The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
March 26, 2012 - 3B
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Blue takes rubber match vs. JPFW =
By STEVEN BRAID
Daily Sports Writer
Entering the weekend, the last
time the Michigan baseball team
won consecutive contests was
during a
four-game IPFW 6
winning MICHIGAN 8
streak in
late Febru- I PF W 2
ary. But if MICHIGAN 4
this week-
end's series MIC HIGAN 11
against
Indiana-
Purdue Fort Wayne was any
indication, winning consecutive
games might become a regular
occurrence for the Wolverines.
Behind a dominant pitching
performance from junior left-
hander Bobby Brosnahan and an
offensive outbreak, Michigan (11-
12) took the rubber match of the
series, 11-2, after a 8-6 loss on Fri-
day and a 4-2 victory on Saturday.
"It's good to have (Brosnahan)
back after he missed one start
last week," said Michigan coach
Rich Maloney. "He was throwing
three pitches for strikes, and he
was outstanding. The good thing
is that we got to limit his pitches."
Brosnahan stifled IPFW's
offense all game. He retired the
first 10 batters he faced and didn't
allow a hit until the fifth inning,
when Mastodon third baseman
Kristian Gayday led off the frame
with a single. But it was the only
trouble that Brosnahan encoun-
tered while on the mound. He
then recorded six consecutive
outs before Maloney pulled him
to keep his arm fresh.
In six innings of work, Brosna-
han gave up only one hit, struck
out four batters and allowed just
two baserunners.
"I just (tried) to mix my pitch-
es," Brosnahan said. "They're not
really an offensive powerhouse,
so if you throw strikes, you're
going to get a good result."
Brosnahan's performance coin-
cided with the Wolverines' best
day at the plate in three weeks, as
eight different batters recorded at
least one RBI. Sparked by junior
centerfielder Patrick Biondi,
Michigan scored runs in four of
the first five innings, including
four-run frames in the fourth and
fifth innings. Senior catcher Coley
Crank and senior third baseman
John Lorenz smacked back-to-
back solo home runs to start off
the bottom of the fifth inning.
But Biondi set the tone for the
Wolverines. The junior - who
went 4-for-5 with two runs, two
RBIs and one stolen base - was a
constant threat on the basepaths.
The leadoff hitter went 7-for-11
during the series and reached
base four more times on walks.
"I've been able to get on base to
lead off a couple of games lately,
which is good, and it helped out
our team today," Biondi said. "I'm
glad that our whole team kind of
woke up, because we hadn't been
playing as well as we wanted. It
was nice to come out today and
get a lot of hits and score some
runs."
Brosnahan wasn't the only
starting pitcher to one-hit the
Mastodons this weekend. On Sat-
urday, senior right-hander Bran-
don Sinnery earned his first win
of the season when he befuddled
IPFW's lineup. The Mastodons
managed only one hit and an
unearned run against Sinnery in
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Junior Bobby Brosnahan retired the first 10 batters he faced on the weekend.
seven innings.
IPFW didn't fare much bet-
ter against the Wolverines' bull-
pen. Freshman Trent Szkutnik,
fifth-year senior Travis Smith
and freshman James Bourque fin-
ished off the one-hitter, as Michi-
gan won, 4-2. Crank batted in two
runs in the first inning, and the
Wolverinesscored insurance runs
late to secure the victory.
Michigan didn't have as much
early success at the plate in its
thrilling home opener. On Friday,
the Wolverines were unable to
find any sort of rhythm on offense
against IPFW's Charles Weaver
until the ninth inning. Weaver,
who entered the series with a 5.06
ERA, allowed only one earned run
and struck out out nine batters
through the first eight frames.
But in the ninth inning, his con-
trol deserted him. ]He walked
two and hit a batter before being
yanked with the bases loaded and
one out.
The Wolverines took advan-
tage of the opportunity. With
the crowd cheering, sophomore
catcher Cole Martin walked to
bring in a run to cut the deficit
to 5-2. Freshman left fielder Will
Drake then knocked in two more
runs with a two-out single before
O'Neill singled home the tying
run. The two teams traded runs in
the tenth inning before the Mast-
odons' left fielder Carter DeBoe,
who was 0-for-5 up to that point,
smacked a two-run homerun off
junior Kyle Clark, giving IPFW an
8-6 victory. Junior right-hander
Ben Ballantine, who started the
game, struck out a career-high
seven batters in five innings of
work.
Though a sweep was expected,
Maloney was encouraged by how
Michigan bounced back.
"In the first game, they took
it to us," Maloney said. "But give
our kids credit for fighting back.
It's good to see our guys respond."
Somehow, Cinderella stayed
at the ball for three mesmeriz-
ingyears.
The kid who was too small
to geta chance in goal, got
a chance in goal. The goalie
who wasn't good enough to
start, started. The starter who
wouldn't possibly win, won.
He led Michigan on its
miracle run to clinch an NCAA
Tournament berth in 2010, and
then willed it into the National
Championship game the follow-
ing year.
He was the team's best player
all season, but he was more than
that.
"What can you say to Hun-
wick?" said senior forward Luke
Glendening.
"He's been the rock of this
team for three years now. Words
can't describe what you say to
him."
Three years' worth of memo-
ries came tumbling toward
Hunwick eight minutes into the
overtime period against Cornell
on Friday. Three years of chance
injuries and breaks, three years
of saves, three years of improb-
able wins, burst past Derek DeB-
lois and Kevin Lynch.
A lifetime of those who told
him he would never make a save
for Michigan stared Hunwick in
the face and dared him to save a
Greg Miller wrister.
And, with an outstretched
pad save, he did.
If this really were Cinderella,
if this were a fairy tale, that
would be that.
Michigan would ride the
momentum of that great save to
a season-saving overtime win.
But this isn't a fairy tale and
there are no happily ever afters,
even for Shawn Hunwick. This
is college hockey, and this is
single-elimination, and the play-
ers? Humans.
So that wasn't that, Michigan
didn't go down and score, and
Hunwick didn't get the ring.
"Shawn Hunwick here has
had a Cinderella year," said
Michigan coach Red Berenson.
"I wish he could've had abetter
ending."
And the ending?
All-too-human: Hunwick
couldn't control the rebound,
Rodger Craig put the puck into
the open net, and at 10:56 on a
rainy night in Green Bay, Wisc.,
the career of the most improb-
able goalie in Michigan hockey
history ended.
Losing the battle against
tears, Shawn Hunwick passes
Cornell coach Mike Schafer at
12:23 a.m.
Schafer was walking to the
podium to speak to the media.
Hunwick was walking out.
"One of the classiest things
I've seen in 25 years of coach-
ing," Schafer would say of Hun-
wick's gesture to Cornell after
the game.
Outside, ina concrete hall-
way, a man whose Cornell tie
matches Hunwick's eyes taps
the former Michigan goalie on
the shoulder and shakes his
hand.
Hunwick turns to his right
toward his locker room. He
stops, then turns back and calls
out:
"Good luck tomorrow."
You too, Shawn.
SWEEP
From Page 1B
Amy Knapp crushed her second
home run of the season to deep
right field. The hit landed half-
way up the right-field bleachers
and traveled an estimated 260
feet, according to Michigan coach
Carol Hutchins.
Hutchins was impressed by
the perseverance displayed by
Knapp, who was replaced but
reinserted into the game due to
the rule allowing one starter per
team to re-enter the game.
"I pinch hit for her, and she
didn't hold her head," Hutchins
said.
Perseverance is a trait that
Hutchins believes the team pos-
sesses.
"It's tough to play a team three
times and beat them all three,"
Hutchins said. "We had to perse-
vere and we persevered through-
out this game."
Freshman pitcher Haylie Wag-
ner progressed as the weekend
series progressed. After going
the distance in Michigan's first
game, which was shortened to
five innings due to the mercy
rule, Wagner relieved freshman
pitcher Sara Driesenga after
three innings in Saturday's sec-
ond game.
Hutchins said Driesenga
"threw a couple fat pitches that
(Penn State) hit well," and as a
result, she was yanked after three
innings.
Driesenga started the inning
by giving up a leadoff walk to the
Nittany Lions. After junior sec-
ond baseman Ashley Lane made
an error, pitching coach Bonnie
Tholl, freshman catcher Lauren
Sweet and Driesenga met at the
mound in an attempt to calm
the pitcher down. The aftermath
of the meeting was not what
Hutchins wanted. Driesenga
went on to walk the next batter
to load the bases and then gave up
a two-run double to sophomore
catcher Kasie Hatfield, making
the score 5-2.
Hutchins had to pull the plug.
"When the bullpen comes in
the game, it's their job to stop the
bleeding," Hutchins said.
This was exactly what Wagner
did.
Though Wagner was able to get
out of the jam and earn the win in
the mercy-rule-shortened game,
she did not appear as sharp as
she has been. However, her per-
formance on Sunday was at that
level.
"She seemed a little bit more
relaxed," Hutchins said. "Haylie
really came back."
The Wolverines' patience at
the plate was key for Michigan
over the weekend.
In the three-game set, the
Wolverine hitters drew 20 walks,
including 10 in one of Saturday's
games.
"Quality at-bats are the reason
we get runs," Hutchins said. "We
are trying to gain momentum in
quality at-bats."
The Wolverines' play this
weekend showed the potential
the team has.
"We're approaching it like we
should have been approaching it
the whole year," said senior cen-
terfielder Bree Evans.
Something that Hutchins was
reminded of this weekend was
the 2005 championship team's
motto: "When the bottom of the
order comes through, champion-
ships are won."
Hutchins knows her team is a
very capable one. She envisions a
three-tool team - good pitching,
good defense and hitting hittable
pitches.
