PLANET IN PERIL 

Averting Climate Catastrophe 
Through Law and Social Change

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND 
POLICY PROGRAM CONFERENCE

 For a complete conference schedule, visit 
law.umich.edu/elpp

Co-Sponsored by the Environmental Law Society and the 
Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law

April 11-12, 2019 

Jeffries Hall 1225 
University of Michigan Law School

The stadium was silent.
There were three balls, two 
strikes and two outs in the bottom 
of the seventh. Indiana clung to a 
narrow 6-5 lead.
Senior 
designated 
player 
Mackenzie Nemitz stood at the 
plate, one pitch away from a 
comeback win or a letdown loss to 
end a long series against Indiana.
One crack of a bat and the game 
ended. Wrapping up the weekend 
sweep over a strong Hoosiers 
team, the senior swatted a double 
into right field, and the stadium 
erupted.
“We had to get it done,” 
said senior first baseman Alex 
Sobczak. “There’s nothing else to 
it. The scoreboard read that they 
were two ahead and we had to get 
it done to get people around.”
Going into the bottom of the 
seventh inning, Michigan had 
trailed for the first time in 14 
games since starting the home 
season at Alumni Field. The 
Wolverines faced a two-run deficit 
with three outs to solve it. And the 
senior class lead the charge.
Down by two runs with an 
early out on sophomore Natalia 
Rodriguez’s popup to center field, 
senior second baseman Faith 
Canfield entered the batter’s box. 
In her three previous at-bats 
Sunday against No. 3 right-hander 
Emily Goodin, Canfield didn’t 
tally a hit.
But she needed one in the 
seventh inning, and she got it. 
On the second pitch of the at-bat, 
Canfield hit a home run to center 
field that shrunk the gap to one run. 
Now down 7-6, senior outfielder 
Natalie Peters hit a double to keep 
the Wolverines’ hopes alive before 
Goodin 
intentionally 
walked 
Sobczak, who had hit a home run 
against the pitcher earlier in the 
contest.

And then Nemitz stepped up.
She hadn’t reached base since 
her first-inning triple off a fielding 
error. She hadn’t hit her best all 
weekend, doing little to maintain 
her designated player spot. But 
Nemitz knew she needed to 
produce.
“I was shaking so hard, but I 
was honestly so in the zone that I 
didn’t even know how many runs 
we needed,” Nemtiz said. “It was 
mostly about keeping my mind 
clear. Nothing was really going 
on besides, ‘You’re going to get it 
done.’ ”
Five pitches later, she did just 
that. All eyes turned to Nemitz as 
she lifted her bat, pulled it back and 
watched the pitch sail. And then 
she knocked it. The anticipatory 
stadium shifted to jubilation. 
Peters 
and 
Sobczak 
sprinted 
forward, and the disappointment 
of Michigan’s looming loss was 

replaced with elation.
“I got to second and was sitting 
on the base like ‘Okay I’m not 
getting out’ and then I see Alex hit 
home plate and I looked up and we 
won,” Nemitz said. “From behind, 
you’ve got to just get it done.”
Nemitz’s cap to the senior-led 
comeback inning signified their 
role all season leading the team 
offensively.
“This game is the best game I’ve 
ever been a part of,” Sobczak said. 
“After I hit home, there’s no better 
feeling. It’s such a high.”
It was quite an inning and an 
even better way for the seniors 
to end the tumultuous game 
collectively.
“It’s just awesome to see all of 
the hard work pay off in one little 
inning,” Nemitz said. “That was 
just a team win. Alex came to me 
and hugged me and I was just like 
‘I did that for you.’ ”

With a rejuvenated offense, Michigan continues to dominate Big Ten play, extending its win streak to 15 games
Softball Surge

LILY FRIEDMAN
Daily Sports Writer

Up 4-2 in the third inning of 
Sunday’s slate against Indiana, 
the Michigan softball team 
entered a lull. Sophomore left-
hander Meghan Beaubien took 
over for freshman right-hander 
Alex Storako in the circle, and 
the Hoosiers started to score. 
With two consecutive batters 
reaching base for Indiana, a 
player hit by a pitch and a walk, 
the Wolverines scrambled.
The result wasn’t pretty.
A triple sank Michigan into a 
deficit, one that was worsened 
by 
freshman 
Lexie 
Blair’s 
fielding error in right field. 
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins 
had one main piece of advice for 
Beaubien.
“(Beaubien) didn’t have good 
energy,” Hutchins said. “I said, 

