8A - Thursday, April 17, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Michigan falters vs. Eastern

SOFTBALL
M' dominates CMU,
continues win streak

'M' wastes 11 hits,
can only manage
three runs in loss
to Eagles
ByZACH SHAW
Daily Sports Writer
The remaining fans in the
stands leaned forward, unsure
of the_
result. As MICHIGAN 3
the Eastern EASTERN 4
Michigan
shortstop raised his arms, the
umpire made a fist, signalingthat
the left fielder had in fact made
the diving catch. The pitcher
pumped his fist, the fans got up,
and the ballgame was over.
For the seventh straight
time, Michigan baseball fans
left the crosstown matchup
disappointed. The left fielder's
snag ended the game after two
runners on gave the Wolverines
(6-6 Big Ten, 16-20-1 overall)
yet another opportunity to
break through in the game.
Despite 11 hits at the plate and
12 strikeouts on the mound,
Michigan failed to execute
and keep pace with the Eagles,
falling 4-3 int10 innings.
"There was just a lot of non-
execution today - we didn't
play well at all," said Michigan
coach Erik Bakich. "We walked
five leadoff hitters, three of them
scored, we had a lot of missed
bunts, and across the board, we
didn't play to win. That's the
bottom line."
Despite a combined 18 hits,
both teams struggled to push
runs across throughout the
game. The first real action
occurred when an Eastern
Michigan triple scored the
contest's first run. Two pitches
later, a double drove in a second
run and ended senior right-
hander Ben Ballantine's night.
Once the team ace, Ballantine
has pitched just 8.2 total innings
in his last three starts while
posting a 10.81 ERA.
Filling in for Ballantine was
right-hander Cam Wysocki. The
freshman quickly settled things
down for the Wolverines in the
fourth, opening the door for
junior infielder Kyle Jusick to
blast his first career home run to

Led by Sierra
Romero's five RBI,

w

olverines mercy
in-state foes
By JAKE LOURIM
Daily Sports Writer

PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Junior Kyle Jusick hit the first home run of his career, but the Wolverines still fell to cross-town rival Eastern Michigan.

right field to tie the
With the score
the Wolverines re
struggles. Wysock
one out in the fifth
surrendering two
and getting pulled
hander Donnie E:
place and hit one
an Eagles single
back to the
visitors.
Following
the hit, Eaton
settled in
and didn't
allow another
baserunner
while striking
out seven in
4.2 innings
of scoreless
work, both
personal bests
in the best
performance of
his career.
"He looked gt
said. "He pounde
zone, he pitched w
went right after th
didn't nibble, hej
He looked like he

game at two. playingto win."
e tied again, Despite the solid pitching,
started their Michigan's offense failed to
ki lasted only capitalize, keeping the score 3-2
inningbefore into the seventh inning. With
baserunners two outs, a double by sophomore
. Junior right- infielder Jacob Cronenworth
aton took his and misplay by the Eagles' right
batter before fielder tied the game at three and
gave the lead put Cronenworth on third, but
a groundout
ended the
threat.
"There was just losn the
a lot of non- Wolverines
left 11 runners
execution today on base, the
second-most
- we didn't play of the season.
Missed bunts,
well at all." strikeouts
and a lack of
consistency
kept Michigan
runners at bay

were there, but we weren't able
to string anything together and
get any real offense going."
The tie wasn't broken until
the 10th, when an Eastern
Michigan single to right gave the
Eagles the go-ahead run. In the
bottom half of the inning, two
baserunners and an eight-pitch
at bat to freshman outfielder
Johnny Slater made things
interesting, but Slater's poke into
left field was caught.
Dropping their second
straight midweek game, the
Wolverines failed to retain
momentum from a successful
weekend series against Illinois.
With a trip to cellar-dwelling
Purdue this weekend, Bakich is
looking for more consistency.
"We've got four Big Ten
weekends left, and for us
it's going to come down to
consistency," Bakich said. "If
we're going to have any shot at
postseason play, we need to be
a whole lot more consistent. We
need to be trendingupwards and
continue that into each game.
We can't have setbacks like this.
"Our biggest opponent right
now is ourselves."

Two Hall o
coaches - each
1,000 wins, trips
College World
conference
titles - C
renewed 
a series
Wednesday tha
three decades.
But oneI
progressed much
other. Coming o
rule victories in
rivalry still belot
3 Michigan softb
The Wolverin
three home r
another stron
performance ft
right-hander
Megan
Betsa and
junior right-
hander Sara
Driesenga to
leave Mount
Pleasant,
Mich. with
an 11-0 run-
rule victory
over Central
Michigan.
Barring a
matchup, Michi
Ten, 34-6 overal
6-0 sweep of in-s
one being just as
others. The Wol
eight by the fou
had five substitu
by the end.
The Chip
themselves behi
early by pitchin
shortstop Sierra
first team to do
Romero got the
with a two-run
first inning.
She then wa
pitches with the
the second innin
"I'm never
much," Hutchin
got to give her
wanting to do1
taking what they
In the fifth,
good pitch to hit
the right-field w
runs.
"In the batt
worked low and
said. "She didt
away, but other
just focused o
hands extended
the ball."
Added Hutch
her hands exten
hit, and even on
she got her bar
what she was
yesterday, so Iv
her have results
Freshman f
Kelly Christner
second with a

f Fame head
with more than
to the Women's
Series and
ENTRAL 0
IICHIGAN 11
it dates back
program has
faster than the
ff of 13 mercy-
17 games, the
nged to the No.
all team.
es hammered
uns and got
ig combined
om freshman

straightaway center field,
and freshman third baseman
Lindsay Montemarano followed
with a single, chasing Chippewa
right-hander Kristen Kuhlman
after just eight batters.
Central Michigan (5-2 Mid-
American Conference, 26-13
overall) brought in right-hander
Rachel Yuncker, who came in
at 8-1 with a 2.12 earned-run
average, but she was no match
for the Michigan lineup, either.
After walking two, she
induced a ground-ball double
play to get out of the second
inning, behind just 4-0. But
in the fourth, the Chippewas
started to make mistakes - and
the Wolverines capitalized.
After Romero and senior
catcher Caitlin Blanchard
reached on errors, sophomore
outfielder Sierra Lawrence
cleared the bases with a three-
run home run.
That home run, combined
with a strong pitching
performance from Betsa and
Driesenga, gave the Wolverines
their 14th mercy-rule victory in

reat," Bakich
ed the strike
ith tempo. He
eir hitters, he
just attacked.
was out there

throughout the game.
"It's about stringing the hits
and stringing the quality at-bats
together," Bakich said. "We left
a lot of guys on base and didn't
get the two-out RBIs when we
needed them. The opportunities

18 games.
"Anything
" h ncan happen,
oWhenour so when
pitchers are on, something
 goes our
it carries over to need to keep
our offense." rolling on it,"
Romero said.
"If they're
making
errors, we
postseason need to keep hitting hit hard.
gan (12-0 Big The outcome could change, so
11) completed a you never know."
tate foes - this Betsa, who according to both
lopsided as the Hutchins and herself didn't have
Iverines led by her best game Sunday against
rth inning and Michigan State, sent the top of
tes in the game the lineup down 1-2-3 on eight
pitches in the first inning. That
pewas put kept the momentum rolling into
nd the eight ball the second, and Michigan never
g to sophomore gave it up.
Romero, the "When our pitchers are on,
so in weeks. it carries over to the offense
scoring going when we come up," said senior
homer in the outfielder Nicole Sappingfield.
"We attack the way they attack."
alked on four Michigan tallied more than 10
bases loaded in hits forthe 23rd time this season,
g. going 20-3 in those games.
surprised by Just as they did last week
S said. "You've against Western Michigan,
credit for not Betsa and Driesenga split the
too much and innings, with Betsa pitching the
'give her." first three and Driesenga the
with another last two.
she tripled off After retiring the first five
all to score two she faced on ground balls,
Driesenga loaded the bases on
ing cages, we an error, a walk and a single
away," Romero with two outs. The error ended
try to keep it a four-game streak without a
than that, we miscue.
n getting our She promptly slammed the
and loading to door shut with a strikeout of
leadoff hitter Brittney Horan.
ins: "She got The Wolverines will return
ded on the first home this weekend for a crucial
that last one, series against the Big Ten's
rel out. That's second-place team, No. 12
working on Minnesota (10-3, 32-6).
was glad to see Their streak of games
without an error may be over,
irst baseman but their winning streak lives,
r led off the and it will receive a stiff test
solo shot to this weekend.

Wolverines take down Titans for third win

Program earns
first-ever road
triumph, wins
consecutive games
By NATHANIEL CLARK
Daily Sports Writer
It was another day of firsts for
the Michigan women's lacrosse
team, and further confirmation
that the program is moving in
the right direction.
The Wolverines' 16-6 win
over Detroit was their first
regulation win, first road win
and their
first two- DETROIT 6
game MICHIGAN 16
winning
streak of their inaugural season.
"It was really great to be in
a position that's new for us,"
said Michigan coach Jennifer
Ulehla. "I was really proud of
the way we played today."
Despite the final score, it was
not all smooth sailing for the
Wolverines. The Titans took
an early 2-0 lead and had a 5-4
advantage with 7:13 to go in
the first half.
But Michigan
added five "It ha
unanswered
goals to take neat t
the lead g t
going into growt]
halftime and
never looked had this
back. The
Wolverines,
a team of

Freshman Kim Coughlan notched a care
once we realized that we could
take more control of the game.
We executed our game play
very well."
Attacker Jess Angerman
tallied three goals - her third
straight hat
trick - and
Ls been two assists for
a team-best
) see the five points.
"She is
h we've starting to
play at a whole
season." new level,"
Ulehla said of
Angerman.
Her
effort was
accompanied by attacker Kim
Coughlan, who led Michigan
from the front, notching a
career-best four goals.
"When Kim is on, she is very
difficult to stop," Ulehla said.
"She should definitely be proud
of her performance."

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
er-best with four goals as Michigan rolled in the second half against Detroit.

Midfielder Anna Schueler,
Madeline Dion and attacker
Tess Korten each scored two
goals for the Wolverines while
attacker Allie Breitfeller, Kelly
Schlansker and Natalie Carti
rounded out Michigan's scoring
with one goal apiece.
This time, though, it wasn't
just offense that propelled
Michigan to victory. Goalie
Allison Silber made eight saves
on 14 shots on goal for the
Wolverines to achieve a save
percentage of 57.1 percent.
"Allison is the anchor of our
defense," Ulehla said. "Even
though she didn't see a lot of
shots, she made several good
saves and did a great job of
keeping her concentration."
Though Wednesday marked
a milestone achievement for
the fledgling program, there
was little time to celebrate. The
Wolverines are slated to take on
a tough opponent in Vanderbilt


on Saturday in their ALC finale.
Nevertheless, Ulehla is looking
forward to the matchup, having
already played against five top-
20 opponents this year.
"It has been great to see the
growth we've had this season
after the tough schedule we've
played," Ulehla said. "We've
really been learning what it
takes to compete at the Division
I level and Vanderbilt will be a
good test to see just how much
we have matured."
Notes: Michigan's 16 goals
were a season high, while its six
goals allowed were a season low.
... The Wolverines outshot the
Titans, 33-15. ... Madeline Dion
has a five-game goal streak. She
scored twice Wednesday for the
second time this season.
For more exclusive stories
Check MichiganDip, om
throughout the week.

freshmen,
pulled away in th
outscoring Detroi
the blowout.
"We were kind
on, almost as if we
down to their I
said. "But we
adjustments in th

e second half,
1 7-1 to secure
i of flat early
were playing
evel," Ulehla
made some
.e second half

JAMES COLLER/Saily
Sierra Romero was walked with the bases loaded, and the Wolverines rolled.