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