The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Friday, April 5, 2019 — 7

Carson’s grand slam emblematic 
of freshmen success for Michigan

By the bottom of the second 
inning, the No. 23 Michigan 
softball team had fallen into a 
pattern: get walked to first on 
a full count, round the bases to 
home, repeat. 
Then, 
freshman 
catcher 
Hannah Carson stepped up to the 
plate. 
Before 
Wednesday’s 
game 
against Toledo, Carson had 35 
at-bats, registering eight hits, 
though only two were translated 
into runs. Close games early in the 
season didn’t allow freshmen like 
Carson to see much playing time, 
but recent offensive surges have 
allowed her more time on the field. 
In these games, the non-starters 
have shown their worth. 
Carson, 
who’s 
had 
more 
defensive opportunities than most 
freshmen on the team, has proven 
to be an asset to the Wolverines 
behind the plate, not committing a 
single error in her 22 appearances 
this season. 
“Hannah’s been behind the 
plate,” said Michigan coach Carol 
Hutchins. “She’s a fine catcher. She 
does a great job receiving, she’s got 
a gun for an arm and just learning 
to keep up with the intensity of 
this game — she’s done that when 
she’s had her opportunity. We can 
put her in at any time; we have 
confidence in her that way.” 
But on Wednesday, it was her 
time to prove herself offensively 
against the Rockets. 
The Wolverines were up 15-0 
by the time Carson picked up the 
bat. With the bases loaded and 
two outs, Michigan was looking 
to extend an already long inning. 
After a strike, a foul, and two 
balls, it looked like Carson’s at-bat 
would result in another walk, but 
that wasn’t in the cards. 
On the next pitch, Carson 
swung hard, sending a line drive 
over the right-field wall —the 
first home run of her collegiate 

career. The grand slam increased 
Michigan’s lead to 19. 
Because the ball was so low, 
Carson didn’t even know whether 
it went out of the field. 
The impressive feat by the 
freshman demonstrated just how 
impactful this class can be when 
given the chance. 
Every 
player 
except 
for 
sophomore 
Meghan 
Beaubien 
made 
an 
appearance 
before 
the game ended in the fifth 
inning. The non-starters didn’t 
disappoint, accounting for seven 
of the Wolverines’ 24 runs. 
Carson’s grand slam was followed 
by a home run from freshman 
infielder Gianna Carosone.
While Hutchins said she loved 
the home runs, these weren’t the 
highlights of the game in her eyes. 
 
“I was most excited that (the 
underclassmen) were able to 
get in and get some meaningful 
time — more than one at-bat and 
get on the defensive side of the 
ball,” Hutchins said. “They’re our 
future.”

Carson almost repeated this 
performance in the next inning 
when she fired a ball towards 
center field. Just shy of high 
enough, 
the 
ball 
ricocheted 
against the back wall where a 
Rockets outfielder failed to make 
the catch, resulting in a double. 
Carson’s hit brought two runners 
home, bringing her RBI total to six 
for the game. 
“I thought it was (going out) for 
a minute there,” Carson said. “But 
it was really exciting anyway.” 
In 
between 
these 
at-bats, 
Carson was substituted in for 
catcher Katie Alexander behind 
the plate, a role she will likely 
continue to occupy after the senior 
graduates. 
“She’s got all the skill sets that 
we need,” Hutchins said. “I think 
she’s got the ability to be a really 
great player here. She’s learning 
how to hit at this level, which is 
really learning how to manage the 
strike zone.
“The 
sky’s 
the 
limit 
for 
Hannah.”

