but going for the win.” In the second set, Styler faced some net errors but quickly fol- lowed up with a service winner and strong backhand to take the first game. Kingsley, also eager to take control, fought back to trade the hold with Styler, taking a game to make it 3-3. Eventually Styler’s discipline endured, Styler won the final game without dropping a point, taking the set and with it the match, 6-4. NILS G. WALTER Francis S. Collins Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, Biophysics & Biological Chemistry A public lecture and reception; you may attend in person or virtually. For more information, including the Zoom link, visit events.umich.edu/event/103679 or call 734.615.6667. Monday, May 8, 2023 | 4:00 p.m. | LSA Multipurpose Room, Kessler Student Center From Spawning Life on Earth to Fueling Modern Personalized Medicine Can RNA Do It All? The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com Wednesday, April 12, 2023 — 11 Defense translates to offense in Michigan’s 2-1 walk-off win over Illinois ZACH EDWARDS Daily Sports Writer In the Michigan softball team’s series finale, more than just a series win against Illinois was at stake. A chance to build momentum toward the rest of Big Ten play was at hand as well. And the Wolverines capital- ized on the opportunity by translat- ing strong defensive performance into offensive chances — culminat- ing in a walk-off double from junior catcher Keke Tholl to win the game. With Tholl’s walkoff hit, Michi- gan (19-15 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) won the final game in the series against Illinois (23-17, 2-8), 2-1, turning what was a struggle all weekend — translating defensive success into offense — into its ticket to victory. That defensive success stemmed from sophomore right-hander Lau- ren Derkowski on the mound with her dominance continuing to pre- vail. “It starts in the circle and then it has to go into defense and then it finally gets to hitting,” Michigan coach Bonnie Tholl said. “Hitting is always the last to catch up in that maturity curve but they’re being exactly what they want to be in a team and what I want to see out of the team, which is still being feisty right now. Sometimes we’re win- ning ugly, but it doesn’t matter. Right now, we’re just getting better.” Those improvements showed almost immediately with the Wol- verines preventing a hit in the top of the first inning for the first time all weekend. For Michigan, building momentum early has been instru- mental to its success, and Derkows- ki began to provide the momentum. But that momentum came to a screeching halt in the second inning. Illinois first baseman Sydney Malott hit a solo home run to left field to open the scoring. This could have been detrimental for Michi- gan’s defense, but the Wolverines retired three of the next four batters to get out of the inning without too much damage from the Fighting Illini. Starting the top of the third, Derkowsk built off that success by facing the top of Illinois’ lineup — which includes two of its top three hitters — and retiring them in order. “Derkowski was a rockstar once again,” Bonnie said. “She got out of some really big jams. And so you got to credit your defense and pitching, keeping us in the game until you can make something happen offen- sively.” All season long, the Wolverines’ offense has fed on the energy and success of their defense, and it did exactly that in the third inning. Sophomore shortstop Ella McVey tallied Michigan’s first hit of the afternoon and her third of the week- end. After McVey advanced to third on a fielder’s choice, graduate cen- ter fielder Lexie Blair hit a single to right-center field that brought Sieler home and tied the game at one. When the Wolverines’ defense excels and prevents potential momentum-shifting hits, it trans- lates to the offense and allows them to get moving. And they continued their excellent field- ing throughout the remainder of the game, including a key double play in the fourth. The Wolverines found their stride on defense and just needed a breakthrough on offense to take the lead. With the game on the line in the seventh inning, both teams placed runners in scoring posi- tions with hits, but neither team took the edge. “We’re hitting .300 with run- ners in scoring position,” Bonnie said. “It hasn’t always equated to victories, but I felt pretty good about getting somebody in scor- ing position. And we had defi- nite momentum the last couple of weeks, and it just speaks to momentum.” And in the eighth inning, using the momentum it built from the previous inning, the Wolverines finally had their breakthrough. Sieler opened up the inning with a hit over second base for a single. A sacrifice bunt from Blair moved her to second and a walk from graduate right fielder Ellie Mataya put baserunners at first and second. Keke stepped up to the plate with the entire game and week- end series on the line — and she delivered. Her walk-off double brought Sieler home, capping off the weekend with a narrow win for Michigan. “Every emotion was flowing through me,” Keke said. “That was just amazing. And to see my team- mates fight out of that, I ran over to the dugout after I saw Sieler go home. I don’t think I have words to say how great that feeling was.” After winning the final game in dramatic fashion, the Wolverines get a much needed victory to also win the series and potentially pro- pel it through the rest of the Big Ten season. The Wolverines built defensive momentum to score the walk-off hit and win the game on Sunday, but they’ll look to find better ways to accumulate scores, without a nail-biting walk-off being necessary to win games. Read more at MichiganDaily.com Sports SOFTBALL SportsMonday: Michigan is a football school. Don’t forget it. NICHOLAS STOLL Daily Sports Writer About a month ago, I was