‘Our team is feeding off you 
right now,’ and it’s our team’s 
job to pick her up, but she also 
just needed to have better 
energy.”
With a tough first two games 
against 
Indiana 
on 
Friday 
and 
Saturday, 
Beaubien 
had 
already pitched 
10 
innings 
heading into the 
Sunday 
series 
finale. 
But 
more 
so 
than 
the fatigue, her 
attitude in the 
circle 
guided 
her play — and 
subsequently 
her team’s.
“She’s 
fit 
and 
she 
has 
the 
ability,” 
Hutchins 
said 
Saturday. “I didn’t think she 
was throwing nearly like she 
did yesterday and I don’t think 
it’s a fatigue thing. I think it’s a 
mindset.”
Beaubien 
finished 
the 
inning — and threw three more 
scoreless ones after — but that 
fourth inning meant more than 
a slip-up.
Sunday’s game wasn’t the 
first when the Wolverines let a 
few bad plays spiral and affect 
the entire team’s attitude for 
innings. 
They’ve 
said 
that 
repeatedly, and they’re not 
wrong. The team attitude can 
trigger energy slips that cause 
poor innings. But that’s sports.
Just as momentum can affect 
a team negatively, it can also 
help break a string of bad plays 
and facilitate a last-minute 
comeback.
And Sunday, it did just that 
for Michigan.
Down 
6-5 
after 
her 
teammates’ timely hits earlier 
in the inning, senior designated 
player 
Mackenzie 
Nemitz 
walked out of the dugout with 

her teammates cheering at her 
back. Five pitches later, she 
smashed a walk-off double 
into center field and ended the 
series on a high.
Something 
changed 
from 
the fourth inning to Nemitz’s 
at-bat, 
and 
it 
wasn’t 
talent 
coming from the 
dugout.
“We were all 
one heartbeat,” 
Hutchins 
said. 
“Every kid in 
that dugout was 
on 
point 
and 
that’s how you 
win big, because 
you’re 
playing 
for a lot more than just today.”
Added senior first baseman 
Alex Sobczak: “I went in to 
those pitches and was on the 
line and ready for her to make 
a mistake …There’s no better 
feeling.”
So 
what 
changed 
for 
Michigan?
Nemitz 
attributed 
her 
success to a heightened sense 
of focus. Hutchins has pointed 
in the past to momentum and 
following up on teammates’ 
success. Sobczak said sheer 
discipline makes mental acuity 
a necessity in situations like 
that.
Regardless 
of 
why 
the 
Wolverines could shift their 
mentality, Michigan made the 
adjustment, and going into 
conference road games and a 
series against Ohio State, the 
Wolverines may need to flip the 
switch again.
“We really needed to keep 
ourselves in the game, and 
(Beaubien) found a way to 
do it,” Hutchins said. “Every 
inning, we can win these 
games. I really credit the kids 
in the dugout for keeping the 
energy up.”

LILY FRIEDMAN
Daily Sports Writer

Players, coaches adjusting to 
Josh Gattis’ new style of offense

In his meetings with the 
offense, Josh Gattis preaches 
a simple strategy: Just play 
football.
“Basic things you would 
wanna 
do,” 
said 
junior 
Ben Mason. “Make a block 
downfield that could open up 
a touchdown or lower your 
shoulder to get that extra yard. 
Knowing the situation. Just 
different things like that, he’s 
really made that come to life in 
our offense.”
Much has been made of the 
new style Gattis is bringing 
to the Michigan football team 
— from the trendy hashtag 
“#SpeedinSpace” to talks of a 
no-huddle offense. But those 
pieces aren’t going to fall 
into place immediately, and 
one of the main emphases in 
spring ball has been getting 
the players up to speed on the 
new system. That includes not 
just the spread concepts Gattis, 
the 
newly-minted 
offensive 
coordinator, 
has 
promised, 
but smaller things like making 
basic 
plays 
and 
developing 
instincts.
And 
while 
most 
of 
the 
emphasis has been on how 
the new style impacts the 
quarterbacks 
and 
receivers 
— who, by all indications, 
will 
become 
much 
more 
involved under Gattis — it’s 
an adjustment for everyone on 
offense.
Without huddles, it’s up to 
the players to know concepts 
like the back of their hands and 
to have a greater awareness of 
everyone on the field and their 
jobs.
“We’re 
looking 
to 
the 
sidelines trying to figure out 
what we’ve got,” said senior 
running back Tru Wilson. “It’s 
a lot of memorization. … You’ve 
gotta know the pass concepts. 
Now we don’t have tags telling 
us what we’ve gotta do. We 
gotta know what the receivers 
are doing and where we fit in, 

what our depth is. We’ve also 
gotta know our protection so 
we also gotta know what our 
linemen are doing, our footwork 
and everything — everything 
was so crucial.”
Pieces of Gattis’ system are 
things the Wolverines have 
done before, but as the spring 
season has progressed, they’ve 
gotten further along in knowing 
not just what his concepts are, 
but the way he thinks and the 
way he attacks.
Now, everyone has more to 
do and more to learn. According 
to running backs coach Jay 
Harbaugh, guys who used to be 
buried on the depth chart have 
been able to learn quicker than 
they did in the old West Coast 
offense run by Michigan coach 
Jim 
Harbaugh 
and 
former 
passing 
game 
coordinator 
Pep Hamilton — and have put 
themselves in a better position 
because of it.
But for players entrenched in 
that old system, it’s adapt or get 
left behind. There’s a lot that’s 
new, but this isn’t a team to shy 
away from a challenge.
“I knew it was coming and I 
was excited for it,” Wilson said. 
“And I think everybody has that 
same mindset, willing to learn, 

