Michigan advances to National
Championships with record tie
Michigan goes 2-2 against
Maryland, Northwestern
Baserunning costs Michigan outs and runs
Standing on the edge of the floor
before her routine, junior Natalie Wojcik
watched as her teammate’s score came in
at a 9.950, securing the win for Michigan
and advancing it to the NCAA Gymnastics
Championships. However, Wojcik still
saluted the judges, stepped out on the
floor and performed a strong routine that
allowed the No. 4 Wolverines (20-2) to tie
their program record team score at the
NCAA Regionals over the weekend.
The Wolverines showed some nerves on
the first day of competition in the Regional
Semifinals, but the team ultimately placed
first and advanced. Michigan’s biggest
errors in its first day of competition came
on beam, the team’s first event of the day.
None of the gymnasts fell off the beam, but
there were many large balance checks that
left the team with an uncharacteristically
low score of 48.925 to start the meet.
Instead of letting its first rotation set the
tone for the rest of the meet though, the
Wolverines bounced back in the rest of the
events, ending the meet in first place with
a 197.650 and advancing to the Regional
Finals.
No. 13 UCLA also qualified for the next
day of competition, trailing Michigan by
0.600 points with a team score of 197.050.
On Saturday, the Wolverines needed to
place in the top two out of the four teams
in their Regional Finals to qualify for the
National Championships. Facing No. 5
University of California, Berkeley, the Bruins
and Ohio State, Michigan excelled on the
competition floor yet again, placing first to
secure its National Championship spot.
“I feel like people are paying attention
to us and hopefully giving us the credit
we deserve for being … in contention for
winning that national championship,”
Michigan coach Bev Plocki said. “It’s not a
fluke when you (score over 198) three times
in the same year, so I hope people are paying
attention to the University of Michigan.”
The Wolverines began the day with
a strong vault rotation, one of the team’s
best events, to have an immediate lead in
the meet. Junior Abby Heiskell started
with a low score, but the rest of her team
made up for it, led by two 9.950 vaults from
senior Sierra Brooks and freshman Naomi
Morrison.
Using the energy from the first rotation,
the Wolverines moved to bars, where they
broke a program record score with their
performance.
“Abby Heiskell put us on a great note,
hitting her first routine,” Brooks said. “It
was beautiful, the dismount dropped right
in, and right when that happens we just get
extremely excited, and we’re not worried
about making little mistakes that usually
get to us.”
Heiskell started the rotation with a 9.950,
which was matched by sophomore Gabby
Wilson and Brooks. Wojcik anchored
the rotation with a stuck landing on her
dismount, winning the event title with a
9.975. The high scoring performances kept
Michigan in the lead with second place
Golden Bears trailing by 0.375 points.
Despite
the
Wolverine’s
beam
performance in the previous day’s
competition, the team was able to stay
consistent. Brooks posted a huge 9.950
score, and Heiskell finished out the rotation
with a solid 9.900 to keep the team’s lead
going into its last rotation on the floor.
The Wolverines kept their momentum
on floor, with four gymnasts earning
scores of 9.900, and Wilson topping the
rotation with a 9.950. Wojcik finished the
rotation with a 9.900, even though the
team had already won the meet before her
performance even began.
“It’s great to have five solid routines
before going into that anchor spot, because
it definitely takes some of that pressure
off,” Wojcik said. “You know that everyone
else has done their job, and it sets you up
to really just do your best and be carefree
but also be able to hit and add another solid
routine to the mix.”
Although
Wojcik’s
stellar
routine
wasn’t necessary in securing Michigan’s
win, it pushed the team to tie its program
record and give the Wolverines necessary
confidence as they move into the National
Championships. Michigan also posted the
second highest score of any team in the
country this weekend, only falling short to
No. 1 Oklahoma.
“We are just hoping to continue
building on this meet and have more meets
like this at Nationals,” Wojcik said. “We’re
in contention for a national title, and we
know we’re capable of doing that, so we’re
going to use our energy to get our goal
accomplished.”
Brandon Lawrence had waited two years for his
first college at-bat, and the freshman infielder got
it in the top of the ninth inning against Maryland
on Monday night. With his family in the stands, he
homered to deep right field.
It’s a moment Michigan coach Erik Bakich
thinks Lawrence will never forget, but one of few
things the rest of the Wolverines will remember
— at least positively. The solo home run pulled
the No. 25 Michigan baseball team (13-6 Big Ten)
back within 10 runs of the Terrapins, capping off
a 17-7 loss and a 2-2 weekend series split against
Maryland (9-10 Big Ten) and Northwestern
(10-8). Monday’s loss was an outlier compared
to the first three games of the weekend, when
Michigan rode its biggest strengths — pitching,
defense and timely hitting, according to Bakich
— to two wins.
Redshirt sophomore left-hander Steven Hajjar
earned another quality start on Friday night,
allowing only two runs and three hits in 6.2 innings,
but a strong start by the Wildcats’ Tyler Uberstine
kept the score tied at two before the seventh-
inning stretch. Redshirt junior outfielder Danny
Zimmerman led off the bottom of the seventh with
a pinch-hit walk, and fifth-year catcher Christian
Molfetta singled. Fifth-year transfer catcher Griffin
Mazur topped off the rally with a first-pitch home
run, giving the Wolverines a three-run lead they’d
hold.