sitting at Good Time Charley’s watch- ing the Michigan men’s basketball team get thrashed by Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament, the clock ticking down mercifully to end their NCAA Tournament hopes. Before the ‘double zeroes’ even flashed across the screen, in a mix of jest and self-consolation, some- one at my table chimed in: “It doesn’t matter, we’re a hock- ey school anyway.” A “hockey school.” That phrase — some sport with “school” tacked on the end — has cracked me up since Kentucky’s John Calipari and Mark Stoops got in a petty debate over the Wildcats’ athletic identity last year. In most scenarios, it seems equally as arbitrary as it is obvious. Kentucky is a basketball school (get over it, Mark), Alabama is foot- ball, Duke is basketball, Georgia is football and Michigan State is bas- ketball. See? Easy. And regardless of whether the Crimson Tide have an up year in basketball or the Spartans have a down year under Tom Izzo, the label remains the same. So, while in my friends’ case they were simply signaling their shift in focus to the then-on-a-roll Michigan hockey team and away from the anemic state of both Wol- verine basketball programs, they weren’t correct in their assertion. Michigan is not a “hockey school.” Nor is it a basketball school. Say it with me: It’s a football school. And I don’t think it’s ever been more clear. No, the Wolverines haven’t won a national champion- ship in over 25 years. And while they’re built to win a title now, they still might not in the next few years either (but that feels like a column for a different day). Yet that’s not what makes it so painstakingly clear to me that this is a football school. Sure, the history helps, but when most living people have only witnessed one Michigan national championship and not a single cur- rent undergraduate student was alive the last time the Wolverines lifted the banner, that history loses its oomph. What makes it clear is that Michigan football is back. Because it’s not just back from a down year or two — it’s back from the grave. In my 22 years of life, the Wol- verines have only beaten Ohio State four times, two of which came in the last two years. They’re also 11-11 against their second biggest rival, Michigan State, in the same time period. Not to mention a mea- sly four wins in bowl games in my lifetime. A 15-29 record against its rivals and just four postseason wins in 22 years? That’s not “Mich- igan football” — that’s not the sign of a strong football program. From the end of the Lloyd Carr era, to Rich Rod, to Brady Hoke, the Wolverines have been in the mud. Even the beginning of Jim Harbaugh’s tenure ushered in mixed feelings. Michigan might technically have been winning more, but not the important games. But after two consecutive wins over Ohio State, two consecutive Big Ten Championships and two consecutive College Football Play- off berths — not to mention a 2024 recruiting class currently ranked No. 2 while still picking up steam — the Wolverines have been resur- rected. It shows when Heisman-caliber and draft-eligible players like run- ning back Blake Corum come back. It shows when five-star quarter- back Jadyn Davis committed to Michigan and vowed to bring more players with him, just three years after star quarterback J.J. McCar- thy did the same. And it shows when the Wolverines have set their sights on winning it all, from the coach down to the players. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to win it all,” Corum said on the “In the Trenches” podcast Jan. 9. “I hope Team 144 is ready. I’m going to make sure they’re ready.” Before him, McCarthy’s “job’s not finished” statements after beating the Buckeyes and winning the Big Ten Championship implied it. Before him, Harbaugh put it simply: “We could win college football’s greatest trophy,” Harbaugh said in March of 2022. “We could win the national championship.” The Michigan football program TESS CROWLEY/Daily is not just alive again — its heart is beating, its stomach is hungry and its eyes are filled with fire. Just a few years ago, these Wolverines were nowhere to be seen, and they haven’t been seen for a long, long time. And this Lazarushian story arc is what solidifies Michigan as a football school. Because that’s what “football school” or “basket- ball school” means. It means a program that can’t truly die, no matter how lifeless it might look. That’s Michigan football. On any given year, the basket- ball teams, the ice hockey team, the gymnastics teams, the base- ball team, the softball team or any other team that dons the maize and blue might be better than the foot- ball team in their respective sport. That doesn’t change the label. That success, even when sus- tained, remains temporary and fragile. The elite level could slip, and any one of those programs could fall off completely. But Michigan football can’t be felled. Michigan is, Michigan was, and Michigan always will be: A football school. JOSHUA BROWN Daily Sports Writer Sunday games for the Michigan baseball team have not been its sweet spot. The Wolverines have slogged their way through Sundays by conjuring together a hodge- podge of leftover pitchers. On Sunday, those remaining arms tasked with winning the weekend series against Nebraska were a far cry from the quality out- ings of the prior two days. The poor pitching performances compound- ed throughout the game and let any hope of a win slip away. And in this box-of-chocolates day, where unpredictability loomed at every pitch, Michigan (17-14 overall, 6-3 Big Ten) fell victim once again to its Achilles heel of pitching depth in an 11-3 loss to the Corn- huskers (18-10-1, 4-2). “(Nebraska) came out and beat us in every facet today,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said. “Not a lot to comment on with regard to today, but (we) played hard and we just got to get better and better, and (recognize) that every 90 feet mat- ters offensively, defensively.” Early on, those 90 feet between each base produced good results for the Wolverines coming off their strong hitting throughout the line- up on Saturday. After a scoreless first frame by senior left-hander Jacob Denner, senior first baseman Jack Van Remortel pounced on his first opportunity with a two-RBI single off Cornhuskers left-hander Will Walsh to give his squad an early 2-0 advantage. For a moment, the Sunday curse seemed to be lifted. But after this promising first inning, Nebraska delivered a com- bination of devastating long shots at the plate, blowing up Michigan’s strategy to nurse its arms through- out the game. Smith has repeatedly told his team that solo home runs don’t kill them. But Sunday, solo shots delivered the early dagger, as a pair of bombs by Cornhuskers catcher Josh Caron and second baseman Max Ander- son, with a three-run homer by shortstop Brice Matthews sand- wiched in between, chased Denner after just 2.1 innings and six runs allowed. “If we’re not getting length on the starter — it’s problematic,” Smith said. “Six runs, two-and-a- third (innings), so kind of forced our hand a little bit to make the move earlier than we certainly wanted to, but not sure we had a choice.” The Wolverines’ inability to get additional innings out of Denner with an already-thin pitching staff was then further complicated when senior right-hander Cam Hart was only able to record one out before being pulled due to an apparent injury. This forced junior right-hander Ryan Zimmer to anchor the long relief role. Zimmer couldn’t fully stem the bleeding though, allowing three earned runs in three innings pitched. Two of those were let in by senior right-hander John Tor- roella after replacing Zimmer with runners on, however. As the game unraveled from the mound for Michigan, it found itself down 10-3 by the sixth inning. Despite these compounding challenges from the mound, Michi- gan also wilted in opportunities with runners in scoring position. Freshman third baseman Mitch Voit lined out to Walsh with the bases loaded in the bot- tom of the third inning, and the Wolverines left runners on first and second in the fourth after a solo home run by senior left field- er Jake Marti. Following these missed opportunities, the batting lineup failed to produce any more runs. While the hits and scoring opportunities did not convert into many runs — it scored a mere three runs off 11 hits — Michigan’s fate was sealed on the mound, yielding 11 runs, all earned, in a fashion similar to last Sunday’s 11-1 loss to Illinois. And it does not seem like quick fixes are immi- nent to solve the issue. “It’s not like Major League Baseball when you call guys up from triple-A,” Smith said. “This is who we are at this point. Just guys are going to have to get bet- ter.” After winning their first two Big Ten series, the Wolverines’ blowout loss brought them back down to earth in this Sunday rubber match against Nebraska, serving as a sober- ing reminder of their nagging pitching weakness that has plagued them in games across the season. BASEBALL Ondrej Styler shows endurance in singles despite team loss against No. 3 Ohio State Following a doubles match loss to Cannon Kingsley and JJ Trac- ey, senior Ondrej Styler entered the court determined to edge out Kingsley on a solo court. After trading holds in the first set, they pushed the set to a tiebreak. On the 32nd point, Styler approached the net and slammed the ball into the court. He threw his hands up in the air in triumph, conducting the crowd as they roared, finally taking the set, 7-6 (15). Styler’s performance against No. 3 Ohio State was a true test of endurance as he battled long games and sets in a singles vic- tory over Kingsley on Sunday at the Varsity Tennis Center 7-6 (15), 6-4. Styler went on to win his match, but his endurance was not enough for the Michigan men’s tennis team in a 4-2 loss. In doubles play, Styler and junior Jacob Bickersteth saw difficulty breaking against the Buckeyes and were plagued by mis- communication, dropping the set 6-2. “I think we need to figure out our patterns a little bit more and get a little bit more on the same page,” Styler said. “I’ve switched partners throughout the season and we are still trying to figure out the best fit.” In singles play at the No. 2 court, Styler opened the match with strong serves to take the first game, but Kingsley promptly followed up to take the next. After continuing their back-and-forth game, Kings- ley began to read Styler’s play and forced him into net returns, win- ning three consecutive games, with the score 5-3. Still determined to outlast King- sley, Styler fought back. He forced Kingsley to run the baseline with crafty line shots and slice volleys, eventually forcing a tiebreak, six- all. “(Kingsley and I have) played a lot since my freshman year,” Styler said. “We both came at the same time and since I kind of won in two sets last time, I tried to do a similar thing, just the same strategy.” In their past two singles meet- ings, Kingsley and Styler similarly pushed the match to a tiebreak with Styler ultimately taking the set, and with it both matches. Again, Styler had to find the strength and endur- ance to clench the win, but on Sun- day for several more points. Styler was able to capitalize on Kingsley’s forced net errors, returning drop vol- leys and multiple saved set points, taking the set on his 17th point. “I just tried to stay in the moment and keep going for my shots and even- tually go for the win,” Styler said. “Not just hoping for the win, not hoping for other misses, MEN’S TENNIS ANNA FUDER/Daily JEREMY WEINE/Daily Poor pitching piles up for Michigan in loss to Nebraska KENDALL MCCASKILL Daily Sports Writer CALEB ROSENBLUM/Daily