.2B - April 4, 2011
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
~RTSM3NDAY CLUVN
Michigan's own Lion
Kim brings maize and
blue to The Masters
M ikulak wins all-around title,
first freshman to do so since '94
This week, as they are
nearly every year at
Augusta National, all
eyes will
undoubt-
edly be on
Tiger Woods
- golf's
super-sized,
polarizing
and, accord-
ing to the RYAN
media, pos- KARTJE
sibly dying
star.
Tiger
hasn't donned the green jacket
since 2005, but that doesn't
matter. Tiger is a walking-
talking media bombshell, and
his (likely) four trips to Amen
Corner this Thursday through
Sunday will be the story of the
weekend.
It just won't be the story I'm
reading.
Because instead of a Tiger,
I'll be watching a Lion.
Lion Kim, senior captain on
Michigan's golf team, will stand
at the very same Corner this
weekend, TaylorMade Rh1 driv-
er in hand. He probably won't
wear any green jackets when
all is said and done, but he'll
walk the legendary course with
a Michigan bag, Michigan head
covers, Michigan shirt and spe-
cially designed Michigan shoes
- customized FootJoys with an
emblazoned block 'M'.
At the foot of golf's holy
grounds, a course that Kim has
idolized throughout his career,
Kim will surely be a small (read:
miniscule) fish in a large (read:
ocean) pond. But decked out in
his maize and blue, he'll be our
small fish in one of the world's
most legendary ponds.
Kim
Augus
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that m
would
For th
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bers, a
to abot
a few,f
$10,00
So W
real ro
noon,a
some o
athlete
a prett
Kim
Michig
the ho
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Z
wa
Master
Bill Ne
will ne
claim t
Kim
Wolver
namen
the Mi
one of,
- walk
i has played six rounds at ing the fairways at Augusta.,
ta National since becom- National, I dare you not to feel
U.S. Amateur Public all mushy inside.
champion. Six rounds Kim won't have a big-time
ere mortal golf fanatics caddy there - he'll be using
give their soul to play. a local caddie that's been at
ose who don't know, the Augusta forever.
isn't open to non-mem- Kim won't have any huge
nd membership is open endorsements or any huge cor-
ut 300 men, give or take porate sponsors pasted onto his
for a small fee of about shirt, golf bag and hat. Instead,
0 per year. he'll be endorsing us, represent-
vhen Kim plays his first ing Michigan as best he can.
und on Thursday after- As college sports slip further
a round he earned with and further into corruption, as
f the hardest work of any huge conferences become huge
at the University, it'll be corporations and 18-, 19-, 20-
y damn big deal. and 21-year-olds become celeb-
i will be just the third rities, players like Lion Kim
gan golfer to ever grace are a healthy and desperately
ly ground during the needed reminder that there is
still some purity, some loyalty
in the college sports we love so
nstead of a much.
Kim got to the hallowed
tiger, I'll be holes of Augusta National with
no more than hard work and
tching a Lion determination.
He won't intimidate many
this week. people when he's there - he's
definitely not the most impos-
ing or intimidating guy.
But he's our guy. Michigan's
rs. But Chuck Kocsis and guy.
wcomb the other two, So take your eyes off Tiger
ver be able to make the this weekend, even if it's just for
:hat Kim can. a hole or two.
, at 22, will be the first Because for those of us in
rine to ever play the tour- Ann Arbor, for those of us in
t while still a member of need of proof that dreams are
chigan golf team. He'll be attainable, Lion may just make
us - a Michigan student a bigger roar in Augusta this
king among some of the weekend.
By MICHAEL LAURILA
Daily Sports Writer
CHAMPAIGN - As freshman
Sam Mikulak walked over to the
Michigan bench after Saturday's
Big Ten Championships, he had
his arms full.
He carried a third-place Tro-
phy for his vault routine, a tro-
phy for the Big Ten Freshman of
the Year and one for the Big Ten
Gymnast of the Year.
All of the awards were second
to the all-around title he won
on Friday - becoming the first
freshman to do so since 1994.
There have been three other
freshmen to ever achieve those
honors: Drew Durbin of Ohio
State in 1994, John Roethlisberg-
er from Minnesota in 1990 and
Harley Donner from Michigan
in 1975.
As Roethlisberger went on to
become a three-time Olympian
gymnast and Durbin a six-time
All-American, being compared
to those gymnasts categorizes
Mikulak as one of the elite.