Redshirt junior left-hander Ben Dragani took
the ball for the second game against Northwestern,
and like the other starters who succeeded Hajjar
this weekend, Dragani couldn’t record even close
to a quality start. His four innings and three runs
did keep Michigan within shouting distance of the
Wildcats, but outs on the basepaths cut rallies in the
first and seventh innings short.
Down 4-1 in the ninth, the Wolverines quickly
loaded the bases on a walk and a pair of singles. But
not even the red-hot redshirt sophomore outfielder
Jordon Rogers or Zimmerman, who was summoned
to pinch-hit once again, could clear the table.
“We had put a good amount of quality
at-bats together and just made some hard outs,”
Zimmerman said. “We started that inning by
loading the bases. We can’t wait around to the ninth
inning. We can’t always win in the ninth; we’ve got
to do it earlier.”
Michigan didn’t heed that advice in the second
game of Sunday’s doubleheader. Sophomore right-
hander Cameron Weston went four innings and
allowed four runs, but a grand slam by sophomore
catcher Jimmy Obertop neutralized Maryland’s
early offensive damage. Michigan scratched out a
run on a squeeze play in the seventh inning to take
a 5-4 lead.
“The wind was blowing in, and we felt good
about (fifth-year transfer shortstop) Benjamin Sems
getting a squeeze down,” Bakich said. “He executed
it perfectly. There have been a couple of times when
we’ve left runners on base. It was a tie game, and
we usually like to play for the big inning, but this
particular case of where we were in the game and the
time of the game and how the game was going, it just
seemed like trying to play for a run was the way to go.”
The Terrapins responded with a game-tying
single in their half of the seventh, and with the game
still knotted at five in the ninth, Bakich called on
Zimmerman to pinch-hit once again. Although he
faced mid to upper-90s velocity from Maryland
reliever David Falco, Zimmerman was looking to hit
a fastball. He did just that, belting a solo home run
that gave Michigan a 6-5 lead that held.
Then came Monday’s game, during which
Maryland turned the basepaths into a carousel for
3.5 hours. Senior right-hander Blake Beers allowed
four runs in 3.1 innings, and the trail of relievers that
followed him let in 13 additional runs.
“Our bullpen has been really good for the first 18
games of the year, so I’m not going to put too much
stock into what happened today,” Bakich said. “We
just couldn’t stop the hot-hitting Maryland team
today; they were on fire.”
Pitching and defensive struggles eliminated
Michigan well before the final pitch had been
thrown. In light of that, Bakich emptied the bench
and gave Brandon Lawrence the opportunity to give
the team a silver lining.
Graduate transfer infielder Benjamin
Sems laid down the bunt to perfection
in the seventh inning of Sunday’s game
against Maryland, sending the ball
rolling past the pitcher to the third
baseman. Sems was so close to first base
by the time the ball had been collected
that the Maryland third baseman didn’t
even bother with a throw.
Instead, he turned to see sophomore
outfielder Clark Elliott sprinting around
third base in an attempt to score two
runs on the squeeze play. Since Sems
was already safe at first base, the third
baseman calmly turned and ran at
Elliott, who was caught in a rundown
and tagged out. The next batter,
sophomore outfielder Tito Flores, hit a
fly ball that would have been a sacrifice
fly and would likely have scored Elliott
if the Wolverines had just played it safe.
This sort of baserunning mistake
was a recurring issue throughout the
weekend series against the Terrapins
and Northwestern, both of which
Michigan split, as extremely aggressive
baserunning turned into costly outs that
limited runs.
“We made a couple of mistakes,”
Michigan coach Erik Bakich said. “Just
getting out on the bases, things come up
that just need to be corrected, whether it
be shortening a lead or extending a lead
or getting a better jump.”
The Wolverines have run into
several other outs in recent games,
too. Redshirt sophomore outfielder
Jordon Rogers was picked off of first
base after getting a very aggressive
lead during the loss to Northwestern
on Sunday. He took several skips
away from the base to disrupt the
Wildcat left-hander staring him
down from the mound but was
made to pay for it when the pitcher
threw over to first base. Rogers also
ran into another out in a later game
against Maryland on Monday when
he was thrown out trying to steal
third.
“There’s a lot that goes into base
running, and we spend an extraordinary
amount of time on it,” Bakich said.
“It’s certainly created a lot of scoring
opportunities for us over the years so it’s
something we take a lot of pride in and try
to use it and deploy it to our advantage.
Some of the most successful teams
we’ve had have been guys that have had
that combination of speed and power
throughout the lineup. Where there’s
multiple ways to score, those seem to be
the best offenses.”
Later
in
Sunday’s
loss
against
Northwestern, Flores hesitated for a
moment to advance on a pitch in the dirt,
but decided to break for second base and
was gunned down by the Wildcat catcher.
