lost 
six and it feels like the world’s 
about to fall down.”
This is who Poole is — at 
least outwardly. He’s carefree 
and habitually rejects anything 
negative, or so 
his persona will 
tell you.
But two days 
before 
Poole’s 
dismissive 
answers 
filled 
that locker room 
in Des Moines, 
Iowa, 
Jim 
Gosz, his high 
school 
coach 
at Rufus King 
in Milwaukee, sang a different 
tune.
“He’s pissed off,” Gosz told 
The Daily. “It’s a scary thought, 
too, because when he’s pissed off, 

he delivers down the stretch.”
Within the Michigan team, 
though, 
there 
was 
a 
pre-
packaged 
dismissal 
of 
any 
mention of Poole’s struggles.
When a reporter asked John 
Beilein about his frustration 
with Poole against Michigan 
State — the Michigan coach 
had spent Sunday afternoon in 
Chicago shaking his head and 
slamming 
the 
floor with each 
ill-advised shot — 
his response was 
denial.
“You 
or 
I? 
I never said I 
wasn’t 
pleased 
with his plays,” 
Beilein said. “… 
If 
you’re 
mind 
readers, 
you’re 
mind readers.”
Ignas 
Brazdeikis, 
too, 
claimed ignorance when asked 
about Poole’s struggles. Isaiah 
Livers, typically an open book, 
dismissed it as something “that’s 
gonna come with the game of 
basketball.”
And at the time, Michigan 
could ignore Poole’s struggles, 
despite a preseason in which 
Beilein pegged him as its sole 
elite shooter, pinning him with 
the expectations of replacing its 
three best deep threats. He had 
shot just 30 percent from three 
over the final two months of 
Big Ten play as the Wolverines 
squandered 
regular-season 
and 
tournament 
Big 
Ten 
titles 
while losing all 
three 
meetings 
with 
Michigan 
State. But none 
of 
that 
really 
matters 
if 
you 
deliver in March, 
a 
lesson 
that 
Poole, built on the 
legend of one immortalized shot 
against Houston last postseason, 
knows better than anyone.
“He has such a short-term 
memory, 
where 
whatever 

happened in the last game, he’s 
gonna correct it this game,” Gosz 
said on Mar. 4. “That’s why I 
can’t wait to see what they do, 
cause I think Michigan’s gonna 
be a tough out. … I 
have them to win 
it.”
For two games, 
Gosz’ 
prediction 
came to fruition, 
as Poole left Des 
Moines with 29 
points 
in 
two 
games, 
helping 
send 
Michigan 
to 
consecutive 
double-digit wins 
and its third-straight Sweet 
Sixteen.
Then came Thursday night in 
Anaheim.
Poole, in 31 minutes, finished 

with just eight points. None of 
his three 3-pointers fell and the 
Wolverines were sent packing 
with a 63-44 loss to Texas Tech, 
just 30 miles from the building 
where they cut 
down the West 
Regional nets a 
year ago.
After 
the 
game, his ever-
present 
smile 
was locked shut, 
eyes red with 
the receipts of 
recently-dried 
tears as he tried 
to purvey his 
signature optimism.
“Obviously in this current 
moment, we lost and we definitely 
still want to be playing,” Poole 
said. “But you can’t change the 

fact that we won 17 games in a 
row or had a top-two defense in 
the country or won 30 games in 
the season. There’s so much to 
look back at stuff like that.”
Livers 
confirmed 
that 
his 
postgame 
message 
to 
Poole 
would 
be one of a 
proud friend. 
Poole, Livers 
said, 
had 
played a good 
season, fixing 
the defensive 
issues that had kept him off the 
floor in his freshman year.
But 
when 
the 
cameras 
turned 
off 
and 
the 
media 
departed, Livers’ message was 

no consolation. As the last of 
the reporters trickled out of 
Michigan’s locker room, assistant 
coach DeAndre Haynes — done 
with his media responsibility — 
made his way over to 
Poole.
Haynes, 
the 
Wolverines’ 
go-to 
players 
coach, 
appeared to offer 
up a few words of 
support. But Poole, 
head wrapped in one 
last March Madness 
towel 
and 
eyes 
buried in Haynes’ 
shoulder, 
had 
no 
need for words. His trademark 
optimism, pervasive to the last 
possible moment, was gone, 
replaced by the tears of unfilled 
expectations.