"It feels amazing to know that
my name will forever be remem-
bered as one of the only fresh-
man to ever win gymnast of the
year," Mikulak said. "Words
can't describe how it feels."
On Friday, when Michigan
was trailing Illinois and needed
a clutch routine, Mikulak was
called on. He came through for
No. 6 Michigan by qualifying for
four of the six event finals and
also scoring a season high on the
rings.
"I don't think (Mikulak)
lets the competition rattle him
very much," Michigan coach
Kurt Golder said. "I think he's
a focused and calm competitor
and a good steady worker. He's
not the hardest worker I've ever
had, but he also has a lot of natu-
ral ability."
What may be one of the most
impressive aspects of the perfor-
mance is that on the floor exer-
0
0
Freshman Sam Mikulak won the all-around title on Friday at the
earnent, becoming the first freshman to do so.
cise - arguably his best event
- he suffered some miscues and
didn't make the event finals.
Although Mikulak didn't
notch an individual event title
on Saturday, his scores on every
event Friday night were one of
the top-four Wolverine scores.
This is something last year's Big
Ten Gymnast of the Year and
teammate senior Chris Cameron
wasn't able to do.
"(Sam) has got so much tal-
ent, and he isbuilt for this sport,"
senior Ian Makowske said on
Saturday. "Mentally he's solid as
a rock, and that's just a danger-
ous combo. This isjust thebegin-
ning of what he's going to do at
Michigan and beyond."
Even after making history, the
fact that Michigan didn't accom-
plish what it had set out to do was
more important than any indi-
vidual achievements.
"(Mikulak) is a great team-
mate," Makowske said. "It's not
often you find someone so tal-
ented who's also so modest. He's
just all around a really great guy,
and it's a privilege to have him on
this team."
As the Wolverines travel to
Columbus for the NCAA Cham-
pionships in two weeks, Mikulak
will look to cap off a success-
ful year in his debut season for
Michigan.
After placing second on the
vault at the Winter Cup Chal-
lenge in February, he has expe-
rience on the national stage. He
was also earned six medals at the
Junior Olympic National Cham-
pionships when he was a senior
in High School.
"I definitely want to place
in the all-around (at NCAA's),"
Mikulak said. "Personally, I
don't want to set too many goals.
that itgets overwhelming. I want
to keep a clear mind and think
about having fun and hitting sets
as best as I can."
greatest golfers the world has
ever seen.
Call me a sucker, call me
cliche, but there's something
about a story like Kim's that
still makes me feel all tingly.
And when you see Kim walk-
- Kartje thinks you should
check out the Daily's exclusive
coverage of Kim's Masters'
run on michigandaily.com
this week. He can be reached
at rkartje@umich.edu
WEEKEND SPLIT
From Page 1B
Michigan the 1-0 lead.
Two more strikeouts by Mel-
loh and two innings later, it was
Blanchard who was back at the
dish to lead off the bottom of the
sixth.
She impressed again, launch-
ing a solo home run off her first
pitch and over the right field
wall, putting Michigan up 2-0.
Indiana (2-2 Big Ten, 20-14
overall) capitalized in the top of
the seventh to put a tally on the
board, but Taylor worked her-
self out of a jam to earn her 17th
win of the season.
"I told them after the first
game that I was really happy we
got to see Melloh again - I knew
we would," Hutchins said. "And
to get up for the challenge."
But that was advice Michigan
didn't utilize.
During the second game,
Indiana knocked the Wolverines
back on their heels from the get
go.
Sophomore pitcher Stephanie
Speierman walked her first bat-
ter of the game, and after several
big Hoosier hits and an error by
Michigan, Indiana (2-2, 20-14)
jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead.
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Wolverines were not able happen.
ly against the Hoosiers With two away - still down
the fifth inning. Senior by two - Knapp came up to the
sated hitter Alycia Ryan plate with two runners on.
d up the middle - just her A single to right field put
it of the year - to lead off Michigan down by just one, and
ning. after a fielding error by Indi-
ee hits and two Indiana ana, sophomore second base-
put Michigan back in the man Ashley Lane crossed the
knotting the score at two. plate to send the game into extra
innings.
It looked like the Wolverines
may earn their third come-
'That's the from-behind win in just one
week.
d of pitching But a loud Michigan crowd
was quickly hushed as Olson
e're going to hit her second home run of the
game - this time, a solo one -
ave to beat." to give the Hoosiers the quick
one-up in the top of the eighth.
