The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
February 23, 2015 — 3B

‘M’ crashes party at Bama

By CHRIS CROWDER

Daily Sports Writer

In the seventh inning of the 

No. 5 Michigan softball team’s 
first of two games against No. 3 
Alabama, SEC Network analyst 
and former Crimson Tide pitcher 
Lauren Sewell was in awe. As 
she watched her alma mater 
continue to be outplayed, she 
said, “I thought Michigan would 
be intimidated by Alabama.”

The subsequent pitch was 

sent over the center field wall 
by Michigan junior right fielder 
Kelsey Susalla, the eventual MVP 
of the Easton Bama Bash.

It was Alabama that was 

intimidated, and the Crimson 
Tide’s fans at Rhoads Stadium 
went silent.

The Wolverines went on to 

win the game, 8-2, the second of 
their five wins in an undefeated 
weekend.

Michigan (13-1) started the 

tournament with a 7-1 win over 
Lipscomb. Michigan tried not to 
look ahead, taking the Bison just 
as seriously as Alabama.

“We 
just 
play 
Michigan 

softball, and it doesn’t matter 
who we’re going against,” said 
sophomore pitcher Megan Betsa.

In a matchup between two top-

five teams, Michigan approached 
Alabama the exact same way as 
usual: focusing on each pitch and 
taking it one inning at a time.

“We talked about not making 

the game bigger than it is,” said 
junior infielder Sierra Romero.

Senior catcher Lauren Sweet 

scored 
the 
Wolverines’ 
first 

runs with a two-run homer in 
the second inning. Later in the 
frame, the bases were loaded and 
the table was set for Michigan 
to break the game wide open. 
But sophomore left fielder Kelly 
Christiner eventually struck out 
after putting up a fight.

“At first when we had the 

bases loaded and nobody out, 
our swings were just huge,” said 
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. 
“But then we shortened up a 

little bit and made contact. I liked 
that adjustment. I like that we’re 
willing to do whatever it takes to 
win.”

After shortening up their 

swings, the Wolverines pulled 
away little by little, making 
Alabama 
fans 
increasingly 

frustrated. As the fans pleaded 
with the umpire for calls to go 
in the Crimson Tide’s favor, the 
once-upbeat body language of 
the Alabama players started to 
deteriorate.

Instead of feeling intimated, 

Michigan was relaxed. Betsa, 
who got the win, was happy with 
how the team balanced being 
intense and energetic. And the 
offensive dominance helped her 
cause, as she held the Crimson 
Tide to two runs.

“When they’re putting that 

many runs on the board, it makes 
it a lot easier for us (pitchers) 
and gives us that comfort,” Betsa 
said.

The barrage of runs didn’t stop 

coming as the tournament went 
into day two. The Wolverines 
racked 
up 
13 
runs 
against 

Lipscomb, not showing any signs 
of letting up. Senior pitcher Sara 

Driesenga pitched a complete 
game while holding the Bisons to 
only one run.

Senior pitcher Haylie Wagner 

took the circle for Michigan for 
the rematch against Alabama 
and stifled the Crimson Tide to 
a one-run effort. The Wolverines 
faced Alexis Osorio, who pitched 
a no-hitter in her previous game 
against Pacific. And they didn’t 
let Osorio get anywhere close to 
the success of her last start.

Osorio was ineffective, as 

Michigan never trailed after 
building on a 1-0 lead in the third 
inning to the tune of a solo home 
run by Christiner and a two-
run homer from freshman Tera 
Blanco. The Wolverines held on 
the rest of the way to win 4-1.

“I don’t ever expect anything 

but we chip away,” Hutchins said. 
“We chip away, and it isn’t just 
one, two or three people in our 
lineup. It’s everybody. It’s every 
part of the order that can turn 
things around. Our goal is just to 
keep chipping away and putting 
the ball in play.”

The Wolverines finished the 

weekend on day three with a 
10-0 run-rule win against James 

Madison.

“We never backed down,” 

Romero said. “Every single at 
bat, every single play, every single 
pitch, we were fighting. We were 
never satisfied with the lead we 
had, and we kept pushing for 
more.”

With a grand slam in the 

final game, Romero broke the 
Michigan 
career 
grand-slam 

record with eight. But she said 
that the record was never her 
goal.

