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." JOIN DAILY SPORTS Email kartje@michigandaily.com for more information From March 17 through April 16, you can take advantage of online advice, in-person programs and text messages that help you put your best foot forward after graduation. The Program in Science, Technology & Society Presents Global Climate Change What Must We Do Now? 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