Michigan
Michigan softball loses the Big Ten Championship to Nebraska in extras
EAST LANSING — Precisely 50 days in the past, the Michigan softball crew received punched within the mouth.
Within the first Massive Ten collection of the season, Nebraska went into Ann Arbor and swept the Wolverines in a doubleheader, placing them in an early gap in Massive Ten play.
For the previous 50 days, Michigan has grinded itself out of that gap. The Wolverines have battled via accidents, constructed momentum, and ridden a current sizzling streak to arrange a rematch with the Cornhuskers within the Massive Ten Event championship recreation.
However on Saturday, Michigan couldn’t recover from the hump.
The No. 23 Wolverines (36-16 General, 14-8 Massive Ten) fell to Nebraska (40-15, 17-5) for the third time in further innings, 3-1, letting a Massive Ten Event championship slip away. Senior right-hander Alex Storako held the Huskers largely dormant, however two clutch hits by second baseman Cam Ybarra was all Nebraska wanted to defeat a sluggish Michigan offense.
With Storako on the mound, the highest of the primary inning went shortly — taking simply 10 pitches to retire the aspect. However Ybarra crushed a kind of 10 pitches over the right-field fence, giving the Huskers an early one-run lead.
Nonetheless, Storako remained composed. She cruised via the subsequent 4 innings, limiting Nebraska to just one hit and punching out three. Sometimes making an attempt to only blow it previous opposing batters, Storako as a substitute relied extra closely on her offspeed pitches to maintain the ball within the park.
Outdoors of the one solo shot, the early innings performed out like a typical pitcher’s duel. And regardless of having a number of alternatives, the Wolverine bats couldn’t capitalize.
In each the primary and fourth innings, Michigan put a runner on third with lower than two outs. However each occasions, the Wolverines didn’t carry the run residence.
After the gradual begin, although, the bats broke via to get the run again within the backside of the fifth inning.
With one out, freshman utility participant Annabelle Widra took a pitch to the pinnacle, reaching first base. Proper-hander Olivia Ferrell induced a fly out for the second out, however with Burkhardt already recording two hits on the day, Ferrell elected to pitch round her. After the stroll, junior outfielder Audrey LeClair stepped as much as the dish.
LeClair poked a ball over Andrews’ head into left-center discipline for an RBI double. And although the Wolverines didn’t muster any extra runs within the inning, the sport was tangled up at one.
However a controversial name halted Michigan’s hopes of a seventh inning rally. After placing runners on first and second through the free cross, LeClair grounded a ball to Ybarra who tried to tag Burkhardt going to second earlier than throwing to first base. The umpires known as it a double play, and the inning ended with a pop-up on the subsequent play.
And within the high of the eighth inning, the Huskers lastly discovered success.
Storako shortly recorded the primary two outs of the inning, however that introduced up Andrews and the highest of the Nebraska order. Storako pitched round Andrews, permitting her to succeed in base.
And Ybarra struck once more.
Ybarra blasted a ball into the right-center hole, sending Andrews on a mad sprint for residence plate. Andrews slid into residence unchallenged, and the Huskers took a one-run lead.
Then, Storako left a pitch over the plate to 3rd baseman Sydney Grey, who singled to left discipline to carry Ybarra in as an insurance coverage run and finish Storako’s outing.
Within the backside of the inning, the Wolverines went down quietly. All three batters made laborious contact, however none reached base, finishing the loss.
Taking a Nebraska crew that completely outplayed them earlier this season to further innings does exhibit progress for Michigan.
However by falling to the Huskers as soon as once more, the Wolverines confirmed that they nonetheless have a methods to go.
Michigan
Ex-Michigan running back fractures forearm in Rams’ regular-season finale
Sunday was supposed to be rookie Blake Corum’s chance to step into a featured role in the Los Angeles Rams backfield.
But the former Michigan running back didn’t get much of an opportunity, suffering a fractured forearm in the second quarter of a 30-25 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Rams head coach Sean McVay confirmed the injury after the game.
“He’s a tough, resilient guy,” McVay said. “He’s going to be a really good player for us for a long time, but he will miss the postseason.”
With the Rams having already clinched the NFC West crown entering Sunday, they rested No. 1 running back Kyren Williams, paving the way for Corum to handle a larger workload in the team’s regular-season finale.
Michigan’s all-time rushing touchdowns leader received just two carries for 10 yards and one catch for 12 yards before exiting. The 2024 third-round pick was on the sideline in the second half wearing a sling, finishing the year with 58 carries for 207 yards and seven receptions for 58 yards.
The Rams will host the loser of the Lions and Vikings’ Sunday night matchup in next week’s Wild Card round.
- BETTING: Check out our guide to the best Michigan sportsbooks, where our team of sports betting experts has reviewed the experience, payout speed, parlay options and quality of odds for multiple sportsbooks.
Michigan
Five Key Plays: Michigan 85, USC 74 | UM Hoops.com
Michigan knocked off USC in Los Angeles on Saturday night to move to 3-0 in the Big Ten. It was a game of runs, with Michigan stringing together three different 10-0 kill shots, but USC never went away. The Trojans consistently battled back into the game all night, forcing Michigan to execute down the stretch.
Here are Five Key Plays from the win featuring Danny Wolf, Vlad Goldin, Tre Donaldson, Roddy Gayle Jr., and more.
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1. First half 3-point barrage
Michigan was on fire from 3-point range in its final two home games of the year and carried that momentum into the Galen Center. On Saturday night, the Wolverines got off to a terrific shooting start, knocking down their first five 3-pointers and finishing with ten made threes in the opening half.
The Wolverines have been a volatile 3-point shooting team all year. They’ve hit double-digit threes in eight of 14 games but shot worse than 30% from three in five games. They shoot 36.6% from three (54th nationally) as a team but have shot better than 40% or worse than 30% in 12 of 14 contests.
In 28 halves of basketball, Michigan has hit seven or more threes nine times (32%). They’ve also hit two or fewer threes in 10 of those 28 halves (36%) — including last night’s 0-of-8 second-half performance.
Michigan’s half-by-half perimeter shooting splits are becoming a trend to watch closely. The Wolverines shoot 40.8% from three in first halves (5.9 for 14.4 attempts) compared to 31.2% in second halves (3.5 of 11.2 attempts).
Michigan survived 0-of-8 3-point shooting to win last night, but it is 5-of-36 (14%) from 3-point range in the second halves of its three losses — a particularly painful stat given that those defeats came by five points total.
Michigan
Michigan WR Peyton O'Leary will return for 2025 season: 'Last year incoming'
Michigan Wolverines football senior wide receiver Peyton O’Leary will return for his fifth season at U-M, he announced on social media Saturday. O’Leary has one year of eligibility remaining.
The 6-foot-3, 203-pounder joined senior quarterback Davis Warren in announcing his return for the 2025 season on the same day. Warren and O’Leary are housemates and close friends.
O’Leary and Warren are both former walk-ons who earned scholarships.
“It was a dream come true. It was so great,” O’Leary said in 2023 of being put on scholarship.
The Byfield, Mass., native played a key role on the Michigan offense this season, logging the second-most offensive snaps among wide receivers (376), behind only Tyler Morris (464), who has transferred to Indiana.
O’Leary caught 10 passes for 102 yards and 1 touchdown in 13 games this season. He was targeted 14 times.
The highlights of his season were a touchdown catch on third down in a loss to Oregon Nov. 2 and an impressive third-down grab in a 13-10 win over Ohio State in Columbus Nov. 30.
Tied 10-10, Michigan drove all the way to the Ohio State 3-yard line, before Warren threw an interception in the end zone.
Devastating, but not a deathblow. Michigan’s drive that Warren and O’Leary kept alive still chewed a whopping 9:10 off the clock. The Wolverines dominated time of possession, keeping the football for 13:03 of the 15 minutes in the fourth quarter, sealing the 13-10 win with a game-winning field goal by junior kicker Dominic Zvada.
Weeks later, Warren and O’Leary can laugh about all of it.
“We’ve watched it a couple times — a handful,” Warren said of he and his housemates, including O’Leary. “It always shows up on the YouTube and stuff, so it’s there.
“But can’t pump his tires up too much. Gotta keep him grounded. He’s kinda a pain to be around if he gets too confident.”
Warren and O’Leary have a special connection. Both came in as walk-ons and developed incredible chemistry while on scout team. That became apparent as the two worked their way up the depth chart, starting with the 2023 spring game, when Warren found O’Leary for the game-winning two-point conversion.
“Love him to death, and that was a huge catch when we needed it,” Warren said of the play against Ohio State, in a more serious tone. “I remember the first time me and him were throwing together on the field out there the summer my freshman year, and [tight ends] Coach [Steve] Casula, who recruited us, was kinda watching off to the side.
“To think that it would progress to us being in The ‘Shoe trying to get a win like that, it was a special thing and a testament to him to all the work he’s put in to get better.
“Hitting the celebration after was a nice touch.”
O’Leary was a deep reserve before the 2024 season. He had appeared in 14 games at wide receiver from 2022-23, hauling in 3 catches for 17 yards and a touchdown. His score in the 2023 campaign came in a win at Nebraska and was thrown by Jayden Denegal, who transferred to San Diego State this offseason.
O’Leary was originally signed to play lacrosse at UMass
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