4B — March 30, 2015
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Pitching staff shines in 2-1 series win
Nutof, Adcock,
Cronenworth start
as Wolverines beat
Maryland twice
By BEN FIDELMAN
Daily Sports Writer
After being outscored 25-7
in its Big Ten opening series
against Nebraska last weekend,
the Michigan baseball pitching
staff was in need of a serious
lift. The climb from an 0-3 start
in conference play could have
become an even tougher task
with the team heading into a
three-game set against No. 20
Maryland (4-2 Big Ten, 18-7
overall) this weekend at Ray
Fisher Stadium.
But the pitching staff as a
whole would came through on
the weekend, allowing just six
runs to one of the best offenses
in the nation.
“It was huge coming off a
tough weekend, we needed to get
something going in Big Ten play
moving forward,” said freshman
right-hander Ryan Nutof. “We
were kind of embarrassed after
last weekend. We had a meeting
and figured out who we were (as
a pitching staff).”
Looking like somewhat of
a rag-tag group, the starting
rotation is beginning to rebound
from injuries and recent poor
performances. This weekend,
junior
right-hander
Jacob
Cronenworth,
Nutof
and
sophomore
left-hander
Brett
Adcock went to the mound for
the Wolverines (2-4, 14-12).
So far this season, Nutof has
been the only one of the three
with a reliable track record as a
starting pitcher, carrying a 2.92
earned-run
average
through
seven starts.
Cronenworth
took
the
mound for the Wolverines in
the first game of the series on
Saturday afternoon. Though
he’s usually the team’s closer,
he put together a solid outing
in a losing effort, as Michigan
dropped
the
game,
3-1.
Allowing just two runs over five
innings of work, Cronenworth
put Michigan in a position to
take an early victory and defeat
Maryland’s Mike Shawaryn,
one of the best pitchers in the
conference.
“(Cronenworth) is a guy that’s
going to attack the zone with
a lot of quality pitches,” said
Michigan coach Erik Bakich.
“He’s tough on the mound and
gives us a chance. He’s dominant
in the closer role, and we didn’t
even get to him last weekend.
In our current state, he can
best serve us in the starter role.
He gave us five decent innings
(Saturday).”
Though there was a lack of
run support in the first game,
the Wolverine offense had no
problem putting the team on top
for the rest of the weekend. That
offensive effort, paired with
stellar pitching, led Michigan to
take two of the weekend’s three
games.
In the second game of the
series, Nutof was dominant
through 7.1 shutout innings,
allowing just five hits on the
afternoon.
He
would
have
continued
further
into
the
game, but he was taken out
for
precautionary
reasons
when he started feeling chest
discomfort.
The Michigan starter with
the lowest ERA in the 2014
campaign was Adcock, who
ended the season with at 2.87.
His numbers this season have
been far from consistent with
that, but this weekend he put
together a start that could prove
to be a turning point for his
season.
After loading the bases in
the first inning, Adcock was
on the receiving end of a stern
mound visit from Bakich, and
he responded by striking out the
side to neutralize the Terrapin
threat. He ended up allowing
just two runs in four innings
pitched, which, combined with
four innings in relief from
freshman right-hander Jayce
Vancena, was good enough to
lead the Wolverines to victory.
Looking forward to the rest
of the Michigan season on the
mound, the team awaits the
return of junior left-hander
Evan
Hill
and
sophomore
right-hander Keith Lehmann
from injuries. Both players had
major roles for the Wolverines
in last year’s rotation and could
provide
some
much-needed
depth for Michigan as it moves
into the heart of its season.
“(Hill) is going to be back
sooner than later,” Bakich said.
“I know he’s very anxious to
get back on the mound, and
the team is looking forward to
getting him back out there. If
there’s one area that you don’t
want to be thin in, it’s pitching.
With a couple of other guys
that are out right now from the
mound, getting everyone back to
full strength will be big for this
club.”
Bakich expects both Hill and
Lehmann to be back in the next
few weeks.
The
coaching
staff
compensated for those injuries
by moving Cronenworth into
the rotation. Neither he or
Bakich knows how long a
starting role will be his, but both
said that next Friday at Indiana
will be another situation where
Cronenworth will be used to
begin the game.
