INDIANAPOLIS — The No. 10 Michigan women’s basketball team has lost four of its last six games. It’s time for the Wolverines to start worrying. Worrying about their chances of returning to the Sweet 16. Worrying about their crumbling defense, once the team’s backbone. Worrying about their struggle to find offensive consistency. Entering the Big Ten Tournament, it seemed as if Michigan would be hun- gry for revenge. Dropping three of its five last regu- lar season games — and losing its hopes at its first ever regular sea- son Big Ten Title — should be the perfect fuel for a tournament run. Instead, the Wolverines added Nebraska to their growing list of losses. In an inconsistent game, the smaller issues plaguing Michigan culminated in a heartbreaking loss, ending the team’s short-lived time in Indianapolis. With the same struggles following Michi- gan through each game, it’s clear the Wolverines’ problems run deeper than just individ- ual matchups. After Michigan’s win over Indiana on Jan. 31, the Wolverines were on top of the world. They were in the driv- er’s seat in the Big Ten and ranked sixth in the nation (the best ranking in program history); the season looked to be all Michigan hoped it would be. Accomplishing the seniors’ career-long goal of winning a Big Ten Title seemed within reach. Then things came crumbling down. Two stunning upsets in early February at the hands of Michigan State and North- western — two unranked teams — brought Michigan’s champi- onship hopes into question. And after a short run at redemption, the Wolverines faltered, falling to Iowa in a final bout for the Big Ten Title this past Sunday. Against Nebraska on Friday, the result was no different. Allowing the Cornhuskers to score 20 points or more in three quarters, Michigan’s defense — which the team has prided itself on all season — broke. The Wol- verines’ offense could not execute down the stretch. Their foul trou- ble allowed Nebraska to make 14 free throws in the second half. “I think our biggest thing is our defense,” senior forward Naz Hillmon said. “I think that that’s one thing that really fueled us early in the season, playing teams with potent offenses.” So the natural question is, what happened? Maybe they peaked at the wrong time. Maybe they rely on Hillmon too much. Maybe their end of season schedule was too difficult. Maybe they needed senior wing Leigha Brown, who missed time with a lower leg inju- ry, to return much earlier. There’s a million answers — and excuses — to that ques- tion. Most are valid concerns the Wolverines must address in the upcoming break between now and their opening game of the NCAA Tournament. After tout- ing their ability to focus on one game at a time, and wanting to be the hardest working team in America, Michigan needs to hone in on its team philosophy now more than ever. As the fate of their NCAA Tournament run hangs in the balance, just as their once pos- sible Big Ten Title once did, it’s time for the Wolverines to be con- cerned about the issues that have plagued them down the stretch. “I think these last couple games have exposed the attention to detail that we need to have,” Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico said. “Which we definitely have been working on, but when everyone’s not out there together, I think it’s really important.” Only proactive solutions based on solving the recurring prob- lems will save Michigan’s season from the clutches of defeat. It’s no longer enough to move forward hoping the issues will iron them- selves out. Or to maintain that things will be OK once Brown comes back to full strength. Or to hope that the defense will finally click. Or that the schedule will get easier. Instead, it’s time to worry. The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Sports Wednesday, March 9, 2022 — 11 JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily From unknown to ace, Alex Storako’s journey to the top NOAH KINGSLEY Daily Sports Writer Abbie Telgenhof: For Michigan, it’s time to worry Joey Goodsir: For Michigan, yet another regional exit would be unacceptable MADELINE HINKLEY/Daily Alex Storako rose from a lightly-recruited high schooler to a Michigan ace. The Michigan softball team needs to break its postseason slump. ABBIE TELGENHOF Alex Storako has reached the mountaintop. At least for a pitcher in the Big Ten, that is. The senior right-hand- er is the reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, and her previous cam- paign was vital to the Michigan softball team’s conference title. Now, in her senior season, expectations are as high as ever. Storako is again the Wolverines’ co- ace alongside fifth-year left-hander Meghan Beaubien. Already, with a season remaining for both of them, Michigan coach Carol Hutchins has likened the pair to other pitch- ing greats of Michigan history. “When you speak of Meghan and Alex, you put them on the same wall as the (former Wolverine pitchers) Jenny Ritters and the Jor- dan Taylors,” Hutchins said prior to the season. “They’ve been fantastic pitchers; they’ve been top five in the NCAA in a bunch of categories, and we’re so lucky to have them on our team.” But for Storako, Michigan soft- ball greatness wasn’t something that she could have expected. In fact, it was far from it. Entering her junior season of high school, Storako was uncom- mitted on where she would play college softball. She received some offers — mostly from smaller schools such