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.