“Moving Cronenworth to the
starting role certainly gave us
a boost,” Bakich said. “Really,
we feel comfortable doing that
because we feel good about
(freshman right-hander) Bryan
Pall at the end of the game. We
start multiple guys and try to
keep it simple with them by
telling them to attack the zone
with quality pitches and let your
defense work behind you. When
we’ve done that, the results have
been very positive.”
Michigan faces three of the
projected top teams in the
conference in the beginning
of the season in Nebraska,
Maryland
and
Indiana,
so
weathering that portion of the
schedule
with
a
banged-up
pitching staff has been key for
the Wolverines so far. Sitting
with four conference losses
through six games isn’t ideal,
but Bakich believes if the staff
can keep stringing quality starts
together, Michigan will be a
serious contender in the Big
Ten.
RITA MORRIS/Daily
Freshman right-hander Ryan Nutof pitched 7.1 shutout innings, giving up five hits and a walk while striking out six in Michigan’s 10-1 rout of Maryland on Saturday.
BY THE NUMBERS
Michigan Baseball
6
Total runs allowed by Michigan pitchers
in three home games against Maryland
this weekend
194
Team strikeouts, ranked fourth in the
Big Ten
.232
Batting average allowed by the
Michigan pitching staff
7
Runners Michigan pitchers have picked
off this season
Wolverines falter
in late loss to Iowa
By KEVIN SANTO
Daily Sports Writer
The weight of the weekend
was finally bearing down on
sophomore right-hander Megan
Betsa’s shoulders.
For the first time in an
otherwise dominant weekend,
Betsa was struggling. She was
missing the strike zone. She didn’t
seem so eager to put her foot back
on the rubber. The snow started
to fall, the fatigue started to show
and the game was slipping out of
the Wolverines’ grasp.
The Michigan softball team
(5-1 Big Ten, 31-5 overall) fell 6-4
to Iowa in the final game of its Big
Ten home-opening series.
After establishing an early lead,
the fourth-ranked Wolverines
collapsed in the top of the sixth
inning, as the Hawkeyes (2-6,
11-26) finally cracked the pitching
code of sophomore right-hander
Megan Betsa.
“When you pitch (15.1) innings
in a weekend, you’re going to
get tired,” Betsa said. “They did
a good job making adjustments
to my pitching and that’s a
compliment to them. But when
they make adjustments, I need to
make adjustments too, and I just
didn’t do that (well enough).”
Through five innings, Betsa
allowed no runs and recorded
11 strikeouts. But when Betsa
walked shortstop Megan Blank,
the wheels began to fall off
Michigan’s pitching carousel.
Iowa catcher Holly Hoffman
worked an 11-pitch at-bat, and
sent the final pitch to the plate
over the left-centerfield wall.
Right fielder Allie Wood followed
up with a solo shot of her own
to left field to make it 4-3, with
Michigan still leading.
Though Betsa got out of the jam
with two strikeouts, the worst was
yet to come for the Wolverines.
Michigan failed to record
a single hit in the bottom of
the sixth, and the Hawkeyes
capitalized
in
the
following
inning. Betsa put two runners on
base and was replaced by senior
left-hander Haylie Wagner.
But things didn’t improve after
the change in the circle.
Runners
advanced
on
a
wild pitch by Wagner, and she
proceeded to intentionally walk
Hoffman on the next at-bat to
load the bases. Iowa first baseman
Kaitlyn Mullarkey stepped to
the plate and laced a hit down
the first-base line, scoring two
runs to put the Hawkeyes up 5-4.
Wood then drove in another run
with a groundout.
After the three-run seventh
inning, the Wolverines failed
to recover as they hit into a
double play and grounded out to
shortstop to end the game.
The silver lining of Michigan’s
loss was sophomore left fielder
Kelly
Christner’s
consistent
performance at the plate. In the
bottom of the first inning, junior
centerfielder Sierra Lawrence
was hit by a pitch, and on the
following
at-bat,
Christner
tattooed a 2-1 pitch out of the
park to left-center field.
After the first inning surge,
Michigan struggled to put runs
on the board, only posting one
run in the third against Iowa
right-hander Shayla Starkenburg.
