8A - Thursday, April 10, 2014

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Irish win rematch over'M'

PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
Michigan coach John Beilein has advised his players to carefully consider whether they're ready for the lump to the NBA.
Beilein mentors prospects

By BEN FIDELMAN
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan baseball
team concluded a nine-game
homestand Wednesday night
with one of its worst losses of
the season,
falling, 9-1, MICHIGAN 1
to Notre NOTRE DAME 9
Dame.
The cause of the Irish
beatdown wasn't exactly an
extreme offensive outpouring
- the Wolverines committed
a season-high six errors, and
constantly failed to field simple
things like sacrifice bunts.
The Wolverines (4-5 Big
Ten, 14-18-1 overall) sent fifth-
year senior right-hander Ben
Ballantine to the mound, though
he has been their mainstay in the
Friday night starter slot for much
of the year. But he has struggled
recently, and Wednesday gave
him an opportunity to right the
ship on his final collegiate season
- something he failed to do.
Thetoneofthegamewas clear
early. Notre Dame (1-12 ACC,
11-20) got through to Ballantine
with hits in each of the first
three innings. The Fighting Irish
blooped back-to-back singles to
right field to begin the top of the
second. ABallantine erroronthe
ensuing sacrifice bunt loaded
the bases, but Notre Dame could
only manage to get one run in,
as it hit into a double play and
grounded out to second base to
end the inning.
The Fighting Irish got back to
it again in the third. The inning
took some time to start rolling,
but a double followed by two
walks loaded the bases with
two outs with Notre Dame left-
fielder Zak Kutsulis coming up.
The sophomore doubled to right
field, putting the Fighting Irish
up 4-0 and knocking Ballantine
out of the game after just 2.2
innings.
"There aren't a whole lot of
positives to take out of tonight,"
said senior catcher Cole Martin.
"There is still a heck of a lot of

baseball left for us."
Michigan was able to bring a
run across inthe fourth inningon
a groundout, but any momentum
was quickly squashed in the top
of the fifth inning.
AftertwoFightingIrishhitters
reached base, the Wolverines
had trouble again executing on
a Notre Dame sacrifice bunt.
This time, a throwing error from
sophomore third baseman Jacob
Cronenworth bounced into first
base, and Michigan conceded a
run after not taking advantage of
the free out.
When the ball dribbled
away at first base, the Fighting
Irish base runner didn't break
stride, powering around third
base and heading for the plate.
Michigan junior first baseman
Kyle Jusick's throw beat the
runner to the plate, but the ball
was dislodged from the catcher's
glove in the process of tagging
the runner.
By the fifth inning, the
Wolverines were down 6-1 and
had committed five errors.
Junior right-hander Donnie
Eaton came in for relief in
the third inning and went 3.1

innings, allowing two runs -
both unearned.
Michigan showed some signs
of life in the sixth and seventh,
but failed to plate one of the five
combined runners who reached.
In the end, the Wolverines
were limited to just four hits.
"Wehit alotofrockets and had
a lot of quality at-bats," Martin
said. "We couldn't put together
three or four or five of them in a
row to get the runs across."
A leadoff single followed by
a double scored a run for the
Notre Dame to make it 7-1 in the
seventh, and then things got ugly
for Michigan.
Freshman left fielder Carmen
Benedetti was on the move
tracking down a would-be
inning-ending fly ball in the
corner, and he flat-out dropped
it. It was the Wolverines' sixth
error of the game, and one that
stretched the lead to 8-1.
As if that weren't enough, the
following ball came right back
to left field, where Benedetti
attempted a diving catch and
missed.
That brought in the game's
final run, makingit 9-1.

McGary, Stauskas,
Robinson III all
requested NBA
evaluations
By DANIEL FELDMAN
Daily Sports Writer
Now the waiting game
begins.
Wednesday - the last day
for non-seniors to request a
draft stock evaluation by the
NBA Undergraduate Advisory
Committee
- Michigan NOTEBOOK
men's
basketball coach John Beilein
confirmed that sophomores
Mitch McGary, Nik Stauskas
and Glenn Robinson III applied
to see where they could go in.
the NBA Draft.
"We have notgotten anything
back yet," Beilein said, "but we
have talked to them all."
Though asking for an
evaluation can assistin a player's
decision

"You hope during the course
of their education that they're
looking at things from a much
broader perspective than
some guy that's in his cellar
projecting the NBA Draft and
still living with his mother," he
said. "There's nothing wrong
with still living with your
mother."
Beilein said other players
also applied for an evaluation
but refused to answer whom.
Specifically, he declined
comment on whether
sophomore guard Caris LeVert
would.
"'I've always dreamt of
going to the NBA,' " Beilein
said, regarding the mindset of
enteringthe draft. "That is not
a reason to go to the NBA. The
reason to go to the NBA is, 'I am
ready to go to the NBA.'
"That's an important thing.
We have to continue to cultivate
an atmosphere where kids are
ready to play in the NBA."
EUROTRIP: After last
traveling to Europe in 2010, the
Wolverines

