For many Michigan sports fans, the sports calendar starts with the beginning of football season on Labor Day weekend and concludes whenever the basketball season wraps up in late March or early April. Well I'm here in late April to tell you that following such a schedule results in missing out on some quality sports action, as the baseball and softball regular seasons are now hitting the home stretch and both Michigan squads are locked in tight battles for the Big Ten titles. As a helpful guide to cue in Michigan fans who haven't been following either sport too closely but are interested in watching games down the stretch, I've put together this piece that will serve as a short season recap of sorts for both sports. Let's kick things off on the smaller diamond, where the softball team is on a roll. 

Softball 

Michigan Softball is currently red hot, riding a five game winning streak and they are 15-1 in their last 16 after a sluggish start to the season. For those who may not be aware of the standings, here they are: 

Team	Record	GB	Runs For	Runs Against	Run Differential
Michigan	21-4	----	109	27	+82
Minnesota	22-6	0.5	134	77	+57
Northwestern	21-7	1.5	168	75	+93
Illinois	18-10	4.5	127	79	+48
Iowa	15-13	7.5	92	83	+9
Nebraska	15-13	7.5	131	104	+27
Ohio St.	14-13	8	94	113	-19
Indiana	14-14	8.5	104	104	even
Wisconsin	12-16	10.5	100	97	+3
Maryland	11-17	11.5	78	112	-34
Michigan St.	7-14	12	55	94	-39
Purdue	8-20	14.5	81	131	-50
Rutgers	6-21	16	78	188	-110
Penn St.	4-19	16	53	117	-64

The B1G is basically the three-horse race we thought it would be entering the season, with Michigan leading in the pole position for the moment. These three teams are the clear three best in the conference with not a ton of intrigue below that. The season will largely come down to Michigan's two series against Northwestern (this weekend) and Minnesota (Mother's Day Weekend), as Minnesota and Northwestern have already faced each other (a surprising Minnesota four game sweep). 

We'll return to those other teams in a moment but the next two sections will be a short recap of how Michigan has gotten to this point so far. 

[AFTER THE JUMP: good pitching, in multiple sports]

Alex Storako is having her supernova season

​Michigan has a new #1 starter in the circle [James Coller]

Meghan Beaubien is pretty much the same pitcher she's been her entire career. Her 1.11 ERA is the best of her career, but it's important to note that this season is an all-B1G schedule, meaning she hasn't faced the type of brutally tough non-conference opponents she would in a normal year, so all of Michigan's stats are going to be inflated when comparing them to past years. So basically, Beaubien remains a very good, ace-caliber pitcher but one who isn't invincible. 

Alex Storako, on the other hand, has been downright invincible in 2021. After 1.33 seasons of solid, promising softball, Storako seems to finally have put it all together. Her 0.41 ERA is #1 in the NCAA (among pitchers with >20 innings), while her WHIP is a similarly dominant 0.56. She's striking out 13.0 batters per 7 innings, also good for #1 nationally. Entering the season, we were hoping for Storako to improve enough to give Michigan a bona fide second ace. She's blown right by that and is the the best pitcher on Michigan's team and I don't think it's close right now. Most stunningly is the way she's done it: fixing the hard contact problem that plagued her in 2019 and 2020. Storako allowed 15 HR's in 142.1 innings in 2019 and 8 HR's in 75 innings in 2020. This year in 82 innings, she's allowed just *two* homers. Of the 33 hits Storako's allowed, just *five* are extra-base hits. If you are making any contact on Storako, it's been soft contact. She'll face her first huge test this weekend against the Wildcats, but Storako's dominance has been breathtaking. 

The combination of Storako and Beaubien has given Michigan by far the best pitching staff in the conference. The team ERA of 0.85 leads the B1G and is miles better than #2, Minnesota, at 1.71. Moreover, Michigan isn't just #1 in ERA in the B1G, they're #1 in the entire damn country, leading the NCAA (though with an obvious strength of schedule caveat). Michigan has allowed more than 2 runs just three times out of 25 games this season (!!), including just once in the last 16. If the Wolverines score 3 runs in a game, they're darn near guaranteed to win this season. Again, we have to see how the pitching staff fares against the big teams of Northwestern and Minnesota, but it's hard not to feel great about this group. 

Offense heating up

The first 9 games were pretty dreadful offensively for Michigan, scoring just 2.89 runs per game over that span, but they've upped that to 5.19 in the last 16. The schedule has gotten a bit easier and that's allowed the Wolverines to find their groove in the batter's box. A big reason for that offensive improvement has been a power surge. The Maize & Blue swatted just one homer in the first eleven games of the season, but now have hit 20 in their last 14. Lou Allan leads the team with 6, while Taylor Bump and Lexie Blair are tied in second at 4. Lauren Esman has also been a big story offensively, as she's 10 for her last 18 at the plate including this towering homer on Friday night: 

ALL OF IT. @LaurenEsman #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/avyHaWHf3x

— Michigan Softball (@umichsoftball) April 17, 2021

Esman's emergence has allowed her to settle into the DP spot. Between Lexie Blair, Natalia Rodriguez, Allan, Julia Jimenez, Hannah Carson, Esman, and Taylor Bump, Michigan seems to have seven hitters who have fixed roles and have been productive. The final two spots are the corner outfield, where Sierra Kersten and Haley Hoogenraad have played basically the whole season, but both are lagging a bit behind where you'd like their production to be. That said, there appears to be a pretty clear lineup and that stability is a plus headed into the final month of the season where every game is crucial. 

Previewing the title chase and Northwestern

​Michigan hopes to see more swings like this one this weekend [JD Scott]

As we head into the final four weekends of the season, the title chase hinges on, as mentioned previously, the Northwestern and Minnesota series. That said, the other games in between then are also quite important as none of those three teams can afford to drop many games against teams that are not each other. For Michigan, that task may be easier, as their two non-NW/Minnesota weekends are Penn State (4-19) and Rutgers (6-21), two dreadful teams that occupy the cellar of the conference. They also get one midweek game against a similarly bad MSU team (7-14). The Wolverines have no excuse not to go 9-0 in those three games. 

It's a bit trickier for the Gophers and Wildcats. Minnesota also gets the horrific Nittany Lions but they draw a solid Iowa (15-13) team and a respectable Wisconsin squad (12-16), in addition to Michigan. Northwestern meanwhile will face Illinois (18-10), who are quite good and the B1G's best shot for a fourth team in the NCAA's, a bad Purdue team (8-20), and the sneakily good Nebraska Cornhuskers (15-13). For Michigan, the path then is pretty clear. If you can go at least 3-1 against both Minnesota and Northwestern and then sweep the other 9 games, in all likelihood that wraps up the B1G championship. They can probably afford to go 2-2 against Northwestern so long as they go 3-1 against the Gophers. 2-2 against both makes things dicey. 

Since the huge Northwestern series is this weekend, let's do a quick preview of it. This is actually the first meeting between the two teams since 2017 (!) and since then, the Wildcats have put together a really strong group. They finished 3rd in the B1G in 2019 with a team of almost all freshmen and then got the final regional hosting spot (16th seed) in that tournament, winning their regional and then getting annihilated by Oklahoma in the Supers. That team of then-freshmen is now a team of juniors and they are good all around. Their offensive numbers are generally the same as Michigan's except that the Wildcats are far more productive at bringing runs in, scoring 6 runs per game compared to Michigan's 4.36, despite a nearly identical team batting average. Skyler Shellmyer, Jordyn Rudd, Rachel Lewis, and Morgan Newport are the the hitters to watch out for. In the circle the Wildcats will ride with their two-headed monster of Newport and Danielle Williams, who sport similar ERA's of 1.58 and 1.40, respectively. Northwestern is a great team but there's no reason Michigan can't take this series. Expect it to be close and intense, and thankfully two of the four games (Friday & Sunday) are on cable TV (ESPNU & BTN), while the Saturday doubleheader is on BTN+ (your author will be providing play-by-play for those games). Tune in and cheer the team on! 

 

Baseball

​Baseball is also good this year [Paul Sherman]

The baseball team is currently sitting at 18-7 on the season after sweeping Minnesota and are riding a five game winning streak. Like the Softball team, Baseball is near the top of the conference and locked in a tight chase for the conference championship, albeit with different opponents. In this case the foes are Nebraska, Indiana, and (sorta) Iowa. Here are the updated standings for the week: 

Team	Record	GB	Runs For	Runs Against	Run Differential
Nebraska	18-6	--	186	97	+89
Michigan	18-7	0.5	185	106	+79
Indiana	15-8	2.5	117	77	+40
Iowa	15-10	3.5	151	116	+35
Ohio St.	13-12	5.5	113	131	-18
Maryland	13-12	5.5	166	153	+13
Northwestern	12-12	6	141	137	+4
Rutgers	12-12	6	141	133	+8
Michigan St.	11-15	8	135	155	-20
Illinois	10-14	8	158	167	-9
Purdue	10-15	8.5	97	152	-55
Penn St.	8-16	10	103	150	-47
Minnesota	4-20	14	92	211	-119

As with softball, let's go through some of the key storylines so far through the season. 

No Fetter? No problem

Lots has changed with the Michigan pitching staff since the last time they played at Ray Fisher Stadium back in 2019. The three-headed dragon of Kauffman, Henry, and Criswell that got Michigan to the CWS Finals have all departed, as has the wizard pitching coach, Chris Fetter. All four are now at the professional level, with Fetter serving as the pitching coach of the Detroit Tigers. Yet despite turning over a ton of talent, the Wolverines' pitching staff is still pretty good, with a team ERA of 3.78, 2nd in the conference behind Indiana. They are also near the top of the league in opposing batting average and strikeouts per game, a rather impressive feat given the relative inexperience of the unit. 

Though the bullpen has been shakier, the starting staff has seen three solid pitchers emerge. Steve Hajjar is the ace, with a 2.90 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP, striking out nearly 11 batters per nine innings. He's been exactly what Michigan has needed him to be as the showcase, Friday starter. Hajjar was the only known quantity entering the season, and it's been the arms behind him that have started to round into form. Cam Weston is the Saturday starter and is posting great numbers, a 2.72 ERA and an identical 1.21 WHIP, not fanning as many hitters but Michigan is 6-1 this season when Weston starts. Jacob Denner appears to be the Sunday starter, though that isn't totally settled at this juncture. He's appeared in 7 games and has made 4 starts, and the Wolverines are 4-0 when Denner begins the game on the bump. He's a bit wild (WHIP of 1.42) and rarely goes beyond five innings, but his 3.77 ERA and ability to fan hitters has made him a solid #3 starter. Out of the 38 B1G starters who have thrown enough innings to qualify for the ERA title, Michigan's got #3 (Weston), #5 (Hajjar), and #14 (Denner) in terms of lowest ERA in the league. Not bad for a total reload of the staff. 

Though Michigan is 14-4 when any of those three are on the bump, they're 4-3 when someone else starts and that's because the starting depth is a tad thin, and the bullpen has been up and down. Blake Beers has struggled mightily this year as the nominal #4 starter, with a grisly 7.11 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP. Opponents are only hitting .250 off of Beers, but he's surrendering nearly a walk an inning (16 in 19 innings). Ben Dragani has been a swingman, making two starts and four other appearances as the once-heralded starter is working back from Tommy John surgery. He's got a sterling 2.12 ERA but his 1.35 WHIP speaks to the shakiness of his appearances and it seems that Dragani is best suited for a bullpen role come NCAA Tournament time. 

As for the bullpen itself, there are a few bright spots. Willie Weiss has finally made the jump to being a lockdown closer in the back end, while Joe Pace has emerged as a set-up man capable of getting swings-and-misses, but struggles with baserunners at times, in spite of the 1.84 ERA. Will Proctor is another solid late inning option, and obviously Dragani, if available, is a solid arm. Beyond that, it's a bit sketchy. Isaiah Page, Angelo Smith, and Jack White have all shown flashes but have also been wild, and that's where Michigan has run into problems. 

Solid Bats, too 

​Tito Flores is one of the many solid Michigan bats this year [Marc-Gregor Campredon]

Much like softball, this Michigan team is also a well-rounded bunch, ranking in the top three in the B1G in batting average, on-base, slugging percentage, and runs scored per game. The Michigan lineup has begun to solidify and is led by the veteran grad transfers they were able to pick up in the offseason, notably Benjamin Sems (.893 OPS), Christian Molfetta (.953 OPS), and Griffin Mazur (.927 OPS). Toss in sophomores Clark Elliott (.999 OPS), Jimmy Obertop (.953 OPS), and Tito Flores (.802 OPS), and that makes up the bulk of the Michigan lineup. 

Erik Bakich spent the first few weeks of the season tinkering with the lineups, but some resolution has started to become clearer thanks to the emergence of Jordon Rogers and Ted Burton. Jake Marti and Christian Bullock both began the year and spent several weeks as everyday players but their offensive struggles gave opportunities for Rogers and Burton, two more sophomores, to step up and really take the wheel. JoJo Rogers came up with some timely hits and his .755 OPS has proved preferable in the outfield to the scuffling Bullock's .587, and Burton's ability to get on and hit for power (.871 OPS) has given him a spot in the infield. With those two now consistently in the Michigan lineup, they've been surging offensively, scoring 4+ runs in 8 straight games and 11 of 12 contests. 

Previewing the title chase and Rutgers

​Every weekend is big from here on out [Bryan Fuller]

Unlike with softball it's a bit tougher to project out the rest of the season because baseball is generally more variable. The top teams drop games more consistently in baseball than in softball, so it's tough to just say a team should sweep an opponent, even if a matchup portends that. Still, the three or four-way race for the title will be compelling to follow the rest of the way. Michigan really only has one weekend the remainder of the season where anyone besides Hajjar, Weston, and Denner have to start, and that's a four game set in Chicagoland April 30-May 2, two against Northwestern and two against Illinois with a Saturday doubleheader. 

Of the remaining schedule, Michigan plays 13 against teams straddling .500 (MSU/Illinois/NW/Rutgers/Maryland) and then they get 6 against two other contenders (Indiana/Nebraska). Obviously, much like softball the objective is to bank as many wins as possible against the teams Michigan is better than and then play to take 2 of 3 in each of the two huge home series. There is no Big Ten Tournament this season so the only title available is the regular season crown, making this chase all the more important, as Erik Bakich looks to collect his first B1G ring since arriving in Ann Arbor in 2013. He's come extremely close, finishing 2nd in 2017, 3rd in 2018, and 2nd in 2019, and it would be a great capstone on what he's built to finally claim the crown this year. What it requires, though, is consistency, as baseball is the ultimate marathon sport, even at the NCAA level. 

That quest begins this weekend at Ray Fisher Stadium for a three game set with Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are an extremely mediocre 12-12 on the year, coming off of a 1-3 weekend against the good Iowa Hawkeyes. They're not a bad pitching team, with a team ERA of 4.49, ranking in the top 5 of the conference, with Ben Wereski anchoring the rotation. He's posted a 3.10 ERA in 7 starts this year, and is slated to go Saturday against Weston, which should be some fun pitching to watch. Offensively, Rutgers has hit 35 HR's, which is 3rd in the conference and has been a major engine of their run production. The games times are 4 pm, 2 pm, and 1 pm, and are going to be available for streaming on BTN+. A sweep is optimal, but a 2-1 weekend is also probably acceptable.