"You have to be consistent
in all those categories to have
a chance to achieve any of our
goals," Hutchins said.
SARAH SQUIRE
Junior shortstop Amy Knapp launched her second home run of the season.
OVERTURNED
From Page 1B
press conference by mentioning
it.
"The goal that was disallowed
was obviously a factor in the
game," Berenson said.
It became more than a factor.
The game's entire complexion
was changed. The Big Red played
like a team with absolutely noth-
ing to lose. And why shouldn't
they have? The nightmarish start
proved to be
nothing more
than a bad
dream. "The g
Instead of
buckling to the was disc
second-ranked
Wolverines, was ob
Cornell proved
resilient. And a fac
it caught the
Wolverines off
guard, no mat-
ter how highly they thought of
the Big Red.
"When I popped one in, emo-
tions were running high," Lynch
said. "We're astrongenough team
where we could come back (from
the disappointment of the no
goal). ... Obviously, we would've
liked to have had that goal. Going
up 2-0 would've been huge."
Though the Wolverines
couldn't hang on to the lead that
eventually disappeared, they
never let the game out of their
reach. In fact, when Lynch did
finally score - a blue-collar goal
late in the third period off of a
grade-A chance in front of the net
- his disallowed goal became all
the more important.
But when Schafer called time-
out just over a minute into the
game, his counterpart Berenson
didn't even think that the tally
could be taken off of the board.
Then, when the call came for a
review, he was confused.
"I was wondering why it was
being reviewed," Berenson said.
"I thought they called a timeout
because of the momentum. ... If
I were their coach, I probably
would've called a timeout, too.
"When a player goes through
the crease, typically - and I'mnot
questioning the officials - but,
typically, they'll blow the whis-
tie. If he's out
of the crease,
you'll probably
oal that let itgo."
The time-
allowed out did end up
being about
ViouSly momentum,
but not in the
:tor let's-stop-
the-bleeding
manner Scha-
fer probably
intended. Rather, when the refer-
ee crossed his arms to signal the
disallowed goal, the momentum
swungtoward Cornell.
The Wolverines felt helpless
when the officials changed the
call.
"Goals are precious this time of
year," Berenson said. "If you score
(one), you'd like to know they're
sure.
"And I'm sure they were sure....
We had something going (before
the review)."
Berenson couldn't have asked
for a more promising opening two
minutes from his team. But the
disappointment of the stripped
goal made the Wolverines look
like the ones with an uphill climb,
not the Cornell team that then
trailed.
CORNELL
From Page 1B
their penalty kill weathered the
onslaught, penalty after penalty.
"Our penalty killers tonight
were just unbelievable," Iles said.
"Those guys are the ones who
really stole the show in the sec-
ond period and they did a great
job. We were really able to build
off that momentum going into
the third."
The Wolverines came out flat
in the third period, managing
just two shots through the first 16
minutes of the final frame, high-
lighted by the only power play of
the period. That man-advantage
got exactly zero shots on goal.
The season was slipping out
of hand, a sloppy performance to
send off the senior class in Green
Bay.
Then Lynch, so often the
example of a Wolverine skater
that plays his best when the
lights are the brightest, pulled
Michigan out from its deep
slumber. He made sure this goal
counted, sliding the puck past
Iles, who was out of position
after a rebound, with just over
four minutes remaining.
The game almost ended with
12 seconds left, as the puck sat
a couple feet away from send-
ing the Wolverines to a second-
round matchup against Ferris
State.
But Isles and a swarm of
defensemen flew over to sit on
the puck.
After a third intermission,
Cornell took over in overtime
and ended Michigan's season.
An overtime defeat wasn't
how it was supposed to end for
the one-seed Wolverines. They
drew what was considered the
easiest regional bracket, play-
ing a Cornell team that won five
fewer games than Michigan.
Hunwick, a former walk-on,
was supposed to continue his
brilliant career to the Frozen
Four in Tampa Bay, Fla., where
he would be flanked by one of the
most heroic and unlikely senior
classes in recent Michigan hock-
ey history.
"It's a tough pill to swallow
because we've had some real
good efforts from our team this
year, particularly with Shawn
Hunwick, who has had a Cinder-
ella career here," Berenson said.
"I wish he could have had a bet-
ter ending."
This team played through the
CCHA gauntlet, coming back
from the dead in November and
losing just four games in the first
three months of 2012, working
through the ups and downs that
came with having eight fresh-
man and four seniors.
Hunwick, Glendening, defen-
seman Greg Pateryn and for-
ward David Wohlberg pulled off
their Michigan jerseys for the
last time on Friday night, with a
plane waiting to fly them back to
Ann Arbor. This wasn't expect-
ed.
This wasn't how it was sup-
posed to end.
Applications are now being accepted for the
Undergraduate Program in
C )
Philosophy, Politics & Economics
PPE
0
Deadline is March 30. Visit
www.lsa.umich.edu/ppe
for more information
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