“When we’re on it seems
easy,” said Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins. “But when we’re not
all on we still have to find ways
to win and to compete better. We
squandered too many at-bats. We
got what we deserved.”
It should have been an easy
sweep. Betsa’s 35 strikeouts on
the weekend should have been
enough. But after being leaned
upon all weekend, Betsa was
bound to fall eventually.
And the Wolverines paid a
large price when that time came.
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Sophomore right-hander Megan Betsa pitched 15.1 innings in three games, striking out 35 batters and picking up two wins before losing the series finale.
‘M’ regains leader in Sweet
By TYLER SCOTT
Daily Sports Writer
Senior catcher Lauren Sweet
was standing on second base
when
freshman
designated
player Aidan Falk ripped a single
through the right side of the
infield March 14 in the Michigan
softball team’s matchup with
Kent State. Sweet rounded third
and bolted for home, but as she
slid into home, her right foot
was trapped under her body at
a plainly unnatural angle. The
run scored, but the damage was
done. The fans at Alumni Field
held their collective breath until
Sweet was helped off the field in
a fireman’s carry.
But
Saturday,
Sweet
was
substituted in as a pinch-hitter
for the Wolverines in the fifth
inning. When she stepped into
the batter’s box for the first time
since recovering from her injury,
the fans roared.
“Being out for a week and a
half is pretty tough, and I’ve
really been struggling with it,”
Sweet said. “(The cheers) were
like a spark for me to work even
harder to get back as well, it was
awesome.”
Michigan
faced
a
disappointing loss on Sunday
to go 2-1 against Iowa on the
weekend. If Saturday’s brief
in-game appearance had been
a test of Sweet’s health, she
passed.
When
the
starting
lineup was announced prior to
Sunday’s loss, Sweet’s name was
on the list. She was back at her
familiar post behind home plate
for the first pitch.
“It’s a lot of ups and downs —
I think it’s hard to say exactly
where I’m at,” Sweet said. “I
want to be out there, so I’m going
to work as hard as I can to be out
there whenever I can.”
It wasn’t obvious at first that
she was comfortable being back.
Sophomore right-hander Megan
Betsa’s first pitch slipped out of
Sweet’s glove. It happened again
for the second batter. It had been
15 days since Sweet had last
experienced live pitching in a
game, so maybe a little rust was
to be expected.
But by the second inning,
Sweet had settled in, comfortable
in resuming her long tenure as
Michigan’s catcher. Her role is
about more than just technical
expertise. She’s the watchman
for the pitching staff — a source
of calm and positivity when
tension runs high.
“I expect her to take control of
the pitchers, that’s her job,” said
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins.
“I think she’s very good at it,
and we’ve needed her back. It’s
unfortunate (that) for her first
good start back we didn’t get it
done.”
The
Hawkeyes
overcame
a four-run Michigan lead by
scoring three runs in the sixth
and seventh innings to upset
the Wolverines. But throughout
the final frames, whether it was
when sophomore right-hander
Megan
Betsa
was
fighting
fatigue, or when senior left-
hander Haylie Wagner found
herself in a bases-loaded jam,
Sweet was there to walk out
to the circle and steady her
pitchers.
“Most of the time it’s just to
calm down,” Sweet said. “No
matter what happens, I need
to be positive, and I need to be
giving them all the energy I
have. No matter what happens,
I’m there for them.”
There was no demand on
Sweet to make plays at the
plate, no chances to try and
gun down an attempted steal.
Despite taking the 6-4 loss to
Iowa, perhaps it was the perfect
scenario for Sweet to ease herself
back into her starting role.
Before her injury, Sweet was
batting .324 with six home runs
and 28 RBI. though resuming
that productivity may not come
as easily for Sweet as fulfilling
her duties as catcher.
“She’s a big bat in our lineup,
but I didn’t think her bat looked
very good,” Hutchins said. “She’s
going to have to work hard this
week to swing better.”
But her fans and teammates
will still be there to cheer her
on when she’s up at bat. Perhaps
it’s a poetic twist of fate that
now Sweet will be reaping the
benefits of a positive approach
she champions.