The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1533441
14 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2025 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS ❱ Student-Athlete Of The Month Baseball Junior Infielder Mitch Voit Junior Mitch Voit estab- lished himself as a two-way star in his first two seasons with U-M baseball as both an infielder and pitcher under head coach Tracy Smith. With increased depth on the mound, the Wolverines have been able to lean on Voit at second base this season full time, and they have been greatly rewarded for it. Voit, an Academic All-Big Ten selection last year and enrolled in the College of Lit- erature, Science and the Arts, has racked up several accolades since arriving in Ann Arbor. He is pretty good at the academics part, and his baseball perfor- mance continues to soar in his third year. "U-M has the best mix of academics and baseball," Voit's profile on MGoBlue reads, cit- ing his reason for choosing to come to Ann Arbor ahead of the 2023 season. The Milwaukee, Wis., native was a first-team All-Big Ten selection last season and made 59 appearances, hitting .292 with a team-leading 69 hits to go with 14 home runs and 46 RBI. A preseason pick for the same All-Big Ten designation in addition to third- team preseason All-America honors from Baseball America, Voit is hitting .451 with 5 home runs and 28 RBI through mid-March while slugging .845 from the plate, 273 points higher than last season. He is also getting on base at a .545 clip. Voit has also been clutch at the plate for the team, scoring the winning run in a walk-off victory over No. 2 Virginia to start the season and posting a career-high 4 RBI and a 4-hit day in an 11-7 win over rival Michigan State on March 12. He has been cited as a calming, organized presence in the team's locker room. "I'm proud of those guys for what they did on the field," head coach Tracy Smith said Feb. 17 of Voit and graduate catcher Matt Spear, via The Michigan Daily after the team's 6-1, early-season win against Stetson. "I'm equally as proud of them keeping the team loose and keeping them focused." D1Baseball ranked Voit No. 30 overall on its Big Ten prospects list for the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft. If Voit's bat and hot defense can continue, he has a chance to firmly put himself on the radar of MLB front offices across the country. As a pitcher, Voit threw 36 innings as a freshman, striking out 25 batters and compiling a 4-1 record with 5 saves while leading the team in ERA at 3.25. Last season, Voit struck out 41 players in 62.1 innings of work with a 5-3 record and a 5.49 ERA. — Anthony Broome MICHIGAN'S TOP PERFORMERS Rowing senior Katie Easton: The Melbourne, Aus- tralia, native was named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches As- sociation Athletes to Watch list for the second consecutive sea- son. A two-time second-team All-American (2023-24), Easton has been a mainstay in U-M's 1v8 for all three postseasons during her career, and she was a key figure during the Maize and Blue's back-to-back Big Ten championships in 2023 and 2024. The team captain was named first-team All-Big Ten each of the last two years. U-M begins the season March 22 at the Big Ten/Ivy Dual in Camden, N.J. Women's basketball freshman Olivia Olson: The 6-foot-1 guard was tabbed as the Big Ten Co-Fresh- man of the Year along with Ohio State's Jaloni Cambridge. The New Hope, Minn., native was also named to the All-Big Ten second team, joined by classmate and fellow guard Syla Swords. Olson is the third Wolverine to earn Freshman of the Year recognition, joining Naz Hillmon in 2019 and Stacey Thomas in 1997. Olson averaged 16 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.4 steals per game during the regular season. Softball freshman Kat Meyers: The Waterville, Ohio, native threw a five-inning perfect game in an 8-0 victory over North Carolina Central March 8 in Greensboro, N.C., retiring all 15 batters she faced. Seven of U-M's nine all- time perfect games have been five-inning performances. The other Wolverines to accomplish the feat are Kelly Forbis (five in- nings, 1993), Sara Griffin (seven innings, 1996), Marissa Young (six innings, 2002), Jennie Ritter (five innings, 2005), Nikki Nemitz (five innings, 2008), Jordan Taylor (two times, both five innings, 2010) and Sarah Schaefer (five innings, 2018). Men's track and field sopho- more Trent McFarland: The Utica, Mich., native collected gold in the mile run at the NCAA Indoor Championships March 1 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. McFarland was in fifth place with three laps to go but surged ahead for the win with a 4:03.56 time. The Maize and Blue finished eighth out of 15 teams with 35 points, highlighted by McFarland's 10-point performance. — Clayton Sayfie Voit, a third-team Baseball America Preseason All-American, tied his career high with 4 RBIs in a 4-hit day March 12 to power the Wolverines to an 11-7 win over Michigan State. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS