6A - Wednesday, October 10, 2012
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 0
6A - Wednesday, October10, 2012 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom *
Blue wins 14-inning marathon
against U-18 Ontario Blue Jays
Michigan earns
win despite errors,
sioppy performance
By LIZ NAGLE
Daily Sports Writer
New Michigan baseball coach
Erik Bakich and the Michigan
baseball team got their first taste
of competitive action at RayFish-
er Stadium on Tuesday, but no
one was impressed.
The Wolverines littered the
field with errors en route to an
unsatisfactory 8-5 win against
the under-18 Ontario Blue Jays in
a 14-inning _
exhibi- ONTARIO 5
tion. (To MICHIGAN 8
remain in
compliance with NCAA rules,
the extended game serves in
place of two seven-inning con-
tests.) Michigan's ho-hum effort
showed just how much prepara-
tion it needs this off season.
The Blue Jays maintained
a narrow 5-4 lead in the 13th
inning, but the Wolverines start-
ed a rally with luck on their side
to mark a four-run frame.
Sophomore middle infielder
Eric Jacobson advanced to first
base on a walk and second base
on a passed ball. Junior right
fielder Michael O'Neill tried to
sacrifice bunt, but reached on
Ontario's throwing error and
batted in the tying run.
The Blue Jays' pitching staff
handed Michigan the lead -
Ontario right-hander Sean Rat-
cliff intentionally loaded the
bases before sophomore Kyle
Jusick found contact, singling up
the middle.
The Wolverines capped the
night's scoring on a pair of bases-
loaded walks. But both bullpens
pitched poorly. Michigan hurlers
combined for a torrent of wild
pitches, six walks and a trio of
earned runs.
"The errors we made tonight
were unacceptable," Bakich
said. "That'll never be acceptable
because pitching and defense
win championships. ... I don't
think that was up to Michigan
standards tonight."
Though nearly every hurler in
the arsenal saw some time on the
TERRA MOLENGRAFF/t
Junior right fielder Michael O'Neill, pictured here last spring, and the Wolverines beat the Ontario Blue Jays team at
home on Tuesday.
mound, two experienced right-
handers remained in the dugout.
Senior Ben Ballantine and
sophomore Matt Ogden were
both unavailable to play fall
ball. Ballantine is resting his
arm through the offseason and
will likely be the ace this spring
after tossing 74.2 innings with 41
strikeouts last year.
Ogden is recovering from a
mild injury after being hit in the
head with a baseball. Though he
rarely started last year, the Auro-
ra, Colo. native came to be a reli-
able source in relief. In his rookie
campaign, Ogden earned three
saves in 40.1 innings of work.
With last season's graduated
seniors, Michigan has a handful
of spots to fill in the lineup.
At this point, starting slots
are up for grabs, and a freshmen
trio - Travis Maezes, Jack Sex-
ton and Jacob Cronenworth -
looked promising in the infield.
"You can probably expect
some of them to step in," Biondi
said. "I'm not exactly sure which
role they'll have, butI think you'll
see them contribute."
But it's the veteran outfield
duo that carried Michigan to
the win over Ontario, notching
familiar numbers and creating
timely hits. Biondi and O'Neill
combined 4-for-10 with four
runs, an RBI and two walks.
The odd man out, however, was
sophomore left fielder Will Drake,
who remains inactive due to slow
quadricep recovery. He swung a
hot bat early and often at the start
of last season, but on April 11, he
buckled running down the first-
base line against Toledo.
"(He) needs time to heal and
needs time to get back to a hun-
dred percent," Bakich said. "He's
rehabbing very efficiently with
our training staff and he'll be
fine."
A few missing keys on the field
and a slew of mental mistakes
nearly led Michigan to its first
loss against Ontario in four years.
The Wolverines posted lopsided
victories against the Canadians
in 2010 and 2011, outscoring their
opponent by a combined score of
51-2.
But after its woeful exhibi-
tion performance, Michigan is
actively searching for a spark.