Storako rebounds against Toledo

 Alex Storako took a deep 
breath, gripped the ball in her 
glove and began her windup. 
With a pair of runners aboard 
and two outs in the inning, the 
freshman right-hander’s pitch 
froze Toledo’s Brianna Robeson 
— Storako’s fourth strikeout of 
the inning.
The four-strikeout inning is 
a rarity. On Wednesday, Storako 
achieved the feat during the No. 
23 Michigan softball team’s 24-3 
victory over the Rockets (10-
19), an onslaught that marked 
the Wolverines’ (24-10) 12th 
consecutive win.
Storako’s own blunder made 
the 
four-strikeout 
oddity 
possible. In the first at-bat of the 
second inning, Toledo’s Kaitlyn 
Bergman uncorked a vicious 
swing on a ball well outside 
of the strike zone with two 
strikes in the count. Bergman 
whiffed on the wild pitch, but 
the ball bounced away from 
senior catcher Katie Alexander, 
allowing Bergman to reach base 

on the dropped third strike 
rule. Storako received credit for 
the strikeout, but no out was 
recorded.
After plunking the next batter 
with a fastball, Storako appeared 
to be on the verge of unraveling.
The 
last 
time 
Storako 
found herself in a situation 
involving two baserunners, she 
surrendered a three-run home 
run to Rutgers on Saturday. 
That wasn’t her only rough 
patch during the Wolverines’ 
series in Piscataway, as she 
failed to escape the first inning 
of the previous game. Following 
a double, walk and single by 
the Scarlet Knights to begin 
the 
game, 
Michigan 
coach 
Carol Hutchins called upon 
sophomore left-hander Meghan 
Beaubien to clean up Storako’s 
mess.
Storako recorded just one 
out in that start — the shortest 
outing of her young college 
career.
“I’d like to see Storako go to 
the next level,” Hutchins said 
after Saturday. “That’s keeping 
her composure and keeping her 
spin on pitches while she starts 
muscling it up and trying harder 
when the game gets intense. It’s 
time to grow. We learn and get 
better in moments and stress, so 
I’d like to see her get a little bit 
better.”
During Wednesday’s start, 
Storako showed flashes of next-
level dominance. She hurled 
three 
no-hit 
innings 
while 
posting seven strikeouts and 
zero walks on just 47 pitches. 
Storako’s pristine spin carried 
her throughout the afternoon 
until Hutchins substituted her 
out of the game along with the 
rest of the starting lineup.
“(Storako) finished strong,” 
Hutchins said. “We need her to 
keep getting better and learn 
how to be intense every pitch 
without trying too hard. She’s a 
spin, moving pitcher and those 
pitchers do, if anybody, have 
trouble with the command. 
That’s not unusual.”

By the time Storako’s day was 
done, the Wolverines’ 24-run 
lead meant the rest of the game 
was merely a formality.
For Storako, the three strong 
innings were a much-needed 
boost before Michigan’s Big Ten 
home stretch. The team’s final 17 
games are all against conference 
opponents, and having multiple 
reliable starting pitchers will 
be a key. Beaubien has already 
thrown over half of the team’s 
innings so far this season, so 
Storako’s steady progression is a 
major plus.
“It’s really awesome to see 
her in the mindset of attacking 
things,” 
said 
senior 
second 
baseman Faith Canfield. “Having 
to be behind Meghan (Beaubien) 
is a hard role, and I think she can 
get complacent there and I don’t 
think she has. Having this sense 
of being able to come out and 
attack it is really going to help 
her in the long run.”
Added 
freshman 
catcher 
Hannah Carson: “I know this 
whole week she’s been working 
on her pitches and she’s been 
pretty disciplined. So it was 
really nice to see her come 
out and power through those 
hitters.”
At 
this 
point, 
Storako’s 
numbers reflect a solid overall 
freshman 
campaign. 
After 
Wednesday’s dominant outing, 
her ERA is down to 2.11. She’s 
amassed 110 strikeouts across 
89.2 innings, and opponents 
have posted a batting average of 
just .176 against her.
Storako’s only shortcomings 
have come in the form of walks 
and long balls. So far, she’s 
served up 12 home runs and 
issued 34 walks. The rest of the 
staff has allowed a combined five 
homers and 26 walks.
If Storako can pound the strike 
zone and surrender fewer home 
runs, recording four strikeouts 
in an inning will be the least of 
her accomplishments.
“Four strikeouts?” Hutchins 
joked. “I’d just as soon have 
three and get off the field.”

