The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
April 22, 2019 — 3B

McCallum wins national title as 
Michigan finishes in fourth place

Anthony 
McCallum 
stood 
at the end of the runway, 
visualizing himself sticking his 
Tsukahara double pike vault. 
Five seconds later, he landed it, 
for the final time in his Michigan 
men’s gymnastics career, with 
his feet glued to the floor.
All gymnasts strive for stuck 
landings, and this time, it won 
the senior his third national 
title on vault with a score of 
15.266 — just 0.434 below his 
maximum score. In a sport 
where even the smallest errors 
incur deductions, that’s about as 
good as it gets. 
“It doesn’t feel real yet,” 
McCallum said. “It just feels 
really good to end it the way I 
envisioned it to end. So many 
other things could’ve happened. 
It just feels good to make my 
legacy even better than it was 
before and finish off the way 
that I wanted to.”
After winning the title on 
vault both his freshman and 
sophomore 
years, 
McCallum 
missed the majority of the 2018 
season with an injury. That year, 
he scored just a 14.000 in the 
qualifying round at the NCAA 
Championships and failed to 
advance to the vault final. 
In 
Friday’s 
qualifying 
session, 
McCallum 
again 
marked a 14.000 after putting 
his hands down when landing, 
but he advanced to Saturday’s 
final because the Wolverines 
qualified as a team. Michigan 
ultimately finished fourth of six 
teams with a score of 406.354. 
“Yesterday, he had trouble 
with his vault,” said Michigan 
coach Kurt Golder on Saturday. 
“It’s just such a difficult vault, 
but for him to stick it today — 
you know, it’s the last vault he’ll 
ever do for Michigan and he 
sticks it and wins the national 
title. Doesn’t get much better 

than that.”
For the first time in his 
NCAA Championships career, 
McCallum competed alongside 
his teammates in the final 
round of competition. Until 
Friday, the Wolverines had not 
made it to the second day of the 
championships as a team since 
2015.
“It was really exciting being 
with 
the 
team,” 
McCallum 
said. “In the past, the other 
times that I’ve won, it was as 
an individual. I really was just 
thinking about the team and 
that ended up bringing out the 
best competition in myself.”
McCallum’s score propelled 
Michigan to a score of 73.264 
on the vault and made the 
Wolverines just the second team 
this season to score above 73.
But despite the high scores 
on vault, Michigan couldn’t 
overcome low scores on pommel 
horse and high bar.
“Anytime you can (make it 
to the Super Six), you’ve gotta 
be happy,” Golder said. “Just 
didn’t do quite what we were 
capable of, and of course that’s 
what you want in a national 
championship.”
While the Wolverines didn’t 
find much success as a team, 
three of McCallum’s teammates 
joined him as All-Americans 
after placing in the top eight on 

their respective events.
Fifth-year 
senior 
Marty 
Strech earned a seventh-place 
finish on the still rings for his 
routine that he capped with 
a stuck dismount. Michigan 
competed 
on 
rings 
in 
the 
second rotation on Saturday, 
and Strech’s score of 14.300 
remained in podium position 
throughout the competition.
“(Strech is) just so clean,” 
Golder said. “He doesn’t have a 
great start value. There’s a lot of 
guys with a higher start value, 
but he executes so well that it 
doesn’t surprise me at all. It’s 
nice to see in a big championship 
meet that he holds up pretty 
well.”
Sophomores 
Jacob 
Moore 
and Cameron Bock also earned 
All-American honors. Moore 
finished in third place on floor 
exercise and Bock placed fourth 
in the all-around.
Although Michigan earned 
high scores from gymnasts 
like McCallum and Moore, its 
overall struggles in the team 
competition left the Wolverines 
scoring more than two points 
below their season average.
But it was Michigan’s first trip 
to the Super Six since 2015, and 
for a program that’s won three 
national titles this decade, it was 
an important step toward being 
a national contender again.

