The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com April 22, 2013 - 3B The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom April 22, 2013 - 3B MICHIGAN ATHLETICS SCOREBOARD L A S T W E E K TUESDAY (APR. 16) Softball: Michigan 7, Indiana 4 (9 inn.) Baseball: Michigan 8, Notre Dame 2 FRIDAY (APR. 19) Men's Gymnastics: 443.50 (1st of 6) Women's Tennis: Michigan 5, Penn State 2 Men's Tennis: Michigan7, Penn State 0 Women's Gymnastics: National Championships 196.850 (4th of 6) SATURDAY (APR. 20) Women'sRowing:(morning session)6:34.4 (2nd of 6) Men's Larosse: Michigan 11, Saint Josephs 8 Softball: Michigan 5, Iowa 3 Women's Rowing:(afternoonsession) 6:19.0 (3rd of 7) Baseball: Northwestern6, Michigan 0 Men'sGymnastics:NationalChampions443.200 (tREof 6) SUNDAY (APR. 21) Women's Tennis: Michigan 7, Ohio State 0 Bsebal: :(Game1) Mchigan5, Northwestern 0 Softball)(am 1E) Michigan 8, IoaT 6 Men's Tennis: Ohio State4, Michigan 0 Baseball: (Game 2) Northwestern 3, Michigan 2 (10 inn.) Softball: (Game2)Michigan8, owa0 N E X T W E E K TUESDAY (APR. 23) Softball: Michigan vs. Central Michigan 6:00 PDT. ( ) Baseball: Michigan at Eastern Michigan 6:00 p.m. Ypsilanti, Mich. Baseball: Michigan at Eastern Michigan 8:00 p.m Ypsilanti, Mich. THURSDAY (APR. 25) Women's Track: Drake Relays 9:30 a.m. CDT (Des Moines, Ia.) Wmen's Track: Penn Relays10 a.m. (Philadel- phia) Men'sTrack: Penn Relays10a.m. (Philadelphia) Men's Tennis: Big Ten Tournament TBA (Colum- bus) Women's Tennis: Big Ten TouramentTBA (Bloomington) FRIDAY (APR.26) Women's Track: Drake Relays T a.m. CDT (Des Moines, Ia.) Men'sTack: PeRly s E Y9a.Ym. (Philadelpha) Women's Trck Penn Reays 9 a.(Pahiadelp)hia) Softball: Michigan at Nebraska 6 p.m. CDT (Lincoln) Baseball: Michigan at Indiana 6:05 p.m. (Bloom- Water Polo: Brown or Connecticut College 7:20 Men's Tennis: Big Ten Tournament TBA (Colum- bus) WT s Tennis:Big Ten Tournament TBA (BloomingtonD,) MenDs Gof: Big Ten Championships TBA (French LiEk, Ind.) Women's Golf: Big Ten Championships TVA (French Lick, Ind.) SAT U RDAY (A PR. 27) Women's Track: Drake Relays 8 a.m. CDT (Des Moines, Ia.) Men's Track: Penn Relays 9 a.m.(Philadelphia) Women's Trck: Pen Rlays 9a..(Phladelphia) Sftbal: Michigan at NebraskT pDm.YCDT (Lincoln) Lacrosse: Michigan at Denver 1 p.m. MST (Den- Ter) Baseball: Michigan at Indiana 4:30 p.m.(Bloom- intoYD) Women's Tennis: Big Ten TournamentTBA (Bloomington, Ind.) Men'sTennis:BigTen TournamentTBA (Colum- Water Polo: TBD TBA Women's Golf: Big Ten Championships TBA (French Lick, Ind.) Men's Golf: Big Ten Championships TBA (French Lick, Ind.) Softbal: MiDhigan at Nebraska 12 p.m. CST (LincoIn) Baseball: Michigan at Indiana 1:05 p.m.(Bloom- yoen's Golf: Big Ten Championships T BA (French Lick, Ind.) Men's Tennis: Big Ten Tournament TBA (Colum- bus) Mken Gof: Big Ten Championships TBA (French Water Polo: CWPA Eastern Championship TBA Women's Tennis: Big Ten Tournament TBA I(Bloomington) JOIN THE SUMMER DAILY SPORTS STAFF Maybe by July it will be warm out. Probably not though. HOLLA AT A BOY WHEN YOU SEE HIM IN THE STREET: SPORTSEDITORS @MICHIGANDAILY.COM Fourth straight Big Ten title for 'M' By ELI SPARKMAN Daily Sports Writer Friday, the No. 6 Michigan women's tennis team walked into the Varsity Tennis Center for its last home meet of the year, sport- ing a special senior day T-shirt. On the front was the word Mimi, the two'M'sbeingMichiganblock 'M's. On the back, it said, "All we do is ... Nguyen, Nguyen, Nguy- en." Nguyen, pronounced "win," is in reference to Michigan's lone senior, Mimi Nguyen, and is a play on the words of the 2010 DJ Khaled MICHIGAN 7 song, "All I OHIO STATE 0 Do is Win." With the T-shirt, the Wolverines successfully crafted a very fitting mantra for not only the day, the weekend and the season, but also the last couple years. Michigan (8-1 Big Ten, 17-4 overall) rolled into the week- end having dropped only one of its last 13 meets, a streak that included six wins against ranked opponents, even knocking off No. 2 Duke on March 1. Now the only thing that stood in the Wolver- ines' way of a fourth consecutive Big Ten regular-season title was Penn State (3-6, 13-6) and Ohio State (3-6,10-11). Iftheyhappened to slip against either of the two beatable teams, they knew No. 12 Nebraska was