The Wolverines were unable to
produce in the bottom of the
illy, giving the crowd eighth, losing their first game to
hing to cheer for, the Wol- Indiana since 1996, 5-4.
s welcomed Taylor back "I feel we've got a few people
mound, with six saves in the starting lineup who have
y under her belt this sea- their own mind," said Hutchins,
who was ejected from the game
with one runner on base, during the sixth inning after
r first baseman Sara arguing an interference call
knocked a two-run home made on Ryan.
er the wall in the deepest "If we have more than one
'the ballpark to give Indi- mind, it's not going to work. It
two-run lead right back. won't win big. So they've got
he bottom of the seventh, to make some decisions if they
olverines had just three want to be a bunch of individu-
eft to make something als or if they want to be a team."
KRANTZ
From Page 1B
the first baseman, Clark's foot
missed the bag. It was the first of
five Michigan errors in the game.
"Typically, itbites you," Mich-
igan coach Rich Maloney said of
the poor defensive play. "They
took advantage of mistakes
we made, and they got two big
innings because of it. Then,
they got a few timely hits in
there mixed in, a couple rock-
ets after we kind of opened the
gates for them. That's what was
discouraging about that game
because they didn't just beat us,
we kind of beat ourselves, and
that's tough."
Clark was tagged for seven
runs - only one of which was
earned - in just 2.1 innings of
work.
Freshman designated hitter
and pitcher Alex Lakatos was
Michigan's lone bright spot,
going 3-for-4 in the game and
5-for-9 on the weekend, but it
wasn't enough to lift the Wol-
verines in the late game on Sat-
urday.
The game - which saw a
brief hailstorm blanket the
field - was moved to Saturday
afternoon because of predicted
inclement weather during the
scheduled Sunday start.
The early Saturday game was
a pitching duel, with redshirt
sophomore Bobby Brosnahan on
the mound for Michigan.
The lefty - who struggled
for much of the non-conference
schedule - finally found his
control, as he went 6.1 innings
and gave up just two earned
runs.
But when he was pulled in the
seventh with the Wolverines
trailing 2-1, it appeared Bros-
nahan's strong outing would go
for naught due to the stagnant
offense.
That all changed when
Krantz - starting for the
injured sophomore Derek Den-
nis at shortstop - came to the
plate with a runner on in the
seventh. Krantz crushed a 3-1
pitch high over the brick wall in
left to ignite fans in Ray Fisher
Stadium.
"I think it was just a huge
lift and, I mean, I felt like at the
time we were going to at least tie
tAtt FROMM/Daily'
Sophomore pitcher Bobby Brosnahan pitched 6.1 innings on Saturday ad
allowed just two earned runs in Michigan's 3-2 win over Indiana.
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it up right then, but for us totake
the lead right there, I thought
that sealed the deal right there,"
Krantz said of his homer. "It
gave us huge momentum and we
just worked off that."
Lakatos - who relieved Bros-
nahan in the seventh - was
the beneficiary of the go-ahead
score.
The righty pitched 2.2 score-
less, no-hit innings to lock up
his first career win - and the
team's first conference win, 3-2.
"That was one of the happiest
I've ever seen a Michigan base-
ball team since I've been here,"
Brosnahan said. "It was a big
win. They're a good team in the
Big Ten - they've got one of the
better lineups we'll face hitting-
wise ... So it's big to get a win
against these guys.
"Obviously we would've liked
two, but baby steps."
Added Maloney: "That was
Michigan baseball that we've
been accustomed to, and that
was nice to see ... Brosnahan was
great, kept them off balance, did
a great job. And then I thought
Alex Lakatos was electric. The
umpire even commented, he
says, 'He really looked good.'
Inthe opener Friday, the Wol-
verines were aided by another
first-inning Indiana wild pitch
to go ahead 2-0.
But redshirt sophomore
pitcher Tyler Mills couldn't
sustain the lead, going just 3.2
innings of seven-run ball.
Junior Coley Crank led the
Wolverines with three runs on
three hits and an RBI.
Crank - who entered the
weekend hitting just .208 -
went 6-for-9 in the three-game
set.
With the opening week-
end of conference play in the
books, Michigan will take the
momentum of a win with it into
Wednesday's game at Central
Michigan before heading to
Purdue next weekend.
"We know we can beat any-
body," Krantz said. "In certain
times of the games, we've got to
make a play here and there and
we're right in it, like we did in
the first game (on Saturday). We
came up with a timely hit that
gave us the win, so we know we
can do it, we've just got to find
ways to do it more often."
I