as DePaul, where she initially committed during her sophomore year. After transferring to Lincoln Way-East High School, she immediately became one of the most crucial members of the team. “About midway through her junior year, she found her rhythm,” Lincoln-Way East coach Elizabeth Hyland said. “She got in her groove and it was smooth sailing from there. … You look at your pitcher as a leader, and during that year’s play- offs, she really led us.” Even as Storako put it all togeth- er on the field, the successes she had hoped for didn’t come off it. Offers stayed few and far between as she continued to fly under the radar of larger programs. By season’s end, When Duke coach Marissa Young presented Michigan soft- ball coach Carol Hutchins a jar of maize and blue M&Ms follow- ing her record-setting 1,675th win, it was a sym- bolic reflection towards softball royalty from her high-achieving descen- dants. But also a reminder of the work left to be done in the present. Hutchins’s win came in Durham during an Ann Arbor reunion two weekends ago, as Young pitched under Hutchins from 2000 to 2003. Northern Kentucky was also led into the same Duke invitational by Kathryn Glea- son, who was a Michigan captain and two-time World Series team member in 1995 and 1996. For someone who always turns the credit of milestones towards those who played under her, it was a fitting first moment with Hutchins again becoming the sport’s winningest coach of all time. But any time the attention turns back to her positioning in the coaching pantheon, especially relative to the coach she passed in Arizona legend Mike Candrea, one can’t help but read between the lines. “Mike Candrea has eight national championships and what he has done for the game of soft- ball, he’s on a level all by himself,” Hutchins said. “I will look up to him forever. … All we’re trying to do is, we’re trying to get to the World Series. We’ve been able to get to the World Series. As the goal of this year’s team is the goal of every team. We have to win games to do it and that’s my only focus, but all I can do is tip my hat to Mike Candrea.” There is certainly not a sane voice out there saying Hutchins needs to pull seven more national titles to prove her on-field great- ness, nor should there be. But comparisons to Candrea’s track record in NCAA Regionals — the area plaguing the Wolverines the most — shed some light on where more reasonable frustrations lie: Candrea made it out of the tour- nament’s first weekend in all but three years in his 35-year Arizona tenure, while Hutchins has only managed to do it in about half of her 36 years at Mich- igan. The rate has most recently manifested itself in a regional-victory drought over the past five years, one that has left some of the best players in program history unsatisfied — and coming back to school in order to change that. “There’s a lot of goals that I set for myself in each year that I haven’t been able to achieve yet,” fifth-year left hander Meghan Beaubien said in February. “That’s a big reason I’m back. I’ve never been (to the Women’s College World Series), I’ve never made it out of the regional, and I’m not happy with that. No one who has been here for five years is happy with that.” Players like Beaubien are why accomplishments during the five-year drought can be taken for granted. Led by assistant coach Jennifer Brundage, Michi- gan’s dominance in the circle has brought in a steady stream of Big Ten championships. But cold bats, failed execution and tough matchups have cut each team short in the exact same round just as often. To anyone who has followed the Wolverines since their last regional breakthrough — its 2016 Women’s College World Series appearance — that recap probably feels redundant. It’s on the top of all the Wolverines’ mind too, and developments this past offseason reflect that. Faith Canfield, a former two- year captain who played at Michi- gan from 2016 to 2019, returned as a volunteer coach. She batted an impressive .390 or better dur- ing the last three years of her play- ing career. Choice grad-transfer selections from the portal in out- fielder Kristina Burkhardt and util- ity player Melina Livingston also reflect this push for batting action. Both transfers sought Michigan as a powerhouse destination from which to close out their career under a legendary coach. But as other contenders such as UCLA, Oklahoma and Florida stamp the World Series as a destination they see routinely over the last five years, the Wolverines fade behind in relevance by not even seeing a Super Regional. Additionally, holding up a role as the cream of the Big Ten is no longer a given. Sure, the top-heavy reality remains, but Northwest- ern’s loaded start and Minnesota’s emergence threaten. While Bur- khardt leads other new faces in a batting boom that provides positive momentum into the home opener, the quiet lack of returning security at the plate from senior outfielder Lexie Blair and fifth-year infielder Taylor Bump could doom Michi- gan to hit the same wall once again. “A lot of it is timing — they need at-bats to get it back,” Hutchins said. “They definitely need to not put the pressure on themselves or go to that place of ‘Well, I did good last year.’ Last year is over.” But the collective output, along with pitching security led by senior right-hander Alex Storako, tal- lies a win-loss resume that puts the Wolverines exactly where they want to be. At 13-6 they have collected wins over four ranked teams, most recently in an 8-0 vic- tory over No. 10 Kentucky this past weekend. More importantly, even in the highly-touted matchups lost, they’ve remained within reach. The elite expectations are there, the elite mindset is slowly building the team to shape. Now, the results of an elite program need to follow. And elite programs can’t get bounced from the road to Okla- homa City on the first stop every year. As much as anyone, Hutchins knows that. GRACE BEAL/Daily Michigan lost its opening game in the Big Ten Tournament, leaving cause for concern as the NCAA Tournament looms. JOEY GOODSIR Storako remained unsure where her softball career would continue. But she was unwilling to settle for just anything. “There was so much maturity there,” Hyland said. “She knew exactly where her sights were set, and she was just gonna go for it. … She just wanted to prove herself.” So, she took a chance. Storako remained uncommitted into her senior year, and joined the Sparks Premier 18U club that fall. On the larger club stage, she continued her success, and finally, larger pro- grams started to take a look at her. “Going into that year uncommit- ted, I had the mindset of just enjoy- ing the moment,” Storako said. “I tried to play to my potential and have fun, and that led to me per- forming really well and getting a lot of looks from a lot of places.” By the end of that fall season, Storako had done enough to garner an offer from Michigan. She soon took an official visit and fell in love with the program, committing on the spot. After exposing herself to the possibility of failure, she found the success she was looking for, becoming the last member of the Wolverines’ 2019 recruiting class. Upon reaching Michigan, Stor- ako found herself in uncharted territory once again. She came into college as a self-acclaimed “raw pitcher,” having never worked with a true pitching coach. Given the opportunity to learn from Michi- gan pitching coach Jen Brundage, she absorbed as much knowledge as she could. Together, Brundage and Storako worked to solidify Storako’s poten- tial, shaping her raw talent with Brundage’s deep technical knowl- edge. Brundage helped Storako develop into a pitcher who could contribute right away, readying her for a rapidly approaching collegiate debut. Storako first entered the circle for the Wolverines in their season opener. She tossed three hit- less innings, the first of many suc- cessful outings that year. But when Storako looks back at those early moments of her fresh- man season, that success isn’t what jumps out at her. “My first collegiate start was against (then-No. 7) Arizona,” Storako recalled. “The most mem- orable thing about that game was when I gave up my first collegiate home run to Alyssa Palomino-Car- doza, who’s now an Olympian. … “It was just like, ‘Well, welcome to the big leagues.’ ” In reality, that outing against the Wildcats was a speed bump during an otherwise very strong freshman season. Storako finished that year with a 2.02 ERA and 190 strikeouts, and was selected to the Big Ten All-Freshman team. It’s a testament to the way that Storako motivates herself, that in a season with so much accomplished, she still looks back at the first time she couldn’t get the job done. At the start of her sophomore season, Storako came roaring out of the gates once again. Through her first 17 appearances, she recorded 141 strikeouts in just 75 innings. But of course, the season ended on a poor note, as the begin- ning of the pandemic brought it to an abrupt halt. For Storako, that swift ending was turned even more bitter by her season’s final outing. “The last pitch I ever threw that season was supposed to be an intentional walk,” Storako said. “I threw it in the dirt, and we lost in extra innings. I think that was a very defining pitch in my career. … Some of my best friends ended their softball career on that pitch.” That pitch — and the lessons she learned from it — propelled Storako through the uncertainty surround- ing the rest of that year. She contin- ued to work every day to improve, knowing that when she did get a chance to pitch again, she wouldn’t let it slip away. By the time the 2021 season finally arrived, she had built up a massive chip on her shoulder. From there, Storako took off. She delivered a masterful junior campaign, leading the nation in strikeouts-per-seven-innings while posting a 1.05 ERA. Her performance earned her a wide array of achievements, from set- ting Michigan strikeout records to a unanimous selection as the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. Now, Storako is in the midst of the best season of her career. Through 11 appearances, she has a 0.75 ERA and is limiting opponents to a .138 batting average. Heading into the Wolverines’ home opener, she’s coming off her first ever no- hitter, an eight-inning gem against Drake. Even as she soars to greater heights, Storako still recalls when her future in softball was uncer- tain. “Being a small recruit and a late add to Michigan, I wasn’t expected to make a really big impact,” Stor- ako said. “Having an impact now, years later, I’m grateful for every opportunity that comes my way. There’s a lot of things that could be very different if I chose a different path or if things didn’t go a certain way.” So as Storako adds to her ever growing mountain of success, the foundations hold sturdy to the moments where she couldn’t find it.