The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Tuesday March 10, 2020 — 7
Adversity shaping postseason for ‘M’
Juwan Howard’s first regular
season as the Michigan men’s
basketball coach featured no
shortage of adversity.
Bad news began trickling in
before the Wolverines even took
the court for the first time in
November. Less than two weeks
before the season tipped off,
freshman wing Franz Wagner
fractured his wrist in practice.
The injury didn’t require
surgery, but it forced him to
miss
Michigan’s
first
four
games. Even when he joined the
lineup, the lingering effects on
his shooting wrist were evident
in
his
29-percent
3-point
shooting clip through mid-
February.
The
recovery
period
was
particularly
difficult
for
Wagner,
who
was
simultaneously trying to adapt
to the American college level
after spending last season with
German club Alba Berlin.
“The injury in October set
him back with his stroke,”
associate
head
coach
Phil
Martelli said on Feb. 22. “I
think he’s a purer shooter than
we’re seeing.”
Since then, Wagner has found
his jump shot. He’s shooting
42 percent from beyond the
arc over the Wolverines’ last
five games — a mark that has
allowed him to become the
team’s leading scorer over the
same stretch.
But as Michigan worked
through
the
adversity
of
Wagner’s
injury,
a
second
starter
went
down.
Junior
forward Isaiah Livers missed
six
games
after
landing
awkwardly following a dunk
attempt against Presbyterian on
Dec. 21, and when he returned
a month later, he reaggravated
his groin on a near-identical
play. His absence stretched
over the Wolverines’ next three
games before an ankle injury
forced him to sit out a fourth.
Michigan has lost six of
10 games against conference
opponents without a healthy
Livers.
“At
some
point,
every
team is going to go through
(adversity),”
Howard
said
Sunday. “It happened to us. I
think we’ve learned a lot, and
I think we’ve gotten better
through the adversity. We’re
going to forge ahead. … (I’m)
praying to the basketball gods
that we’ll continue to have good
health.”
Adversity has taken forms
besides injury, particularly at
inopportune moments. Howard
handed
senior
point
guard
Zavier Simpson a one-game
suspension in January following
a 3 a.m. traffic incident on
Jan. 26. In late December, an
illness held sophomore forward
Brandon Johns Jr. out of a non-
conference tune-up.
Most recently, junior guard
Eli Brooks’s broken nose kept
him out of last week’s loss
to Wisconsin. Without their
ace perimeter defender, the
Wolverines
surrendered
a
season-worst
11
3-pointers.
Before returning three days
later, he had to overcome a sinus
infection he claimed was even
more painful than the fractured
nose itself.
The only starter to suit up
for every game of the regular
season was senior center Jon
Teske. The sum of the adversity
was a 10-10 Big Ten record
and a bottom-half finish in the
conference standings.
“Most definitely not what
we wanted,” sophomore guard
David DeJulius said Sunday.
“And I think that goes back
to the history of Michigan
basketball, especially with the
last few years, just with how
much success they’ve had. We
just talked about how even the
(2018) national championship
team that won the Big Ten
Tournament, they didn’t win
the regular season, so now
everyone’s zero-and-zero.
“We just gotta come out there
with a new-season mindset.”
With the regular season
now in the books, Michigan’s
postseason mindset is bolstered
by the experience of regular-
season adversity. It knows what
it’s like to play short-handed
and lose, and it knows what it’s
like to win with everyone in the
fold.
The Wolverines grew from
the adversity, learning about
themselves in moments that
otherwise
would’ve
never
presented
themselves.
Even
through a miserable January
that saw Michigan drop five
consecutive games for the first
time since 2015, young players
such as Johns and DeJulius
proved themselves as viable
rotational pieces.
And in the postseason, the
silver lining of regular-season
roadblocks could make all the
difference.
Rauch’s dedication leads to recovery
Two-and-a-half
weeks
ago,
Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico
laughed as she held out her hand,
pretending it was in an icebox. She
was acting out sophomore guard
Danielle Rauch’s squats as she
tried to prevent her left hand from
sweating while staying in shape.
Rauch broke her hand a day
before Michigan’s Feb. 6 matchup
against Purdue and missed the
game because of her surgery that
day.
Bones take six to eight weeks to
heal.
Last
Thursday
against
Nebraska, Rauch returned after
just four.
“She says she has a plan, we’ll
see,” Barnes Arico said after a Feb.
19 victory over Illinois. “I don’t
know, I’m not getting excited about
it.”
There wasn’t a lot to be excited
about. It was the second injury in as
many weeks after senior forward
Kayla Robbins tore her ACL, and
Rauch couldn’t do any hard labor
for two weeks. But as one of the
emotional leaders on the team, she
was immediately determined to get
back in the game.
“When I got my stitches out,
I went right into conditioning,”
Rauch said. “I had a strength
and conditioning plan with our
strength coach. Every single day
we had something, whether that’s
on-court sprints, on the treadmill,
in the weight room, just doing
everything I can to keep my wind
up.”
Her hard work kept her fit,
but then came her shooting and
handling.
As the backup point guard,
she’s crucial to giving sophomore
guard Amy Dilk rest, and her
return would mean Dilk didn’t
have to play 38 minutes every game
anymore — if she could keep up her
handles.
“I just kind of worked on it every
day,” Rauch said. “Kept working
on it, worked on it until I felt
comfortable enough and was able
to practice this week.”
Against Nebraska last Thursday,
Rauch debuted her new look: Black
tape around the middle of her hand,
snaking up to wrap her middle two
fingers. She was warming up, four
weeks after breaking her hand and
requiring surgery.
After spending four weeks
sitting toward the end of the bench,
when it came time to find her
spot she looked to sit closer to the
coaches, eager to tell them she was
ready to play. Except that chair was
now sophomore forward Emily
Kiser’s. An awkward half second
where both looked at the chair
later, Rauch moved to the end of
the bench.
She only sat for nine minutes
before entering the game.
Rauch played 22 minutes in the
Big Ten Tournament, the seventh-
most on the team. She wasn’t the
biggest contributor on the court,
but her contributions have always
been as an emotional voice and
leader more than anything else.
She scored just two points
all weekend. They came from a
jumper at the corner of the key on
Saturday, when Ohio State left her
unmanned, not respecting her shot.
She stopped her movement across
the court, as if suddenly becoming
aware of her space, and pulled up.
The two points tied the game at 47
early in the fourth quarter, capping
off a massive comeback before the
Buckeyes pulled back away.
“She was a kid that was playing
30 minutes before she hurt that
hand, and now she’s trying to
just get back in to give us a couple
minutes here and there to maybe
give Amy a break,” Barnes Arico
said. “I don’t think she’s 100
percent.”
There are two weeks before
Michigan plays its next game. By
then, Rauch’s new look might be a
bare hand.
Errors plague Wolverines in LA
In a weekend with little
offensive
production,
the
Michigan softball team looked
toward its defense to hold
games together, and scrape by
with wins. For Michigan coach
Carol Hutchins, it didn’t do the
job.
“Defense
is
led
by
the
pitching,”
Hutchins
said.
“When the pitchers are on, it
makes our defense a lot easier.
But I think in general we had
opportunities a lot of times for
outs that we didn’t make. Very
passive and very tentative. Very
unsure on the field.”
“I think our pitchers have
set a really good tone. But our
defense and offense need to pick
up on it. Trust the pitchers, but
have a little trust in themselves.
I don’t think our defense was
as good as it has been, but it’s
definitely holding its own.”
The errors only compounded
on the struggle the Wolverines
faced
at
the
UCLA/LBSU
Invitational. Going 2-2 on the
weekend, in what should’ve
been
a
more
successful
weekend,
the
errors
only
added to the long list of things
Michigan needs to work on.
For
senior
center
fielder
Haley Hoogenraad, the defense
seemed fine.
“I
think,
personally,
defense can win you games,”
Hoogenraad said. “So, honestly,
we are a pretty solid defensive
team. There haven’t been a
lot of times where we just fall
apart in the field. We usually
make good throws and good
plays. So I think it’s important
for us to keep up that consistent
defensive play, but I also think
we do a really nice job of it.”