looming right behind to steal the title. Friday, sophomore Emina Bektas and company showed up determined. Michigan secured the doubles point early on with wins from the No. 2 seed, senior Mimi Nguyen and sophomore Sarah Lee, by a margin of 8-4, and the No. 3 seed, freshman Ronit Yurovsky and sophomore Kristen Dodge, in an epic 9-8 tiebreaker. The No. 1 doubles team of Bektas and junior Brooke Bolender also Bolender came storming out of the gate, not allowing the Buck- eyes to win a single game. The Wolverines' Nos. 2 and 3 seeds each won handedly as well, 8-5. Just like that, the doubles point advantage was capturedby Mich- igan. When taking the doubles point, the Wolverines have yet to lose. The Wolverines won five of the six singles matches in straight sets. Unlike Friday, Bektas was on the board first. She defeated Ohio State's Kelsey Dieters rather quickly, 6-3, 6-1. Next was No. 3 seed Sarah Lee, who made up for her loss on Friday by beating Kara Cecil, 6-2, 6-2. Michigan's No. 2 seed Yurovsky and No. 6 seed Dodge were the other two to finish their opponent in two sets. In what was the longest and most exciting match Sunday, Zhu came back from losing the first set 1-6, to win the second set in a tiebreaker and ultimatelywin the match in a third-set tiebreaker. "This is the right time to be peaking," said Michigan coach Ronnie Bernstein. "I was glad to see one of our best performances today." Looking back, the Wolverines were spot on with their senior day T-shirts. And for Nguyen, her four years in the program have meant four consecutive Big Ten regular- season titles for the Wolverines. "It has been really exciting to be a part of the great history here at Michigan," Nguyen said. "We have to stay focused though, because we're going to have to play all these tough teams again in Big Tens." The Wolverines look to con- tinue the trend of "Nguyen-ning" in both the Big Ten and the NCAA Tournaments. They will head to Bloomington for the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday. NATASHA JANARDAN/Daily Senior Mimi Nguyen, along with doubles partner Sarah Lee, won an 8-5 match to help Michigan to a title over Ohio State. reached atiebreaker againstPetra winners down the line to break no problems putting her oppo- Januskova and Chelsea Utting but Januskova's serve. Bektas' power nent away in straight sets. After lost, 3-7. was too much the rest of the way, Michigan had already reached The tiebreaker set up a No. S as her serve pushed Januskova far the magic number of four points, singles duel perfectly. The most back behind the baseline. Once the No. 3 seed Bolender won in intense moment of the day came pushed back, Bektas hit timely straight sets, 7-6, 7-6, playing her in the third set of the Bektas drop shots that Januskova had best when it mattered most dur- vs. Januskova match. With the no chance to retrieve. Bektas was ing two tiebreakers. The Wolver- match tied 3-3, the momentum able to close the match out, 6-3, ines' only losses were at the Nos. had been wavering all day. Bektas, 2-6,6-3. This was the Wolverines' 4 and 5 seeds, where sophomore who looked as if she was out for fourth point, clinching the meet. Sarah Lee and freshman Amy revenge after losing the doubles Beforehand, Michigan's No. 2 Zhu were both defeated. point, dominated the first set, 6-3. seed, freshman Ronit Yurovsky, Only one win away from the Januskova won the second set was dominating her opponent, Big Ten title, Michigan traveled to convincingly, 6-2. 6-2, 4-1, before the Penn State Ohio State on Sunday and didn't At 3-3 in the third set, Bektas player withdrew. No. 6 seed soph- disappoint. The No. 1 doubles returned two strong forehand omore Kristen Dodge also had team of Bektas and CHAMPIONS From Page 1B ished. In the NCAA Qualifier on Fri- day afternoon, the top 12 teams in the nation competed for six spots in the team finals Saturday. Michigan needed to place in the top three of its session in order to advance, and the Wolverines set the tone early, ultimately grab- bing first place in their session. Last season, Michigan also finished in the top spot in their session but ultimately ended up in last place after Saturday, so the Wolverines knew they couldn't let their early success lead to overconfidence heading into the finals. "Last