Rockets bottled

Wolverines extend winning streak to six, dominate Toledo, 8-2, in tune-up for series against Minnesota this weekend

Jeff Criswell’s attempt at 
a spotless night was over in 
the first inning. With one out, 
Toledo’s Brad Boss managed to 
squeeze a single through the 
right side of the infield. Then, 
as the Rockets’ Chris Meyers 
swung six inches below junior 
right-hander 
Criswell’s 
high 
fastball, Boss beat catcher Joe 
Donovan’s throw to second base 
by mere milliseconds.
The 
defense’s 
busy 
first 
inning would set the tone 
for the rest of 
Wednesday 
evening 
as 
a 
carousel 
of 
Michigan 
pitchers 
took 
the 
mound 
against Toledo.
For Criswell, 
his 
pitches 
ranged 
from 
unhittable 
to 
Little 
League 
— in the second inning, he 
allowed a single and a walk 
to put two runners on with no 
outs. After a quick strikeout 

and a groundout, he walked 
the Rockets’ nine-hole hitter 
Thomas Eitniear to load the 
bases, only to come back and 
entice Boss to swing past a 
bullet of a fastball.
Criswell 
— 
a 
weekend 
starter who missed a game last 
Sunday against Michigan State 
after it was suspended — was 
pulled after two innings. His 
replacement was freshman left-
hander Walker Cleveland, who 
promptly let up a single.
An error by senior second 
baseman Ako Thomas on a 
fielder’s choice would extend 
the 
inning, 
allowing 
a 
sacrifice 
bunt 
and 
a 
ground 
out 
to 
push 
Toledo’s 
John 
Servello 
from 
second base to 
home, 
scoring 
an unearned run 
— the Rockets’ 
first run of the 
game.
The next inning was smooth 
sailing for Cleveland with one 
strikeout and two first-pitch 
groundouts, closing his two-

inning term as president of the 
mound. Now, it was freshman 
right-hander 
Isaiah 
Paige’s 
opportunity to give the defense 
some work.
“We had some momentum 
plays on defense, some ball 
security plays,” said Michigan 
coach Erik Bakich. “We’ve been 
talking about ball security, 
playing fast, accurate catch and 
just taking care of the baseball.”
The first batter, Servello, 
punched a clear, clean single to 
left-center field. Facing the next 
batter, Paige gave sophomore 
shortstop Jack Blomgren an 
opportunity to make a web 
gem-esque play, but despite 
Blomgren’s best efforts, Meyers 
beat the throw. Fortunately for 
Paige, his next gift to the defense 
was accepted wholeheartedly — 
a clean 5-4-3 double play ended 
the threatening inning.
“Our pitchers do a really 
good 
job 
of 
attacking 
the 
strike zone and keeping our 
defense engaged as defenders 
and make those plays,” Bakich 
said. “It’s always nice when we 
can make the web gem plays 
or turn a double play, it turns 
the momentum for ourselves 
offensively the next inning.”
Continuing to follow the rule 
of two, Paige returned for the 
sixth inning. Allowing a leadoff 
single just past a diving senior 
third baseman Blake Nelson 
and following it up with a 
passed ball to advance Toledo’s 
Darryn Davis, putting him in 
perfect position to score off the 
next single.
Only 
when 
junior 
right-
hander 
Jack 
Weisenburger 
came into the game did the 
defense have the opportunity to 
breathe in a one-two-three top 
of the seventh.
It 
was 
clear 
today 
that 
Michigan’s defense was hard 
to break, no matter how much 
it bent. There were 15 ground-
outs and just two fly-outs, 
holding the Rockets to two 
runs. While none of the pitchers 
on Wednesday threw gems, the 
defense stepped up and had a 
gem of its own.