“My goal is to do my part,” 

Romero said. “As long as I’m 
doing my part and everyone else 
is doing their part, then we’re 
going to be a very hard team to 
beat.”

After the Wolverines outscored 

their opponents 42-5 over the 
weekend, bolstered by 10 home 
runs, everyone in the lineup, top 
to bottom, is contributing.

Michigan isn’t intimidated. 

It has shown the rest of the 
country that no matter who the 
Wolverines play, they’re going to 
play like a force to be reckoned 
with. If anything, they’re the 
ones who are able to intimidate 
opponents.

JAMES COLLER/Daily

Junior shortstop Sierra Romero went 6-for-11 on the weekend and broke the school record for grand slams with eight.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Michigan loses in 
double overtime

Michigan beats 

buzzer to force OT, 

can’t finish rally

By MINH DOAN

Daily Sports Writer

Maybe 
it 
just 
isn’t 
the 

Michigan women’s basketball 
team’s season.

Just 

a 
week 

after 
the 

Wolverines 
lost to Northwestern on a last-
second layup, Michigan found 
itself down by two with less than 
five seconds in the game and one 
final chance to tie up the game.

The 
sequence 
started 
off 

poorly with sophomore guard 
Siera 
Thompson 
missing 
an 

off-balanced jumper, but in the 
ensuing scramble for the ball, 
senior forward Cyesha Goree 
picked up the ball and threw up 
another shot.

The shot rattled around the 

rim and out, right into the arms 
of senior forward Nicole Elmblad, 
who was all alone on the weak side. 
Elmblad’s layup went through the 
bucket as time expired.

In overtime, the Wolverines 

found themselves down once 
again, this time by four with 
a minute remaining. But once 
again, Michigan came back, 
with Goree first knocking down 
a mid-range jumper to cut the 
deficit to two. On the ensuing 
play, freshman guard Katelynn 
Flaherty picked the ball away 
from Minnesota center Amanda 
Zahui B., and Elmblad came up 
clutch, knocking down a jump 
shot to tie the game and send it 
into double overtime.

In 
double 
overtime, 
the 

Wolverines fell down by six with 
a minute remaining, ultimately 
losing the game.

“I 
thought 
we 
gave 
it 

tremendous 
effort,” 
said 

Michigan coach Kim Barnes 
Arico. “I really thought our 
press disrupted them. We made 
a tremendous run. It’s tough 
because we’ve been this situation 
so many times during the course 
of this season. It’d be nice for 
once for it to go our way.”

The matchup to watch in the 

game was Goree and Zahui, and 
the duo didn’t disappoint.

The two battled each other 

inside, each playing all 50 minutes 
while putting up double-double 
numbers. Zahui, who put up 39 
points and grabbed 29 boards 
Tuesday, racked up 27 points and 
27 rebounds while Goree finished 
with 26 points and 20 rebounds.

“I thought it was a great 

basketball game,” Barnes Arico 
said. “Cyesha Goree and Amanda 
Zahui B., two of the best posts in 
the country, went head to head, 
and it was a great matchup.”

But Goree wasn’t Michigan’s 

leading scorer, as that title went 
to Flaherty, who finished with 27 
points, shooting 11-for-25.

“Down the stretch, we were 

putting the ball in (Flaherty’s) 
hands,” 
Barnes 
Arico 
said. 

“She’s making some plays. I 
think she’s getting more and 
more comfortable as the season 
progresses. She just had a great 
output tonight.”

With the loss, the Wolverines 

have all but clinched the No. 8 
seed in the Big Ten Tournament, 
which will get them a first-round 
bye, before taking on the No. 9 
seed in the second. The winner 
of that game will take on No. 5 
Maryland, the Big Ten champion, 
in the third round.

But before then, Michigan still 

has two games left in the season.

And with the result today, 

another loss could knock them 
out of the NCAA Tournament 
picture for good.

‘M’ can’t capitalize on 
series-opening victory

By DANNY VARGOVICK 

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan baseball team 

entered play this weekend eager 
to forget a tough season-opening 
series loss to Long Beach State. 
But after two games this weekend 
against Tennessee Tech and two 
against Davidson, things only got 
worse.

Friday, in Savannah, Georgia, 

the Wolverines collected their 
sole win over the Golden Eagles, 
6-5, before dropping the final 
three games of the weekend to 
Davidson, 5-4, Tennessee Tech, 
11-8, and Davidson, 3-2.

