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8A - Wednesday, March 28, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Sport BASEBALL
Szkutik hurls gem infirst
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career start as Bu wins AI Cncn
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Freshman dazzles
in one-hit winning
effort over Oakland
By GLENN MILLER JR.
Daily Sports Writer
In his first collegiate start,
freshman left-hander Trent
Szkutnik pitched like an estab-
lished ace for
the Michi- OAKLAND 1
gan baseball MICHIGAN 6
team. The
starter's impressive one-hit per-
formance is exactly what the
Wolverine bullpen needed in one
of their final games before Big
Ten play..
Michigan defeated Oakland,
6-1, with the help of strong per-
formances on the mound and at
the plate. Four Wolverine pitch-
ers let up a combined four hits in
Tuesday's victory over the Golden
Grizzlies; which extended Michi-
gan's win streak to three games.
The Wolverines (12-12) relied
heavily on the first three hitters
of their lineup, who contributed
five of the team's seven hits.
"I definitely had some pregame
jitters for my first career start,"
Szkutnik said. "I just knew what
I had to do. I had to go out there
, and throw strikes and let my
defense back me up. I felt really
comfortable with that."
Szkutnik mowed down Oak-
land's lineup in the first two
innings. Three groundballs and
three strikeouts got the Wolver-
ines off the field early. The first
scores of the game came late in
the third as Michigan batted in
two runs. A leadoff walk from
freshman shortstop Dylan Del-
aney put a Wolverine on base,
but Delaney was replaced by
sophomore catcher Cole Martin
after he grounded to the short-
stop. Junior center fielder Pat-
rick Biondi then smacked a ball
down the right-field line, earning
a double and advancing Martin to
third. After freshman Will Drake
struck out, sophomore Michael
O'Neill's single to left brought in
both Michigan base runners to
put the Wolverines on top.
Two more exceptional innings
from Szkutnik maintained Michi-
gan's lead going into the fifth,
pvw r uasetuaii
past Grizzlies
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Freshman Trent Szkutnik finally got the run support he was looking for in the latter innings of Tuesday's win over Oakland.
when junior right-hander Kyle Michigan bats came in the eighth.
Clark entered the game to relieve. Senior third baseman John Lorenz
A pair of walks in the sixth put walked to start off the inning. A
two runners on -for Oakland. fielding error by Oakland's short-
Golden Grizzlies freshman Spen- stop put senior Coley Crank on
cer Marentette singled through base while advancing Lorenz to
the right side, scoring a run to cut third and redshirt sophomore sec-
the Wolverines' lead in half. and baseman John DiLaura's per-
Michigan responded in the fectly executed bunt back to the
seventh with a bitcher gave
two-out rally. Lorenz just
Biondi reached enough time
base on a walk, "This game is to beat the tag
and then stole at the plate.
second base - funny - you Later, a Biondi
his sixteenth double down
steal of the sea- have to battle the right-field
son. Drake fol- line brought
lowed with a backin another two
single to left, Wolverines,
which was. just contributing
enough to score to their final of
Biondi all the way from second. six runs.
"I started off kind of shaky at Freshman Matt Ogden sealed
first, but this game is funny - the win for Michigan, earning his
you have to battle back and battle second save of the year. In his two
throughs it," Drake said. "I was innings of relief, he allowed only
able to get a big hit late, which one hit with one strikeout. Szku-
kind of helped out. It turned out tik finished the game with one hit
to be a nice day." and four strikeouts through 15
More insurance from the batters faced, culminating in his
first win of the season. The Gold-
en Grizzlies' Jason Hager picked
up the loss with three strikeouts
and three walks in six innings of
work.
"I thought Trent was outstand-
ing," said Michigan coach Rich
Maloney. "He has the chance to
be a really good pitcher. We just
wanted him ready for the week-
end, so we really were only going
to pitch him three innings. His
pitch count was only at 47, so we
let him go for four."
Tuesday's consistent pitching
performance will build confi-
dence in Michigan's bullpen as it
continues to search for a reliable
rotation. The Wolverines will also
look to continue their momentum
at the plate as they head into Big
Ten play this weekend.
"We're startingto come togeth-
er as a team hitting-wise," Drake
said. "It's a stepping stone in the
right direction, especially for Big
Ten play comingup. Once you can
put all the pieces of the puzzle
together, we honestly believe we
will be in the mix for the Big Ten
championship."
By STEVEN BRAID
Daily Sports Writer
All season long, the Michi-
gan baseball team's offense has
been carried by the top of the
batting order. Tuesday was no
different.
Junior center fielder Patrick
Biondi, freshman left fielder
Will Drake and sophomore
right fielder Michael O'Neill
- the top three hitters in the
lineup - provided all the pro-
duction the Wolverines (12-12
overall) needed in their 6-1 vic-
tory against Oakland.
"Those three outfielders are
pretty good," said Michigan
coach Rich Maloney. "We feel
like we have three all-league
type players out there in the
outfield, which is a huge asset
for us. They're fun to watch."
Against three Golden Griz-
zlies' hurlers, the trio combined
to go 5-for-12, accounting for all
but two of Michigan's hits. They
also batted in five runs and stole
two bases.
According to Maloney, the
key to their success is simple.
"You've got to get timely
hits," Maloney said. "Even
though we didn't get it from the
rest of the lineup, O'Neill got a
timely hit today and Drake got a
timely hit today."
All five of the outfielders'
RBIs came on timely, two-out
hits. In the bottom of the third
inning, with sophomore catcher
Cole Martin on first base, Bion-
di smacked a double down the
right-field line to put runners
at second and third base. After
Drake struck out, O'Neill laced
a two-out, two-run single to left
field. Those runs would be all
Michigan needed for the rest of
the day, but the trio wasn't fin-
ished.
With two outs in the seventh
inning and Michigan's lead cut
to 2-1, Biondi walked. He then
stole second before scoring on
a left-field single by Drake, pro-
viding the Wolverines with an
insurance run.
"Obviously there are roles
there," O'Neill said. "Patrick's
job is to get on (base) - get hit,
get a hit or walk. With the way
Will puts the ball in play, he's
just trying to move him over ...
and then obviously my job is to
drive (Patrick) in. I think we did
a really nice job of knowing our
roles today and executing our
roles."
Later, with the bases load-
ed and two outs in the eighth
inning, Biondi batted in two
runs when he roped a double
down the right-field line.
With his two hits against the
Golden Grizzlies (3-17), Biondi
prolonged his hitting streak to
seven games. During his streak,
he has batted 13-for-24 and has
walked eight times, collecting
eight runs and five RBIs. And
in the last four games, Biondi's
batting average has skyrock-
eted from .243 to .307. Before
he struck out in the fifth inning,
the center fielder had reached
base on 10-consecutive plate
appearances.
"That's what you need from
your leadoff hitter," Maloney
said after Biondi went 4-for-5
against IPFW on Sunday. "He
needs to be the table setter, and
that's what will help change
this team."
But as much as Maloney is
impressed with the production
of Biondi, Drake and O'Neill,
he's just as worried about the
lack of production from every-
one else.
"Am I concerned?" Maloney
asked. "Absolutely."
Against a mediocre pitch-
ing staff, the rest of the lineup
managed just two hits and
couldn't replicate the trio's
knack for two-out RBIs, leav-
ing men in scoring position on
.two separate occasions. In last
weekend's series against the
Mastodons, they left 22 men on
base.
"The rest of the lineup needs
to be able to get the timely hit,"
Maloney said. "If you're not
going to have a lot of opportu-
nities, you've got to make the
most of the few you have."
'M' softball gears up or homestand's end
By GREG GARNO momentum heading into its last
Daily Sports Writer of five-straight home games on
Wednesday against Bowling
The Michigan softball team Green.
has been searching for momen- A key reason for the Wolver-
tum to help propel it through the ines' momentum is the recent
season. surge in offensive production. In
And the Wolverines found it. a total team effort, Michigan tal-
Over the weekend, No. 20 lied a season-high 13 hits on Sun-
Michigan won in dominant fash- day as part of its 35-hit weekend.
ion against Penn State and built If Michigan (21-9 overall) is to
maintain quality at-bats against
the Falcons, it will once again
depend on its plate discipline.
The Wolverines combined for 20
walks over the weekend, which
translated into better scoring
opportunities and a team total
.361 on-base percentage.
Senior center fielder Bree
Evans .knows that the team's
poise in the batter's box is critical
to coming away with a victory.
"We just have to keep being
patient," Evans said. "There are
more pitchers that like to throw
the movement. They're not going
to come right out and throw
strikes right away. Everyone's
doing their part. That's what
we've been doing the whole week,
and that's what we want to keep
doing."
Michigan will look to fresh-
man catcher Lauren Sweet,
recently honored as Big Ten
Freshman of the Week, to help
push the offense. Sweet leads the
team with her
.338 batting aver-
age and .407 Bowling
on-base percent- Green at
age, despite hit-
ting toward the Michigan
bottom of the Matchup:
lineup. Bowling Green
It's that bot- 15-9; Michi-
tom of the line- gan 21-9
up, though, that When:
came through Wednesday
against Penn 4 P.M.
State for Mich- Where:
igan coach Alumni Field
Carol Hutchins
and keyed the
team's championship run in
2005. The Wolverines hope
sophomore outfielder Nicole
Sappingfield and junior short-
stop Amy Knapp can continue
their success at the plate toward'
the bottom of the order after
combining for eight hits over
the weekend.
To Hutchins, the game plan is
simple: continue doing the same
thing.
"You've got to be able to hit
hittable pitches and have good
at-bats," Hutchins said. "We're
a very capable team."
Offense hasn't been the only
important piece to Michigan's
winning streak. Led by fresh-
man Haylie Wagner, Big Ten
Co-Pitcher of the Week, the
Wolverines have held their
opponents to eight runs during
their four-game winning streak.
Wagner carries a 1.28 ERA
into Wednesday's game and will
look to build off her latest game,
in which she struck out six bat-
ters.
Despite the momentum,
Hutchins said on Sunday that any
previous wins "have no bearing
on the next game," and Bowling
Green (15-9 overall) is no excep-
tion. The improved Falcons have
already surpassed last year's win
total (12) and have stars with both
the bat and the glove.
Bowling Green is led by soph-
omore infielder Katie Yoho, a
workhorse who leads her team in
almost every offensive category.
Yoho carries a .370 batting aver-
age and an even more impressive
.753 slugging percentage, which
has helped put her among the top
of the leaderboard in the Mid-
American Conference.
The Falcons also rely on a
freshman pitcher, Jamie Kertes, -a
to keep games close. Though her
7-4 record doesn'treflect her solid
first year, her 1.49 ERA stands out
as an indicator of her ability to get
batters out.
Bowling Green, which is 5-28 y
all-time against the Wolverines,
will have to overcome a lack
of depth in its lineup to have a
chance against Michigan's bal-
anced lineup.
Perhaps the most important
factor, though, will be Alumni
Field. The Wolverines are in
their longest home stretch and
have looked like a new team since
returning to Ann Arbor.
"Alumni Field is one of the best
college softball environments in
the country," Hutchins said. "Our
fans love us, and they can't wait to
see us play."
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