There was a theme to Michigan’s joint media day for the baseball and softball teams Monday – heightened expectations – and for Coach Carol Hutchins team, there is only one spot to go after finishing as the NCAA runner-up in 2015.

“This team has that burden of expectation that I frankly don’t have,” said Hutchins, setting a tone that her four players largely repeated during the 20-minute session. “We don’t spend one minute on it.

“No one knows who was ranked second to start last year in the preseason but clearly they were wrong. We have to focus on our every day, which is the bat and the ball.”

Michigan is the preseason No. 2 team in the country, trailing only … Florida, which bested the Wolverines 2-1 in the best-of-three Women’s College World Series finals last spring.

The Wolverines lost Game 1 3-2, won Game 2 1-0 and then fell 4-1 in the deciding third game.

Now Michigan enters this season, which begins Friday when U-M plays South Carolina and Illinois State in Tampa, Fla., with a din like nothing seen since the Maize and Blue were coming off their 2005 national championship season.

The Wolverines return seven starting position players, including All-Americans: senior second baseman Sierra Romero, senior outfielder Sierra Lawrence and junior outfielder Kelly Christner, plus junior All-American pitcher Megan Betsa.

Arguably the greatest player in program history, and as the debate centered last night – perhaps the best female athlete in the athletic department’s history – Romero said her legacy will be defined not by numbers (she owns virtually every career hitting record) but by the kind of teammate she has been for four years.

“I definitely want to be remembered as a good teammate, team leader, and remembered for having fun,” she said, and she understands part of that responsibility is delivering the right message from the start of the year.

“Everyone has seen the ranking but at the end of the day, it’s just like Hutch said, I couldn’t tell you who was ranked second last year, I can just tell you that we finished second.

“I don’t see it as a burden at all. Michigan softball always has a target on its back and that’s how we look at it. Each game, there is someone in our way.

“We trust our preparation, the way we’ve trained. And we don’t change anything. We’re starting over. Last year doesn’t matter, just like my freshman and sophomore year didn’t matter. We’re just focused on right now.

"Everyone’s confidence is high and we just have to keep it simple.”