Offense leads Wolverines to sweep

Any good team needs players 
to step up when others aren’t at 
their best. 
The No. 22 Michigan softball 
team (33-11 overall, 15-1 Big Ten) 
proved its mettle this weekend, 
coming out ahead in all three 
contests against Illinois (27-
17, 6-9) this weekend despite 
uncharacteristically 
poor 
pitching. 
The bats started slow in the 
series. Friday’s game was low-
scoring on both sides, ending 
with a final score of 2-1. The first 
of these runs came in the first 
inning when senior first baseman 
Alex Sobczak fired a ball deep into 
center field, driving in freshman 
outfielder Lexie Blair from first. 
Both 
Sobczak 
and 
Blair 
continued to be assets offensively 
as the weekend continued. They 
combined for nine hits over 
the course of the weekend and 
had back-to-back homers in the 
fourth inning of Sunday’s game. 
The energy picked up on 
Saturday, when the Wolverines 
edged out the Illini, 9-8. Two 
runs in the first inning got the 
ball rolling for Michigan, but it 
lost the momentum, failing to 
score another run until the fifth. 
By then, the Wolverines faced a 
four-run deficit. But they didn’t 
let it faze them. 
In the fifth inning, a single 
by 
Blair 
allowed 
sophomore 
shortstop Natalia Rodriguez to 
score, and from there, the runs 
kept coming. In the sixth inning, 
junior third baseman Madison 
Uden blasted a ball over the 
center field wall, further chipping 
away at Illinois’ lead. In the 
seventh inning, a double hit down 
the third base line by Canfield 
sent two runners home, putting 
Michigan one run ahead by the 
game’s close. 
“I think we’re just getting 
better and we’re just fighting,” 
said senior second baseman Faith 
Canfield. “They’re going to throw 
a punch, we’ve got to throw a 

punch back. This weekend, we 
trusted our ability to do that.” 
“Saturday, we saw that (Illinois 
pitcher) again and we made some 
adjustments,” 
said 
Michigan 
coach Carol Hutchins. “It made a 
difference. You have to do what it 
takes to win.”
By Sunday, the Wolverines’ 
offense virtually functioned as a 
carousel, sending runners around 
the bases one after the next in a 
game that ended in a 16-5 victory. 
Michigan took a commanding 
lead in the first inning with 
five runs, which included two 
of the day’s six home runs — 
by 
senior 
designated 
player 
Mackenzie Nemitz and junior 
outfielder 
Haley 
Hoogenraad. 
The Wolverines didn’t let up, 
amassing a total of 17 hits by the 
end of the contest. 
“Our offense throughout the 
weekend improved just within 
the three games,” Blair said. 
“That’s just from staying within 
ourselves, knowing we can pick 
each other up if someone can’t get 
the job done.” 
While the Wolverines’ hitting 
improved as the weekend wore 
on, the same couldn’t be said of 
their pitching. 
Friday, sophomore left-hander 
Meghan Beaubien gave up just 
three hits in seven innings, one 
of which translated into a run. 
Saturday’s game was a different 
story. She entered in relief in the 
sixth inning and gave up two 

runs before pitching a scoreless 
seventh. 
The pitching staff as a whole 
struggled in the second game. 
Hutchins pulled freshman right-
hander Alex Storako after she 
gave up three runs and loaded the 
bases in the bottom of the third 
inning. This has become standard 
practice for Storako, who has 
rarely gotten beyond the third 
or fourth inning without being 
substituted out. 
Unlike past games, Storako 
was switched back in less than 
an inning later after sophomore 
right-hander Schaefer gave up 
three more runs and loaded the 
bases in the fourth. This wouldn’t 
be 
Michigan’s 
last 
pitching 
change. Hutchins opted to swap 
Storako out again — this time for 
Beaubien. Despite her struggles 
in the sixth, Beaubien held off the 
Illini in the seventh, preserving 
the Wolverines’ narrow lead. 
The 
pitchers’ 
struggles 
followed them into Sunday’s 
game, in which Beaubien started 
in the circle. She gave up five runs 
before Storako came in for relief 
in the last inning. 
Luckily for the Wolverines, 
the offense’s production kept 
Michigan afloat. 
“Our offense had our pitchers’ 
backs,” Hutchins said. “Some 
days the hitters have to pick 
up the pitchers and some days 
the pitchers have to pick up the 
hitters.”

From sprinter to marathon runner, Jeff Criswell grows into starting role

It’s a completely different 
ballgame. 
That’s what Michigan coach 
Erik Bakich will say, what 
pitching coach Chris Fetter 
will say, what sophomore right-
hander Jeff Criswell will say 
about transitioning from the 
bullpen to a starting role. 
“It’s going from the mindset 
of being a sprinter to a marathon 
runner,” Bakich said. “It’s a 
totally different way of training, 
a totally different mindset. You 
go from an adrenaline junkie 
who’s gonna go blow it out for 
one inning to a guy who still 
needs 
to 
have 
his best stuff and 
pitch with his 
best intent, but 
who has to do it 
over six or seven 
innings 
every 
time he goes out 
there.”
That’s 
the 
challenge 
that 
Criswell 
has 
faced this season. 
With 
sophomore 
left-hander 
Ben Dragani injured, Criswell 
was next up to fill the No. 3 
spot in the Wolverines’ rotation 
behind 
junior 
left-hander 
Tommy Henry and junior right-
hander Karl Kauffman. His solid 
performance out of the bullpen 
last year — a 2.23 earned run 
average and 32 strikeouts over 
32.1 innings pitched — made 
him the natural choice.
He hadn’t been a starter since 
high school, though. Criswell 
pitched in relief all of his 
freshman year, and all of last 
summer. He only threw more 
than two innings once in his 24 
outings and 32.1 total innings 
last year.
But over his nine starts this 
season, Criswell has virtually 
erased all of those concerns. He 
hasn’t allowed an earned run in 
almost a month, since his March 
23 start against No. 16 Texas 
Tech. He struck out 12 batters 
in Dodger Stadium against a 
formidable 
Oklahoma 
State 
squad on the tail end of a long 
and difficult California swing. 

So far, he’s given up just five 
extra-base hits on the season 
over 45.2 innings of work.
His pitches — what Fetter 
called a “major-league” fastball, 
and a changeup and slider that 
are already strong — are looking 
better than ever. And with the 
work Criswell and Fetter have 
been putting in, they’re just 
continuing to get stronger. 
“On any one day, you’ll see 
three pitches from Jeff that 
could be at the highest level,” 
Fetter said.
Criswell has gone at least 
five innings in all but two of his 
starts. The two exceptions: 4.2 
innings against the Red Raiders 
— easily among the toughest 
competition 
Michigan 
has 
faced 
this 
season 
— 
and 
two innings in a 
midweek 
game 
against Toledo. 
As 
the 
season has gone 
on, 
Criswell 
has 
grown 
increasingly 
comfortable 
going later into games. Over 
his first four starts, he only 
went six innings once. In the 
five starts since, he’s made it 
almost seven full innings twice. 
Now, Criswell and Fetter are 
looking to bring that to eight 
and eventually maybe even nine. 
The 
Sunday 
after 
that 
Wednesday start against the 
Rockets, 
Criswell 
went 
6.2 
innings against a Minnesota 
team 
that 
is 
among 
the 
Wolverines’ biggest competition 
in the Big Ten. With the series 
tied at the game apiece, the 
Wolverines needed a win to 
take the home series and keep 
up their momentum in one of 
the toughest stretches of their 
schedule. Criswell held the 
Golden Gophers to three hits 
and no runs while striking out 
eight — on three days’ rest. 
A week later, he took the 
mound at Ohio State as the 
Wolverines tried to stave off 
a sweep by their archrivals. 
Again, 
Criswell 
went 
6.2 
innings, striking out four and 
not allowing a single extra-base 