open-mindedness 
and 
we’re 
seeing it come to fruition on the 
field with the offense working 
against the defense, and it’s 
really exciting to see.”
On the field, anyone thinking 
the offense will have a complete 
upheaval will be disappointed. 
Jay Harbaugh noted that the 
Wolverines are still a run-
first team and that the actual 
runs they’re doing aren’t much 
different 
from 
before. 
But 
there, too, Gattis has presented 
things Michigan was doing 
before, plus more. There’s a 
new emphasis on getting the 
running backs involved in the 
passing game with screens and 
playing at a quicker tempo.
For 
the 
offensive 
line, 
meanwhile, 
things 
haven’t 
been much different — at 
least not according to senior 
guard Michael Onwenu, who 
maintained that his role was 
still, “Blocking the, whatever 
pass or play, or whatever.”
But he, too, recognizes that 
things are different with the 
Wolverines now, and he, too, 
has embraced it.
“It’s 
cool 
and 
whatnot,” 
Onwenu 
said. 
“Change 
is 
inevitable, 
so 
you’re 
comfortable with anything.”

ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Writer

Wolverines take first loss of season

In a battle of the Big Ten’s 
two undefeated titans, one 
team was bound to leave 
College Park with its first 
loss of the season on Saturday 
night.
When the No. 7 Michigan 
women’s lacrosse team (3-1 Big 
Ten, 13-0 overall) left town, 
Maryland stood alone atop the 
conference. The Wolverines 
fell 14-3 to the second-ranked 
Terrapins (4-0, 14-0), dropping 
their first game of the season 
and 
snapping 
a 
15-game 
winning streak dating back to 
last year’s campaign. 
Sophomore 
midfielder 
Maggie Kane rifled a shot from 
the left side of the net to give 
the Wolverines a 1-0 lead 33 
seconds in, and for 10 minutes 
it 
appeared 
that 
Hannah 

Nielsen’s squad was on its way 
to a potential upset, routinely 
disrupting 
Maryland’s 
offensive rhythm early while 
senior goalie Mira Shane made 
a series of saves up close.
Just 
five 
minutes 
later, 
though, Michigan found itself 
in a 3-1 hole after the Terrapins 
tacked 
on 
three 
goals 
in 
five minutes. After a media 
timeout, 
the 
scoring 
blitz 
only continued, as Maryland 
found the back of the net five 
more times in the next two 
minutes and thirty seconds, 
dashing the Wolverines’ hopes 
of continuing their 13-game 
winning streak.
“We were starved of the 
ball a bit,” Nielsen said. “(We) 
couldn’t win too many draw 
controls 
tonight. 
We 
were 
playing a little bit sensitive and 
playing on our heels a little 
bit.”

The 
Terrapins’ 
scoring 
run was keyed by Michigan 
penalties. 
With 
the 
game 
still in reach, the Wolverines 
committed 
two 
fouls 
and 
picked up a yellow card to give 
Maryland three free position 
opportunities. 
While 
the 
Terrapins only converted one 
of these chances, they retained 
possession in their zone and 
convert twice on easy scoring 
tries en route to an 8-1 halftime 
edge.
The 
Michigan 
offense 
also struggled to take care of 
the ball, failing to get a shot 
attempt for over five minutes 
during 
Maryland’s 
lengthy 
scoring run. As the game wore 
on, it began to appear as if the 
Wolverines were not prepared 
for 
its 
road 
tilt 
against 
one of the nation’s biggest 
powerhouses. While they have 
answered many challenges on 
its way to a 13-0 start, this one 
proved too daunting.
“(Maryland is) a very skilled 
team top to bottom, and we 
knew we had to come in here 
and play our very best to beat 
them,” Nielsen said. “The effort 
was there and we fought hard 
till the end but we didn’t make 
the most of our opportunities.”
In the second half, the 
Wolverines 
played 
with 
a 
different type of fire, gaining 
more offensive opportunities. 
Molly 
Garrett 
answered 
a 
Maryland snipe with a goal of 
her own to cut the lead to 9-2, 
but that would be as close as 
Michigan would get for the rest 
of the contest. It had two free 
position chances early in the 
second half, but were unable 
to convert and chip away at the 
Terrapins’ lead.
“We needed to bury them,” 
Nielsen said, “but we’ll go 
back to work, get a little better 
on them, and hopefully we’ll 
improve for our next game.”
While Nadine Stewart netted 
a goal to cut the score to 12-3, 
it proved to be too little too 
late, as Maryland coasted until 
the final whistle with a 14-3 
victory and sole possession of 
the Big Ten’s top spot.

TEDDY GUTKIN
Daily Sports Writer

EVAN AARON/Daily
Junior running back Tru Wilson currently sits atop the depth chart.

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Senior first baseman Alex Sobczak hit a home run in Sunday’s win over Indiana, continuing a resurgent season.

WOMEN’S LACROSSE

I went in to 
those pitches... 
ready for her to 
make a mistake.

8 — Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