year's problems really helped us to get there this year," Golder said. "I mean, just about the whole team was there last year so that experience just helped everyone this year. "After we won our session last year in the prelims, we were cel- ebrating, but this year it was just as usual and we had a 'We're not done' mentality. So that really is experience and maturation as a competitor." Friday, Michigan scored 70-plus points on all six events, but its performance on the par- allel bars stole the show on the first day of competition, scoring a season-best 75.90. All three Wolverine competitors broke the personal 15-barrier, with senior Syque Caesar leading the way with his 15.60. This time, Michigan's expe- rience stood out in every event Saturday. The confidence Golder had in his team was reflected by his decision to start the meet off on championship Saturday with pommel horse, widely con- sidered the hardest of the six events. The Wolverines scored their third-highest mark of the season, hitting an event-high 72.250. Michigan moved onto the rings, where it had a terrific sec- ondrotation.Junior AlexBubnov went first and set a career-high 15.25, followed by junior Jor- dan Gaarenstroom, who also hit a career best with his monster 15.600-point performance. From there, the Wolverines made everything look easy. Mikulak took on his best event, the high bar, where he scored a 15.650. Saturday night's podium was filled with maize and blue, but it didn't end there for Michi- gan, which continued its domi- nance Sunday. Eight Wolverines qualified for individual finals, and five came out with spots on the podium. In addition, gymnasts who finish in the top eight in individual events are awarded All-American sta- tus - Michigan tied a program high with 13. Like the rest of the weekend, Mikulak led the way on Sun- day, earning individual titles in high bar and parallel bar, while grabbing third place on floor. The 13-time All-American and five-time NCAA champion's high-bar performance was so dominant that he notched more then a point higher than the next closest competitor and scored a weekend-high 16.100. "I honestly don't think I have (had a better weekend)," Miku- lak said. "Olympic trials were definitely really exciting for me, but overall for this entire weekend, I didn't miss a single routine. It just kind of felt easy going with the flow, I'm just real pleased with howI did." In addition to Mikulak's achievements, Caesar got second on the parallel bars and third on the high bar. He also tied with teammate senior Rohan Sebas- tian for fourth on floor. With a hugely success- ful NCAA weekend under its belt, Michigan will walk away from this season accomplish- ing everything it wanted to. The Wolverines not only earned the team title, the all-around title and two individual titles, but they also won the Big Ten cham- pionship two weeks ago. The Big Ten proved to be no cakewalk, as four of the six teams that quali- fied for Saturday came from the conference. And as if all of his team's suc-. cess wasn't enough, Golder got to watch the program in con- ference rival Penn State's home gym. The Nittany Lions spent most of the season one spot above the Wolverines in the con- ference standings and the Asso- ciated Press standings. In the end, it was a perfect weekend for Michigan. "It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine," Golder said. "We had a great championship, you get a one-two sweep, and the all-around and win the team title, (13) All-Americans and one national champion on two events. It doesn't get a whole lot better than that. I'm very, very pleased and anxious to host next year." On the road and at Wrigley, Wolverines finally stumble By MAX COHEN Daily Sports Writer Michigan baseball coach Erik Bakich frequently preaches that pitching and defense are the keys behind all winning teams. Never did that seemmore apparent than this weekend, as the Wolverines dropped two games MICHIGAN 0 in a three- N'WESTERN 6 game series against MICHIGAN 5 Northwest- N'WESTERN 0 ern. MICHIGAN 2 The first N'WESTERN 3 two games of the series were characterized by dominant pitching, as the Wildcats (5-9 Big Ten, 17-14 over- all) earned a 6-0shutout on Satur- day night, and Michigan pitched a shutout in the first game of the doubleheader