Advanced metrics aid Wolverines

Erik Bakich has said in the past 
he believes his staff is leading the 
way on analytics. The defensive 
shift has taken over baseball, and 
Michigan is no stranger to using 
any advantage it can to make the 
difference.
“That’s a big picture over 
the long haul type of situation,” 
Bakich said. “So a few may have 
squeezed through and found a 
hole today, but over the course of 
the season by playing the non-pull 
side infielder more up the middle, 
we will actually take more hits 
away up the middle doing that.”
On 
Wednesday 
afternoon 
against Toledo, it seemed to hurt 
the Wolverines as senior infielder 
Blake Nelson saw several balls 
pass him after he shifted. In this 
case, the defensive shift didn’t 
pay off. But at the end of the day, 
it didn’t matter, as the Wolverines 
won, 8-2, and hope their shifts 
continue to pay dividends as the 
season progresses. And while it 
may seem strange to a casual fan 
that the defenders are leaving 
entire swaths of the field open, 
Bakich is firm in his belief that the 
method works.
“So, over the course of the 
season when the metrics are 
calculated and we look back at it, 
it’s going to be way more in the 

positives in our favor,” Bakich 
said. “Even those three or four 
balls that got through today — 
we’ve had so many outs up the 
middle just by having that non-
pull side infielder up there behind 
second base.
“You see more fly balls that 
are hit, just across the board, you 
see more fly balls that go to the 
opposite field than more ground 
balls that go to the pull side. So we 
defend that a lot.”
The shifts are based on if the 
batter 
is 
right 
or 
left-handed. 
If the batter is 
right-handed the 
defense will often 
shift to the third 
base 
side. 
The 
shortstop moves 
closer 
to 
third 
and the second 
baseman 
moves 
to 
replace 
the 
shortstop. 
The 
scheme is simply flipped for left-
handed hitters.
The defensive strategy seems 
to have paid off as Michigan’s 
team fielding percentage of .973 is 
second in the Big Ten only behind 
Illinois at .979. To come up with 
the defensive shifts, Bakich and 
his staff have to do more than just 
look at stats. The coaches have a 
substantial process to decide how 
to set up the defense.

The Wolverines utilize several 
companies for this. To look at 
their opponents hitting Michigan 
uses 6-4-3 Charts which gives the 
spray charts of their opponents. 
The Wolverines try to identify 
opponents’ tendencies on video 
using a company called Synergy.
“We watch all of our opponents 
each week,” Bakich said. “And 
then we know how our pitchers 
pitch and what our plan is against 
their hitters. And then we just 
try to put our guys where the 
opponents 
are 
gonna 
hit 
the 
ball.”
Michigan’s 
unique personnel 
allows 
it 
to 
be 
even 
more 
aggressive than 
most teams on 
defensive shifts. 
For 
opposing 
teams, the bold 
shifts add to the 
challenge of playing against such a 
tough defensive team in Michigan.
“There’s not as many ground 
balls hits that are hit the other 
way,” Bakich said. “Certainly not 
down the opposite field line on 
the ground. Which is why we have 
our corner guys so far off the lines 
most of the time. When you have 
an athlete like Jordan Brewer 
or Jimmy Kerr or whoever it is; 
you’re just shrinking the field.”

LANE KIZZIAH
Daily Sports Writer

DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer

KARTIK SUNDARAM/Daily
Freshman catcher Hannah Carson hit a grand slam against Toledo on Wednesday for the first home run of her career.

AVI RAJENDRA-NICOLUCCI
Daily Sports Writer

EVAN AARON/Daily
Senior infielder Blake Nelson saw multiple balls get by him after shifting against Toledo on Wednesday in an 8-2 win.

That’s a big 
picture over the 
long haul type 
of situation.