As if on cue, the batter at the plate, redshirt
junior outfielder Danny Zimmerman,
smoked a double off the wall that likely
would’ve scored Flores from first base had
he not run into an out.
Elliott also was thrown out trying
to score on a ground ball to shortstop
in the Wolverines’ first game against
Maryland. Elliott’s hesitation, like
Flores’s, was costly as he waited a split
second before aggressively trying to
score on a softly-hit ground ball. He was
caught in a rundown coming home and
eventually tagged out.
“I think it was just unlucky,”
sophomore catcher Jimmy Obertop said.
“We’re always trying to be aggressive,
it’s better to be in an aggressive state
than a passive one.”
Bakich’s teams are known for being
aggressive on the bases, and they have
forced other teams into many errors
this season. The mistakes this weekend
may have cost the team several runs, but
Bakich is not worried about his team’s
aggressiveness on the bases in the long
term:
“We want to be aggressive up to a
calculated risk,” Bakich said. “The thing
that we talked about is trying to be about
50% successful in stealing bases. If we
feel like we can steal the base with 80%
success, then it’s worth taking the risk.”
SAMI RUUD
Daily Sports Writer
JACK WHITTEN
Daily Sports Writer
STEEL HURLEY
Daily Sports Writer
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Michigan advanced to the National Championships with a team score that tied the program record this weekend.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
16 — Wednesday, April 7, 2021
LUKE HALES/Daily
Sophomore Clark Elliott’s baserunning error was one of many for Michigan during
the start of this season.
Late defensive lapses cost
Michigan against Wisconsin
In the 83rd minute, Wisconsin midfielder
Murat Calkap placed the ball next to the corner
flag, ready to deliver the corner kick. With a short
run up and a swing of the leg, the midfielder
sent a looping cross into the middle of the goal
box, linking up with the powerful strike on the
forehead of Badger forward Henri Tophoven.
With ample force, the ball went flying past the
Wolverines’ sophomore goalkeeper, Owen
Finnerty.
The corner served as the winning goal for
Wisconsin (2-7-1 Big Ten), as they upset No. 11
Michigan (5-3-1 Big Ten) by a score of 3-2.
“When we got to the first (crosses) we didn’t
clear them well, so that’s something we do
habitually,” Michigan coach Chaka Daley said.
“I just think we got some unlucky bounces today.
That’s not something we’ve ever really (dealt
with). We haven’t conceded a set piece goal all
year.”
Spectators were not deprived of exciting
scoring opportunities during the first twenty
minutes of the game. In the third minute, a
deflected corner kick left a loose ball in the box
for Wisconsin defender Moritz Kappelsberger.
The defender put a close-ranged shot on net,
but Finnerty dropped to a knee to stop the shot.
Six minutes later, the Wolverines got a chance
of their own, as sophomore midfielder Iñaki
Rodriguez sent a header hurtling into the net, but
Wisconsin goalkeeper Carter Abbott made the
save with ease.
In the 17th minute, Badgers forward Noah
Melick had an excellent opportunity to score on
a breakaway, but Finnerty rushed off his line to
sweep up the ball. Three minutes later, a foul in
the Wisconsin penalty box sent senior midfielder
Marc Ybarra to the penalty spot. He sent Abbott
diving in the wrong direction and netted the
penalty kick, giving Michigan an early 1-0 lead.
The next ten minutes were filled with
offensive opportunities for the Wolverines,
but they weren’t able to convert. Wisconsin
eventually scored an equalizer in the 39th
minute, as Badger defender Zach Klancnik
zipped the ball into the corner of the goal. The
score remained at 1-1 to conclude the first half.
In the 60th minute, junior forward Derick
Broche picked up the ball at the midfield line
and carried the ball up the right side of the
pitch with pace, trailed by a chasing Wisconsin
defender. Broche displayed a series of high
stepovers to swerve past one defender and used
a heavy left-footed touch to gain space from a
second. In a close-ranged one-on-one situation,
Broche chipped the ball over the right shoulder
of Abbott, concluding his brilliant solo run with
clinical finesse.
The Wolverines would carry their one
goal lead up until the 74th minute, when
Finnerty’s attempted corner kick clearance was
unsuccessful, leaving the ball sitting in front of
the net, providing an easy rebound finish for
Melick.
Tophoven’s 83rd-minute header put the
Badgers up 3-2, and the score concluded that way.
All three of the Wisconsin goals came off of set-
piece long passes. The final two were especially
heartbreaking for Michigan, as the players
watched their lead slip into a deficit during the
final 15 minutes of play.
“To be hard done by deflections is difficult,
but we also didn’t do enough to extend that lead
or defend a little bit better on the first balls,”
Daley said. “All of those (goals) are off of second
balls and deflections. It was nothing creative or
to carve us apart or to outplay us.”
HAYDEN F. GRIJNSZTEIN
Daily Sports Writer
LUKE HALES/Daily
In an April men’s soccer game against Wisconsin, the Wolverines were not able to convert on
offensive opportunities, leading to an upset.