2B - April 5, 2010
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com a
Why the 96-team
NCAA Tourney is
a great idea
'M' wins series despite blowout
4
I've been fairly surprised by
the general level of hatred for
the idea of a 96-team NCAA
Tournament. In the midst of one
of the craziest March Madnesses
(would it be Madnessi? Not really
sure on the pluralization here.) in
recent memory,
it comes out
that Big Ten
Commissioner
Jim Delany says
expansion will
probably hap- "
pen, and people
aren't excited. ANDYM
I don't get it. REID
More is
always better,
right?
I've heard all the cons. It's going
to water down the first couple
rounds of the tournament. I don't
buy it. First, there's something
amazingly fun about tuning in to
CBSSports.com during class for
the first weekend of the tourna-
ment. And the expansion will just
give us more of the hectic sensory
overload of the first two rounds.
You're on game overload at that
point, and, it doesn't really matter
that No. Is are putting a beating on
No. 16s, because, with that many
simultaneous tipoffs, there's bound
to be some interesting storyline to
follow.
It's my favorite part of the
tournament because it's just so
engaging. And I think adding 32
more teams will have the opposite
effect of what some naysayers are
predicting. We'll just have more
games to watch, that's all.
I don't think it'll alter the level
of competition in the early rounds
too much, especially after the for-
mula has been in place for a few
years and teams like Southeastern
Indiana State (I'm pretty sure
that's a made-up school) get used
to makingthe Big Dance.
Second, people think it'll make
the regular season irrelevant.
Here's the thing: With 96 teams
in the field of play, there's still
251 teans that will be watching
the festivities from home. It's not
like the NCAA is handing out bids
like their degrees from Michigan
State. Even post-expansion, teams
are still going to have to work for
it.
A team like North Carolina, for
example, wouldn't have just been
given a free pass into the tourna-
ment this year. There's plenty of
schools out there that posted great
regular seasons that deserve a shot
at being on this stage - maybe
they're not goingto win the whole
thing, but so what? The experience
is something they can tell their
grandkids about.
I'll level with you for a second.
I wasn't exactly thrilled with the
idea when I heard the first rumors
circulating the Internet.
But, as a self-identifying opti-
mist, I'm going to find the bright
side. And there definitely is one
with a 96-team tournament. I'm
sure there was the same level of
skepticism when they expanded
to 64.
They're going to expand -
there's too much money at stake
not to.
It's going to be fine. March is
still going to be mad, and in three
years, I can all but guarantee you
that no one will be ruing the day
they added another weekend to the
craziest tournament in sports.
After all, it'll give all you college
kids yet another reason not to pay
attention in class.
Andy can be reached at
andyreid@umich.edu
By BEN ESTES
Daily Sports Writer
BLOOMINGTON - A thrilling
extra-innings comeback victory
on Friday, a heart-stopping narrow
triumph on
Saturday and MICHIGAN 16
a tie for first INDIANA 10
in the confer-
ence, and yet INDIANA 4
the Michigan
baseball team MICHIGAN 6
faced one INDIANA 26
of its most
depressingtrips home this season.
That ride home will be what the
Wolverines remember about their
trip to Bloomington, thanks to a
devastating 26-6 loss at the hands
of the Hoosiers on Sunday after
16-10 and 6-4 wins in the first two
games.
Senior left-hander Eric Katzman
(1-1), who pitched in the last two
games of the series, including a
nearly flawless performance Sat-
urday, just couldn't perform in
the starting role Sunday. He gave
up five runs in 0.2 innings, set-
ting a bad precedent for those who
relieved him.
The Hoosiers constantly obliter-
ated anything that came their way,
and the Michigan (2-1 Big Ten,
15-10 overall) pitching staff com-
bined to yield 26 runs on 27 hits -
both easily the highest totals of the
season.
"I wish I could tell you (what
happened)," Michigan coach
Rich Maloney said. "We just had
a bunch of guys out there and it
snowballed. It started, it just never
ended. No one was able to stop the
momentum once it got going. Just
one of those games that got away
from us early."
Defense, too, is suddenly a con-
cern for the team after it totaled 11
errors over the weekend. It was an
uncharacteristic performance for
the Wolverines, who had played
solidly in the field for much of the
season.
"We had a couple outfield errors
* this weekend and those are really
- you really don't want those to
happen," senior first baseman and
co-captain Mike Dufek said. "It
was pretty windy here, but we've
played at windy places before. We
just got to get back and work on it
this week in practice."
4
Senior Mike Dufek, pictured here against Michigan State, knocked in two runs in the 10th to win the game.
But luckily for Michigan, the
team had already clinched the
series before the ugly finale with
wins Friday and Saturday.
The Wolverines threw their ace,
senior right-hander Alan Oaks on
the hill on Friday, but he struggled
to put away opposing hitters, giv-
ing up eight runs (three earned) in
2.1 innings. When Michigan looked
at the scoreboard in the seventh, it
found itself down 9-3 to Indiana
(1-2 Big Ten, 13-13 overall).
That's when the comeback
began. Michigan put five runs on
the board in the inning (including
four off Chris Squires, Indiana's
best reliever) and two more in the
eighth to take the 10-9 lead. The
Hoosiers refused to yield, though,
scoring once in the bottom of the
frame to tie the gdme and send it to
extras.
With the bases loaded in the top
of the 10th, senior captain Mike
Dufek delivered. The Scottsdale,
Ariz. native laced one to right field
to plate two decisive runs. Redshirt
sophomore utility man Garrett Ste-
phens followed with his firstcareer
grand slam for good measure.
"I noticed (Hoosier pitcher
Jerry Kleman) ... didn't really have
a third pitch he was throwing to
lefthanders, so I was looking for a
fastball," Dufek said. "The second
pitch was a fastball inside and was
able to get my hands in on it and hit
it pretty hard." .
And though Michigan led the
entire way Saturday, the game was
just as tense as the night before.
The Wolverines jumped all over
Hoosier starting pitcher Matt Igel,
notching five runs in the first three
innings.
But Igel settled down and
Indiana, like Michigan the game
before, refused to quit. The Hoo-
siers quickly tallied one run in the
third and three in the fourth and
suddenly it was a 5-4 game. The
next inning, they loaded the bases
with no outs and had redshirt
freshman left-hander Bobby Bros-
nahan on the ropes.
Maloney decided to keep the
southpaw in the game despite his
struggles, and the decision paid
off Brosnahan got three straight
outs to preserve the lead and ended
up pitching seven strong innings of
Read an analysis of the game
at MichiganDaily.com
four-run baseball, striking out
seven in the process.
"It was a battle out there today,"
Brosnahan said. "I had (the bases
loaded) earlier in the game, so I
just knew if I could make the right
pitch, I'd be able to get out of it. It
was a huge momentum swing and
it really lifted the team."
Sunday's debacle dampened the
team's spirits, but the two wins
and the series sweep was already
in hand.
The Wolverines still won the
series and are tied for first in the
Big Ten because of it. But the som-
berness will be difficult to shake,
despite the success of the trip.
"The reality is I'd rather have
the two wins and a bad loss than
the other way around," Maloney
said.
"We got two wins, we just have
to play better than we did ... but the
bottom line is we got two wins on
the road which is what we came
here for."
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