After suffering two-straight
injury-prone years in the bottom
of the Big Ten, a change is much
needed. Which is why the Bakich
and his highly touted staff hope
to give the team a lift with their
gung-ho approach.
"The new coaching staff has
been great for our program, a lot
of energy every day," Biondi said.
"I think it's something the whole
team has really welcomed in and
has really bought into their phi-
losophy."
Essentially, an exhibition
means little. But for a team in its
rebuilding stages, ready to climb
the conference ranks and take
home a title, it means something
a little more.
"It just gives us a glimpse
when we can turn the lights on
and play against another shirt,"
Bakich said. "We obviously have
a lot of things to work on and a
long way to go."
By DAVID WEINFELD
For the Daily
Erik Bakich's young son Colt
rushed onto the infield grass and
to his father's side, tugging on
the -first-year Michigan baseball
coach's pant leg. Bakich looked
down, smiled and spun Colt
around. Even though Michigan
beat the Ontario Blue Jays 8-5 in
Bakich's first game in Ann Arbor,
it was hard for him to maintain
his festive mood. Bakich wasn't
satisfied.
During the 14-inning exhibi-
tion on Tuesday, the Wolverines
made seven errors and had four
wild pitches. The Blue Jays, an
under-18 team that showcases
Canada's top young baseball tal-
ent, scored two of their five runs
off of the mistakes, helping them
control a lead until the bottom
of the eighth inning. In the third
inning, with a runner on second
base, a throwing error by fresh-
man second baseman Jacob
Cronenworth brought in Ontar-
io's first run. In the fourth inning,
the left side of the infield faltered.
Freshmen third baseman Travis
Maezes made a throwing error on
a softly hit ground ball. The next
hitter dribbled a potential double-
play ball to shortstop, where it
snuck through the legs of sopho-
more Dylan Delaney. Luckily for
the Wolverines, they escaped the
inning without giving up a run.
In the fifth inning it was more
of the same. A wild pitch and a
throwing error were charged to
junior right-hander Alex Lakatos.
Two more errors ocured in the top
of the 10th inning, one on a throw
by junior pitcher Logan McAnal-
len, and another on a dropped line
drive by sophomore second base-
man Eric Jacobson.
The sloppiness was a common
theme throughout the game. The
Blue Jays capitalized on Michi-
gan's litany of mistakes, scoring
two of their five runs on wild
pitches.
"We obviously have a lot of
things to work on and a long
way to go," Bakich said. "It gave
us a good idea of things to focus
on. It was tentativeness, and you
could sense it in batting practice
because it's our first game. Guys
are nervous, guys are anxious.
They didn't look comfortable or
confident. I could get that feel just
by their body language."
Senior center fielder Patrick
Biondi echoed Bakich's assess-
ment, saying that the Wolverines
were nervous and "played really
tight."
"In normal practices we have
been playing really clean baseball.
I think you can see it in some of
the young guys' eyes, and even the
veterans, that we weren't relaxed
and we weren't as confident as we
should be. It's just a matter of get-
ting those guys to come out with
a little more swagger and confi-
dence."
Despite their defensive woes,
the Wolverines were also able to
capitalize on the Blue Jays' mis-
takes, turning Ontario's - three
errors and four wild pitches into
four runs of their own, resulting
in four of Michigan's eight runs.
The Wolverines said they'll know
that they will need to clean up
their game, as the Blue Jays are
well below the average level of a
Big Ten team.
The veterans and the new-
comers have a sense of optimism
about the team and its future.
Bakich's methods and style have
meshed well with the Wolverines,
by all accounts. Bakich is focused
not only on this teams success but
on the program's future.
"The players are buying into
the enthusiasm and the style that
we bring," Bakich concluded.
"Our program will have an identi-
ty, we don't have an identity right
now, but I think all great organi-
zations know exactly what they
stand for."
Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmall.com
RELEASE DATE-Wednesday, October 10,2012
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