Austin Hatch, DJ Wilson and
Kameron Chatman - all from
the West Coast - will deal
with potentially being away
from home from June until
December.
APRIL SADNESS: For
Beilein, this time of the year is
the toughest.
"When you work as hard as
we all work all year long and
all of sudden the going-home-
at-seven-o'clock-without-
anything-to-do is very difficult
for me," he said. "Thank God
there's St. Louis Cardinals
baseball and the Major League
(Baseball) channel."
So what is Beilein doing with
the summer approaching? For
one, he's fixing lightbulbs in his
house.
"I (changed two) this
morning," he said. "They had
been out for a while."
Though it's likely some more
exciting things will come his
way, Beilein is ready for the
dead period of May which he'll
spend with his family.
"We'll try to stay at home, cut
the lawn and hang around," he
said.
NOTES: Beilein confirmed
Wednesday that McGary
had a 20-minute workout on
Tuesday and that the forward is
progressing toward individual
workouts, potentially for NBA
teams if he ultimately declares.
After seeing Stauskas
and LeVert show so much
improvement in their strength
and physique this season due
to their decisions to stay in
Ann Arbor last summer with
strength and conditioning coach
Jon Sanderson, Beilein said
there has been a "major push"
for athletes to stay in town.
"I expect many of our guys to
be here, but I don't have all the
numbers," he said.
Are the sophomores
staying or leaving?
Check MichiganDaily.com for
any breaking news

LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
Senior catcher Cole Martin and Michigan were hlown oat hy Notre Dame.

Michigan eyes title repeat

to enter
the draft,
it doesn't
guarantee that
the player is
declaring for
the draft.
For Beilein,
this step is
just part of
the process
for players
to see if it's tim
leave Michigan
addition to th
Beilein said M
continue to give
much informati,
through "other p
in professional b
As much as
company can tr
players, there a
to be influences
the program th
into their decisic
there's only so mi
do, he advises his
at the bigger pict

will again
venture
"There's nothing abroad this
summer in
wrong with still late August.
- - - 1The NCAA
living with TeNA
allows teams
mohe. to take an
your mother." offseasona
overseas
tour every
four years.
ae for them to Michigan will spend 10 days
and go pro. In and "play four to five games" in
is committee, a yet-to-be announced part of
ichigan would Europe.
the players as In 2010, the Wolverines
on as possible visited Belgium, Amsterdam
reople involved and Paris.
asketball." Because the trip will take
Beilein and place in August, Beilein believes
'y to help his the experience will be great for
are still going both returning players and the
from outside incoming freshman class who
at can factor will join the team earlier in the
Ons. And while summer.
uch Beilein can If there is one issue for
players to look Beilein, though, it's how
ure. three of his incoming players,

By ALEX TAYLOR
Daily Sports Writer
The Michigan men's
gymnastics team seeks to
accomplish what no Michigan
team has done since 1959 -
win back-to-back national
championships.
The Wolverines (17-0 Big
Ten, 25-0 overall) will look to
cap their perfect season with
a storybook ending in front of
their home fans at the Crisler
Center this weekend. The
National Championship will
consist of 12 teams competing
over three days. Qualifying
rounds start Thursday, with
six teams moving on to Friday's
team finals. The individual finals
will take place on Saturday.
"We're just excited to be able
to hopefully defend our national
title at home," said graduate
student captain Syque Caesar.
"We set our goals right from the
very beginning of the season
to defend our national title and
winning it at home."
Though it sports an
unblemished record, Michigan
has had many challenges
thrown its way on the march
to perfection and a possible
national chamnionship.

Before the season even began,
junior Michael Strathern was
redshirted because of a foot
injury, and sophomore Konner
Ackerman suffered an elbow
injury that sidelined him for a
good portion of the year.
Additionally, two of the
Wolverines' top gymnasts
suffered major injuries during
the season. Junior Adrian de
los Angeles, one of the top all-
around gymnasts in the country,
tore his anterior cruciate
ligament during the Winter Cup
in February, and junior Stacey
Ervin tore his bicep during the
Big Ten Championship last week
"It's not been easy," Caesar
said. "It hasn't been just handed
to us. But that just shows how
deep of a team we are. Even
with all these injuries and set-
backs and adversity, we are still
able to push ourselves and be
the top contenders for Nationals
and Big Tens."
Despite their injuries, Ervin
and de los Angeles will still
look to contribute to the team.
Ervin plans to compete on floor
exercise and possiblyon highbar
and parallel bars. Depending on
his health and performance, De
los Angeles could compete on
narallel bars and pommel horse

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this weekend - events that
won't require extensive use of
his torn knee.
Regardless of who will be
competing, Michigan will
face its stiffest competition
of the year. The Wolverines'
main challengers will be No. 1
Oklahoma, No. 3 Ohio State and
No. 4 Stanford. The Wolverines
beat Ohio State and Stanford
during the regular season.
"Oklahoma and Ohio State
are about equal and hopefully
we're a little notch above that,"
said Michigan coach Kurt
Golder. "But that little notch
can go away so quickly with
this format, five guys up at
each event and five guys scores
count. If you make a mistake,
you can plummet very quickly."
The Wolverines are familiar
with the "five up, five count"
format and subsequent
pressure after employing it in
almost every meet this season.
Additionally, Golder has an
veteran roster that has big-event
experience - both collegiately
and internationally. One of
the most experienced, senior
Sam Mikulak, will also have
the chance to become the most
decorated collegiate gymnast in
history this weekend.
After earning 13 All-
American honors and five NCAA
individual championships in
his first three years of college,
Mikulak needs only three more
individual championships and
four All-American distinctions
to become the all-time record
holder in both categories.
"Friday is the number one day
that we have been training for,
for this entire year," Mikulak
said. "It comes down to this
moment of how prepared are
we to come out as champions.
... Individually, I definitely
have aspirations there, but the
big focus is all on the team and
making history by repeating
national titles."
Through all the adversity
and obstacles that Michigan
has faced this year, one constant
always remained the same - the
goal of repeating as National
Champions. That is something
within its grasp this weekend.

ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Syque Caesar and the gymnastics team will try to repeat as NCAA champions.