on Sunday, win- ning 5-0. In the rubber match of the series - and the second game of the doubleheader Sunday - the Wolverines' late-inning defense faltered while their offense failed to pull away, costing them the game and their third-straight Big Ten series victory. With Friday's game postponed until Sunday because of rain, the series began Saturday night at Wrigley Field. While playing in a major-league stadium was a first- time experience for both teams this season, Northwestern right- hander Luke Farrell pitched as though he belonged, throwing a complete-game shutout. Farrell, the son of Boston Red Sox man- ager John Farrell, stymied the Wolverine lineup, allowing just three Michigan batters to reach base - all on singles. "You have to tip your cap to the pitcher once in awhile," Bakich said. "He forced a lot of weak contact." The Wolverines (8-4, 22-16) didn't advance a runner into scor- ing position until they had one out in the eighth inning, when sophomore left fielder Zach Zott headed to second base after soph- omore designated hitter Kevin White laid down a bunt single. Farrell responded promptly by recording consecutive strikeouts, ending the Michigan threat. One inning later, he retired the side, ending the Wolverines' 10-game winning streak. In Sunday's first game, Michi- PAUL SHERMAN/Daily Freshman shortstop Travis Maezes hit a three-run inside-the-park home run. gan received strong starting pitching of its own, as freshman left-hander Evan Hill pitched seven shutout innings. Hill allowed four hits and three walks in the outing. "I was attacking hitters early," Hill said. "I still walked a few guys, but overall I kept the big inning out of the picture." Michigan freshman short- stop Travis Maezes provided the needed offense with his third- inning, three-run, inside-the- park home run. The Wolverines tacked on insurance runs in the sixth and ninth innings, and sophomore right-hander Matt Ogden pitched two scoreless innings to end the game, extend- ing his streak of scoreless innings to 21.2. For seven innings, Sunday's second game looked as if it was going to be the third-straight shutout in the series. Michigan built a 2-0 lead while redshirt junior left-hander Logan McA- nallen cruised through seven innings, allowing just four hits while surrendering two walks, bouncing back after a start against Penn State last week- end in which he lasted only one inning. After his exit, things became dicey for the Wolverines, when freshman right-hander Jacob Cronenworth - normally auto- maticfor Michiganinlate innings - struggled in the eighth inning. Northwestern scored its first run of the inning on two singles, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly. The Wildcats then tied the game on a fielding error by Maezes. "Nine out of 10times, he makes that tough play, but he just wasn't able to come up with it today," Bakich said. The Wolverines failed to respond in the ninth inning despite good opportunities to score. Zott led off the inning, with a single and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, but he was thrown out attempting to steal third on what Bakich felt was a questionable call. "The umpire didn't see it the way that we saw it, the way peo- ple in the stadium saw it," Bakich said. "He saw it the way he saw it and made the call the way he thoughthe should make the call." Had he stayed put at second or made it safely to third, Zott likely would've scored after freshman first baseman Jack Sexton singled in the same at-bat in which Zott was thrown out. To make mat- ters worse, Northwestern robbed junior catcher Cole Martin of a likely double to right field in the next at-bat. The game remained tied until the bottom of the 10th inning, when . Northwestern won on a walk-off fielding error by Cronenworth. It was one of two Cronenworth errors in the inning. Like Maezes on his error, Bakich believes Cronenworth makes both of those plays the vast majority of opportunities, attributing some of the struggles to the long grass on Northwest- ern's field. "The real issue was we didn't separate ourselves offensively from the third inning on," Bakich said. "We need to do a better job of scoring more runs and separat- ing our leads so we are not even in that position where it's a nail- biter in the end."