hit as Michigan went on to win, 
6-2, in what Fetter called his 
best outing of the season.
“With Minnesota and Ohio 
State, you can see his growth; 
you can see his improvement,” 
Bakich said. “It’s been very 
impressive, and 
we’ve certainly 
needed 
it. 
Having a guy 
like 
Jeff 
on 
Sunday gives us 
a great chance 
to win or sweep 
every 
series 
that we play.”
But 
transitioning 
from a one-or-
two-inning reliever to a six-or-
seven-inning 
starter 
doesn’t 
happen overnight, even for a 
player with starting experience. 
Criswell and Fetter have been 
working 
on 
extending 
the 
pitcher’s outings — and keeping 
his pitches up over longer 
stretches — since August.
They’ve 
smoothed 
out 

Criswell’s delivery, streamlined 
his motion, and put an emphasis 
on delivering power from the 
legs — changes targeted at 
delivering the same pitches but 
using less energy. 
“Because he’s using his legs 
more, and because 
he’s more efficient 
in what he’s doing 
delivery-wise, 
he’s able to go 
much deeper in 
the game,” Fetter 
said. “He’s still 
showing the same 
stuff he had last 
year in one-inning 
stints, 
but 
he’s 
able to maintain 
that now for six, seven innings.”
The 
bigger 
challenge 
for 
Criswell has been adopting the 
mindset of a starter. After a year 
in a closing role, the adjustment 
back to longer outings was 
tough, not just physically, but 
mentally.
“The biggest thing with Jeff 
was trying to convince him, 

‘Hey, you’re still a closer in your 
mentality. We’re just gonna 
close out the first inning, and 
then the second inning, close 
out the third inning, and keep 
that up and not look at the 
long picture about trying to go 
deep into a game and conserve 
energy,’” Fetter said. “You’re 
still using the same amount 
of energy, the same amount of 
force. You’re just trying to close 
out each inning now instead of 
just one.”
Henry and Kauffmann, both 
of whom started last year as 
well, have also helped Criswell 
make the transition. A converted 
closer, 
Criswell’s 
adjustment 
centered around mentality more 
than anything else.
“It 
was 
definitely 
very 
different for me, but Coach 
Fetter, Tommy Henry and Karl 
Kauffmann have all been huge 
in helping me along,” Criswell 
said. “Karl and Tommy both 
have a couple more years of 
experience than I do in the 
starting role, and those guys 

have been absolutely great to 
me. With their help, and the 
work I’ve done with Coach 
Fetter, it’s just been really good 
for me.”
As the Wolverines head into 
the final stretch of their season, 
having Criswell dominate like 
this in that Sunday-starter role 
is more important than ever. 
The Big Ten race is tightening 
up, with Nebraska, Indiana and 
Iowa all looking like strong 
contenders. 
But if Criswell can keep 
up this improvement — and 
Bakich and Fetter have both 
expressed 
every 
confidence 
that he can — the Wolverines 
have the potential to be serious 
competitors for the conference 
title too, and maybe even a 
postseason run.
“I’m ready to go,” Criswell 
said. “We’re excited to continue 
into Big Ten play, and we know 
that we’ve got some work to do, 
but we’re going to be ready for 
the next couple weeks to come. 
I’m excited.”

ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer

KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Sophomore right-hander Jeff Criswell transitioned from the bullpen to the starting rotation this season, spurred by help from pitching coach Chris Fetter.

You’re just 
trying to close 
out each inning 
now.

... you can see 
his growth and 
you can see his 
improvement.

BAILEY JOHNSON
Daily Sports Writer

MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily
Senior Anthony McCallum won the national title on vault, scoring 15.266.

LANE KIZZIAH
Daily Sports Writer

ALEC COHEN/Daily
Senior second baseman Faith Canfield had a two-run double on Saturday.