The
discrepancy
between
the two, coach and player, is
bound to happen. Hutchins
admitted she had spent four
hours watching film before
calling for her phone interview.
It’s a different perspective, a
different angle.
But in a weekend series
that showcased the gaps in
the Wolverines’ offense, the
discrepancy
between
player
and
coach
highlighted
the
importance of strong Michigan
defense,
something
lacking
over the weekend.
As Hutchins said, defense
starts
with
pitching.
And
starting
against
Boston
University and closing against
UCLA and Central Flordia,
right
hander
Alex
Storako
played her typical, consistent
game — with the exception of
two errors.
The first came on Friday,
against
Boston
University,
when, in the top of the first, a
ball was hit back to Storako.
Bobbling it, she tried to flip it
to first base, but missed and
allowed the batter on base.
It ended up being a minor
error as both of the subsequent
batters struck-out, but an error
nonetheless.
Storako’s
second
error
proved
to
be
much
more
damaging for the Wolverines, as
it ended Friday’s game against
UCF,
3-2,
in
extra innings.
It
followed
an error from
sophomore
catcher
Hannah
Carson
when
she overthrew
second
base,
allowing
a
stealing
runner to take
third.
The next batter up, Storako
let go of a wild pitch, which
forced Carson out of position
to try and block, and provided
UCF with a chance to score,
which they took.
Storako had just six wild
pitches in her 20 games last
season. Yet, in the 17 games
she’s played this season, she’s
already racked up 11. But with
her increased presence in the
lineup comes the responsibility
of making plays when it matters.
Carson
also
contributed
another error, against UCLA
when she overthrew junior
first baseman, Lou Allan, on
a dropped third strike. Again,
her error didn’t have a major
impact on the score of the game
— the runner was tagged out in
a rundown — but, like Storako,
her increased role also demands
an increased responsibility.
Freshman
shortstop
Julia
Jimenez added another error
on the weekend for a team total
of five. Receiving a throw-down
from Carson, and trying to tag a
stealing runner out, Jimenez let
the ball slip past her, allowing
the runner to steal third.
All that said, errors are going
to take place. It’s more about
how Michigan responds to
them than what the effect is in
the moment they’re made. For
the Wolverines’ benefit, their
defense needs to remain strong
because of their struggling
offense.
Without
a
strong
defense, they will struggle on
both sides of the plate. This
could allow for more runs from
other teams, something the
Michigan pitchers work hard to
contain.
Michigan needs to be able
to find solace in
its ability to rally
on the defensive
end even when
the
offense
isn’t
producing.
Keeping
a
positive mindset,
and sticking to
the
one-pitch
focus — both in
the batter’s box
and on the field —
is something the Wolverines are
striving to do.
“Our biggest thing is, if you
have a bad at-bat, it’s easy to just
go internal with yourself and
just kind of put yourself down
and be distracted with that
rather than be present in the
moment, especially on the field,”
Blair said. “Which, I think our
defense has done really well
with not letting the negatives
in the game carry over. We
just want to be present for our
pitchers. Present for ourselves,
for our team. And there’s always
room for improvement and
there are always opportunities
in the game that we can take
advantage of next time if we
didn’t do it the first time.”
Michigan drops series to Pepperdine
Michigan’s
high
powered
schedule took them to the West
Coast yet again this weekend. But
the California sunshine was the
only consistent part of the trip for
the Wolverines.
Spotty offensive play plagued
the No. 16 Michigan baseball team
(8-7) as it fell to No. 24 Pepperdine
(12-3) 2-1 in its weekend series.
The Waves won the opening game
14-2 and split the doubleheader
on Saturday, with the Wolverines
winning the first game 7-4 before
dropping the final game, 6-1.
In the first game of the series, a
slow start doomed the Wolverines
from the onset, leading to a 12-2
loss.
“We came up flat, didn’t have
a lot of intensity,” freshman
third baseman Ted Burton said.
“They took advantage of us when
we were down. We’ll be better
intensity wise and playing-wise.”