Wednesday’s 
matchup 
against Toledo was supposed to 
be a tune-up for the Michigan 
baseball team as they head into 
a big weekend series against 
Minnesota. 
That’s 
exactly 
what it was. 
Behind strong a defensive 
performance and consistently 
solid 
pitching 
out 
of 
the 
bullpen, 
the 
Wolverines 
rolled past the Rockets to a 
comfortable 8-2 victory.
“I thought all the pitchers 
that got in there today did 
fine,” said Michigan coach 
Erik Bakich. “We played good 
defense, and we got some 
timely hits. We were able to 
put the pressure on them with 
some stolen bases. We created 
some scoring opportunities. 
Overall, it wasn’t our best day, 
but we’ll certainly take it.”
The 
game 
stayed 
close 
through 
the 
first 
three 
innings, but Michigan got on 
the board first in the bottom 
of the second. Redshirt senior 
left 
fielder 
Miles 
Lewis 
reached on a single to left field, 
and eventually came home 
on a single from sophomore 
shortstop Jack Blomgren. 
Toledo answered with a run 
of its own in the top of the third 
inning. John Servello reached 
first 
on 
a 
leadoff 
single, 
and after staying alive on a 
throwing error from senior 
second baseman Ako Thomas 
and taking third on a sacrifice 
bunt from Trace Hatfield, he 
scored on an RBI groundout 
from Darryn Davis.
The 
Wolverines 
were 
unshaken, though. Freshman 
left-hander Walker Cleveland 
ended the inning on the next 
batter he faced, and sophomore 
catcher Joe Donovan homered 
to lead off the bottom of the 
third inning, putting Michigan 
back on top. Cleveland then 
retired the side in the top of 
the fourth as the Wolverines’ 
defense faultlessly backed him 
up.

“I just trust my pitchers 
to 
get 
me 
ground 
balls,” 
Blomgren said. “I just try to 
make the plays most of the 
time, try to limit my errors as 
much as possible, and thank 
my pitchers for giving me 
ground balls.”
In the bottom of the fourth 
inning, the Wolverines broke 
the game open. After Michigan 
loaded 
the 
bases, 
Brewer 
scored on a wild pitch. Senior 
first baseman Jimmy Kerr 
and Blomgren each notched 
RBI, scoring Lewis and senior 
third baseman Blake Nelson, 
respectively.
The Rockets 
showed 
some 
fight in the top 
of 
the 
fifth, 
putting 
two 
runners 
on 
base off a pair 
of singles from 
Servello 
and 
Chris Meyers, 
but 
redshirt 
freshman 
right-hander Walker Cleveland 
calmly got the Wolverines 
out of the inning without any 
additional damage.
“We did have some good 
momentum plays on defense,” 
Bakich said. “It’s just ball 
security. We’ve been talking a 
lot about ball security, playing 
fast, accurate catch and just 
taking care of the baseball.”
In 
the 
bottom 
of 
the 
fifth, Michigan held onto its 
momentum. 
After 
singling 
to right and stealing second, 
sophomore designated hitter 
Jordan Nwogu scored on a 
base hit from Brewer, who 
then stole second and scored 
on a wild pitch. After three 
straight walks, right-hander 
Kyle Bischoff hit Blomgren to 
score Lewis, bringing the score 
to 8-1.
Toledo 
took 
advantage 
when redshirt freshman right-
hander Isaiah Paige struggled 
in the bottom of the sixth 
as Davis singled, advancing 
on a passed ball by Donovan 
before scoring off a single 

from second baseman Riley 
Campbell. But the Wolverines 
ended the inning as sophomore 
left-hander 
Angelo 
Smith 
struck out two Rocket batters 
and forced a third to ground 
out.
After a virtual offensive 
take-off in the middle of the 
game, both teams settled down 
in the last third of the game; 
the last three innings were 
scoreless.
The Wolverines will now 
look ahead to their weekend 
series against Minnesota, likely 
their 
toughest 
competition 
in the Big Ten, 
and one of the 
more 
difficult 
matchups 
of 
their season.
“It’ll 
be 
a 
big 
challenge 
for us,” Bakich 
said. 
“Against 
a 
great 
team 
like Minnesota, 
it’s 
going 
to 
come down to 
pitching, defense and timely 
hitting, so the team that plays 
the best is going to come away 
with the series this weekend.”

KENT SCHWARTZ
Daily Sports Writer

ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Freshman left-hander Walker Cleveland spelled Jeff Criswell after two innings in Wednesday’s 8-2 win over Toledo.

I thought all 
the pitchers 
that got in there 
today did fine.

We had some 
momentum 
plays on 
defense.

NATALIE STEPHENS/Daily
Sophomore guard Jordan Poole struggled to maintain consistency this season, despite occasionally meeting high expectations placed on him in the fall.

You can’t 
change the fact 
that we won 17 
games in a row.

You or I? I 
never said I 
wasn’t pleased 
with his plays.

We lost and 
we definitely 
still want to be 
playing.

That’s gonna 
come with 
the game of 
basketball.

THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer

