Tuesday Morning Brews: Killing time

Happy Tuesday, folks. Welcome to Morning Brews. As a reminder, Maize n Brew is holding a bracket challenge this March Madness. Be sure to get your picks in before the brackets lock. This morning in the Brews, we’re catching up with softball, baseball, women’s lacrosse (who’s on a remarkable run), and more.

Let’s get to it:

Women’s basketball in tournament as 8-seed. After a disappointing loss to Maryland in the Big Ten Tournament, the women’s basketball team had to wait for some time to officially learn their postseason fate. On Monday, that fate became clear when the Wolverines were awarded the No. 8 seed in the Albany regional of the NCAA Tournament. This is the second straight year in the big dance for Kim Barnes Arico’s team. They’ll face No. 9 seed Kansas State on Friday (ESPN2, 2:00 p.m.), with a potential matchup against No. 1 seed Louisville if the Wolverines best the Wildcats.

Baseball sweeps the weekend against Manhattan. The Wolverines returned to their winning ways on the baseball diamond with a four-game sweep of the Manhattan Jaspers. The weekend series was also the home opener for Michigan. Offense was easy to come by for the Wolverines, who outscored the visitors 48-10 over the course of the four games. The wins put the team at 13-4 on the season. They’ll be back in action this afternoon against Western Michigan.

Softball secures sweep in home opener. The Wolverines also swept their home opener on the softball diamond this past weekend, as Michigan powered past Kent State. The Wolverines excelled offensively against the Golden Flashes, winning 8-0, 18-1, and 8-1. The wins move Carol Hutchins’ team to 15-10 on the season. Like baseball, they too will face Western Michigan this afternoon.

Women’s lacrosse remains unbeaten and, well, wow. Under second-year head coach Hannah Nielson, the women’s lacrosse team is off to a start that is, frankly, unprecedented for the program. Following a 12-9 victory over No. 19 Penn State, the team holds a perfect 10-0 record and has earned a Top-10 ranking. The win was also the team’s fifth against a Top-25 opponent this season. Since the program began at the varsity level in 2014, the team had never won more than seven games in a season. The Wolverines will next play at Ohio State on Thursday.

After a couple tough results against Top-5 competition, Michigan women’s gymnastics placed second at the Missouri Quad Meet this past weekend. The Wolverines (196.800) finished behind No. 8 Minnesota (196.900) and tied with No. 19 Missouri. Centenary placed fourth well behind the other teams. The finish moves the Wolverines to 14-5-1 (9-0) on the season. They’ll be back in action at the Big Ten Championships beginning this Saturday. NCAA Regionals will begin on April 4th.