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. 