The Waves have the highest
batting average of Michigan’s
opponents thus far and their
heavy bats manifested themselves
quickly. After going down in order
in the top of the first, junior right-
hander Jeff Criswell got behind in
the strike count in several at-bats.
Ultimately, in the first inning
alone he allowed three hits and
three runs.
“Whether it was finishing
a hitter off with two strikes or
putting the final out in the inning
with two outs (we were unable to
get out of the inning),” Michigan
coach Erik Bakich said.
Criswell started to settle down
and finished the day throwing five
innings with seven strikeouts and
not allowing another run past the
first inning.
The lone highlight of the
opening
game
was
junior
shortstop
Jack
Blomgren’s
production at the plate. Blomgren
went 2-for-4 with two runs and
an RBI, including a solo home run.
His offensive production allowed
Michigan to chip away at the
deficit.
But, the Wolverines left runners
in scoring position multiple times.
Blomgren’s home run may have
cut the deficit to one run, but
because Michigan left runners
stranded earlier, it ultimately did
not affect the outcome.
“We knew that their starting
pitching is very good,” Bakich
said. “We knew they are an older
team. It’s a great offense that’s just
got a lot of power. We knew we
had to play well. Unfortunately,
they capitalized on all of our
mistakes.”
To begin the day Saturday,
the
Wolverines
looked
like
a
completely
different
team.
Redshirt freshman left-hander
Steven Hajjar threw a career-
high six innings and struck
out a career-high 10 batters.
Solidifying himself as the second
pitcher in the rotation, he found
success in his fastball and his off-
speed pitches, his curveball and
changeup, to keep Pepperdine
batters off balance.
“We’re not a team that likes to
get kicked around,” Hajjar said.
“We go in and lose 14-2 that will
fire anyone up. Coach Bakich
gave us a good pregame speech
that we need to earn this team’s
respect and I think that fired me
up personally.”
The
offense
complemented
Hajjar’s pitching by scoring four
runs in the third inning and taking
advantage of walks. Lead-off
hitter junior Jordan Nwogu went
2-for-5 with one RBI, bouncing
back from the first game where he
went 0-for-4.
“We are a team that has the
ability to win this series and that’s
what we showed in the second
game,” Hajjar said.
The final game of the weekend
started off hot with Nwogu hitting
the second ball he saw for a home-
run, but Michigan was unable to
capitalize on this momentum.
“I
think
the
problem
is
that we didn’t use that to gain
momentum,” Nwogu said. “We
struggled the rest of the game to
string quality at-bats together. I
think sporadically we put together
some good at-bats but not enough
to plate runs.”
Nwogu recorded the only two
hits of the day, but the Wolverines
were able to get a total of 10
baserunners via hit-by-pitch and
walks. But they were unable to
get many runners past second
base and ultimately couldn’t bring
home any of the runners.
“We got a lot of runners to
first and second but that’s about
where they stopped,” Bakich said.
“When your playing from behind
and you’re down 4-1 and 6-1 and
you can get the first two guys
on, you can bunt them over. But
a bunt at the point in the game
when you’re down 4-1 we don’t
really want to give up an out just
to advance runners.”
Junior left-hander Blake Beers
pitched five innings, allowing five
hits and three runs. Michigan
dipped into the bullpen three
times, but its offensive struggles
did nothing to help the pitchers
out.
“I think that we don’t have a
problem with effort or anything
like that we are really giving it
our all it just didn’t happen for us
today,” Beers said. “The biggest
thing that we can take out of today
is that we are giving it our all it’s
just not happening for us right
now.
“It’s not a bad thing it seems
like right now it’s just not all
coming together.”
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Juwan Howard is “praying to the basketball gods” for good health.
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
KENT SCHWARTZ
Daily Sports Writer
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
Sophomore guard Danielle Rauch recovered quickly from a broken hand to play at the Big Ten Tournament.
SOFTBALL
ABBIE TELGENHOF
Daily Sports Writer
LILY ISRAEL
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
The Michigan baseball team is 8-7 with its first home games this weekend.
Our defense
and offense
need to pick up
on it.