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.