The highlight of the weekend 

for Michigan (2-5) came in the 
ninth inning of the first game 
against Tennessee Tech, when 
junior left fielder Cody Bruder 
laid down the go-ahead RBI bunt 
single. Bruder reached first safely 
even though Michigan coach 
Erik Bakich called for a suicide 
squeeze.

“Cody did a great job executing 

in that situation,” Bakich said. 
“That was a game-winning play 
right there.”

Junior closer and first baseman 

Jacob Cronenworth earned the 
win after pitching the final two 
innings. Cronenworth also led 
off and reached base three times, 
as did the No. 2 and No. 3 hitters, 
Bruder and senior center fielder 
Jackson Glines.

But after the win, the final 

three games of the weekend left 
Bakich with little to praise.

The second game got off to a 

great start thanks in a large part 
to a five-inning, seven-strikeout, 
no-run 
performance 
from 

sophomore right hander Keith 
Lehmann. Bakich was unhappy, 
though, that he needed to pull 
Lehmann after the fifth inning, 
since 
the 
right-hander 
had 

already thrown 96 pitches.

“The type of pitcher Keith is,” 

Bakich said, “I’d rather him force 
contact and pitch deeper into 
games than have to accumulate 

pitches because he’s striking 
people out.”

The Wolverines went into 

the top of the ninth leading 3-0. 
With Cronenworth unavailable 
after throwing two innings the 
previous day, Davidson (3-2) sent 
the game to extra innings largely 
due to Wolverine mistakes: Two 
of the three runs that scored in 
the ninth reached base on a walk 
and hit-by-pitch, both of which 
ultimately scored off a wild pitch 
and passed ball.

The 
11th 

inning 
began 

just 
like 
the 

ninth — with 
a 
walk 
and 

a 
hit 
batter. 

Davidson went 
up 
for 
good 

when 
both 

runners scored 
on a fielder’s 
choice.

Saturday’s second game, the 

final contest against Tennessee 
Tech 
(4-2), 
featured 
better 

hitting, worse pitching and fatal 
errors.

The Golden Eagles put up 

six unearned runs in the third 
inning off of a number of walks 
and errors by Cronenworth and 
senior shortstop Eric Jacobson.

Michigan’s 
noteworthy 

moment came in the form 
of 
a 
three-run 
home 
run 

by 
sophomore 
designated 

hitter Carmen Benedetti, the 
Wolverines’ first home run of the 
season. The team cut the lead to 
just two runs in the seventh, but 
Tennessee Tech put the game 
out of reach in the eighth in a 
frustratingly familiar fashion: 
Of the three runners that scored 
in the inning, two had originally 
reached base off a walk and a hit 
batter.

Michigan’s final game of the 

weekend, a 9 a.m. start against 
Davidson, was much more of a 
pitchers’ duel.

Freshman 
Jayce 
Vancena 

impressed in his first collegiate 

start, limiting the Wildcats to 
one run on four hits and no walks. 
Benedetti then came in for his 
first appearance on the mound in 
his college career and threw one 
and two-thirds innings of no-hit 
ball.

The Wolverines held a two-run 

lead in the bottom of the eighth 
when Wildcat David Daniels hit 
a two-run bomb off of sophomore 
lefthander Brett Adcock.

Junior 
shortstop 
Travis 

Maezes was unable to play after 

being 
ruled 

out with an 
injury, 
so 

Jacobson 
shifted 
over 

from 
second 

base 
in 
his 

absence.

“(Jacobson) 

is 
a 
high-

character, 
high-makeup 

kid, and defense has always been 
one of his greatest strengths,” 
Bakich said. “He’s made all the 
routine plays for us that we’ve 
needed him to made and done a 
really nice job leading the infield 
from the shortstop position.”

After the Wolverines were 

originally scheduled to travel to 
Greenville, North Carolina, they 
had to make alternative plans due 
to weather.

 They didn’t find out who they 

would be playing until Thursday 
night, limiting the amount of 
time they had to prepare for the 
weekend. But Bakich refused 
to use this as a possible excuse 
and also rejected the idea that 
the team was at a disadvantage 
because 
its 
opponents 
can 

practice 
outside 
while 
the 

Wolverines cannot in the middle 
of the Ann Arbor winter.

