.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 ing the Links' that m would For th course bers, a to abot a few,f $10,00 So W real ro noon,a some o athlete a prett Kim Michig the ho I 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. The to ral until design singlet fifth h the inn Thr( errors game,l kin W hd Fina sometl verinev to the alread son. But Hoosie Olsonl run ov( part of ana its In tf the W outs 1 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. FOR MORE DAILY SPORTS COVERAGE FROM THIS WEEKEND: Log on to michigandaily.com AND FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @michdailysports 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