He’s not taking these losses 

lightly, either.

“We’ve got to get better in a lot 

of areas, as an entire team unit, 
pitching, hitting, and defense,” 
Bakich said. “There’s a massive 
sense of urgency.”

“We’ve got to get 
better ... There’s 
a massive sense 

of urgency.”

Michigan upsets Memphis

By ALEX KHALIFEH

For the Daily 

The Michigan men’s tennis 

team 
showed 
an 
underdog 

mentality Saturday at the Varsity 
Tennis Center. Going toe to 
toe with No. 22 Memphis, the 
Wolverines came from behind 
in both doubles and singles 
competition en route to their 5-1 
victory.

In 
doubles 
play, 
redshirt 

freshman 
Alex 
Knight 
and 

freshman Leo Hua faced an early 
deficit in their matchup against 
Memphis’ Andrew Watson and 
Louis Asser.

For most of the match, Watson 

and Asser used the both-up 
strategy, playing close to the net 
and rarely showing any defensive 
mishaps. Knight and Hua tried 
painting the lines, but eventually 
lost, 6-3.

Senior No. 1 doubles partners 

Alex Petrone and Michael Zhu 
fell behind, 3-1, in their first set 
against the Tigers’ Kai Lemke 
and Connor Glennon.

But Petrone and Zhu were able 

to recover — partly due to two 
straight double faults by Lemke 
and Glennon — and tie the match 
at 3.

After a back-and-forth match, 

Memphis (4-3) seemed ready 
to pull away in the tiebreaker 
with a 4-0 lead in the third set. 
But Petrone and Zhu came back, 
taking a 5-4 advantage and 

ultimately winning the match, 
7-6. The win gave the Wolverines 
a 1-0 lead.

“Unbelievable,” said Michigan 

coach Adam Steinberg. “That was 
the most important part of the 
match. We’ve been struggling in 
doubles. It was incredible.”

Zhu was the standout player on 

Steinberg’s mind after the game.

“He’s 
really 
stepping 
up, 

playing aggressive and playing 
like a senior,” Steinberg said. 
“Today, he’s our hero. He was 
fantastic.”

The momentum from Petrone 

and 
Zhu’s 
decisive 
doubles 

match carried over to the singles 
matchups, where Michigan (3-5) 
went up early against Memphis, 
leading four out of the six singles 
matchups.

After 
losing 
his 
singles 

matchup earlier Saturday against 
Cleveland State’s Jorg Van Der 
Vloet, Knight bounced back, 
defeating 
Memphis’ 
Patrick 

Mayer, 6-3, 6-2.

Freshman Carter Lin faced 

problems in his first set against 
Memphis’ Shakeel Manji, losing 
the first set, 6-3. During the break 
in action, Steinberg offered the 
rookie advice.

“Carter needs to play more 

aggressively,” 
Steinberg 
said. 

“He shies away from stepping 
in. We were trying to attack his 
opponent for him. There were 
a lot of short balls that Carter 
needs to get on.”

Manji had an opportunity to 

tie the match at five after building 
a 40-30 lead over Lin, but Lin 
recovered and put the match to 
rest by winning the next two 
points.

The advice seemed to resonate 

with Lin, who went on to sweep 
the next two sets, 6-3, 6-4.

Crocker 
played 
a 
tightly 

contested 
match 
against 

Memphis’ Lemke, where Crocker 
took the first set decisively, 
winning 6-2, but allowed the 
second and third to be decided in 
tiebreakers.

The second and third sets 

saw Crocker commit two double 
faults that either propelled the 
match into a tiebreak or gave 
Lemke an advantage.

The tiebreaker in the third 

showcased another comeback 
performance.

When Crocker had been down 

4-0 in the tiebreaker, Steinberg 
reminded him of Petrone and 
Zhu, who came back from down 
4-0 in their doubles tiebreaker.

Crocker bounced back and 

took a 5-4 lead. The tiebreaker 
lasted a total of 20 points, with 
Crocker eventually winning, 11-9.

“I wanted to win to top off 

the great effort by the team. Our 
seniors and our coaches kept us 
focused on what we needed to 
do,” Crocker said.

The preparation paid off with 

a well earned victory over a 
nationally ranked opponent.

MEN’S TENNIS
BASEBALL

MINNESOTA
MICHIGAN 

91
88

