Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wednesday, April 8, 2015 — 7

Wagner earns 
birthday win

Lefty settles down 
after first-inning 
home run, retires 

last 12

By KEVIN SANTO

Daily Sports Writer

Haylie 
Wagner’s 
birthday 

was just another reason to 
celebrate.

Michigan softball’s senior 

left-hander has had some very 
happy 
birthdays 
throughout 

her tenure with the Wolverines. 
With every passing year for 
Wagner, it seems that April 7 
has brought her more luck in 
the circle.

And her 22nd birthday was 

no different.

Tuesday, 

her 
birthday 

fortune 
was 

in full effect 
at 
Alumni 

Field, though 
it didn’t look 
that way from 
the start. After 
recording 
two outs in 
the top of the first, Eastern 
Michigan right fielder Michelle 
Kriegshauser 
stepped 
to 

the plate. On a 2-2 delivery, 
Kriegshauser crushed the ball 
over the left-field fence to put 
the Eagles up 1-0.

But that was the worst of 

Wagner’s play, as she went 
on to earn a nice present — an 
11-1 run-rule victory. Wagner 
pitched a perfect game after 
the solo shot off the bat of 
Kriegshauser. She mowed down 
12 straight Eagles and recorded 
six strikeouts in five innings.

“It’s the same thing every 

game that I’ve been focusing 
on,” 
Wagner 
said. 
“Just 

attacking 
the 
hitters 
and 

finishing my pitch. So after that 
(home run), I was just focusing 
on that and making the ball 
move. And it’s cool to get a win 
on your birthday. It’s fun.”

Though 
not 
quite 
as 

impressive 
as 
her 
Tuesday 

showing, 
Wagner’s 
other 

performances on April 7 stood 
out.

Wagner, just a freshman at 

the time, had a seven-inning 
battle against Ohio State in the 
circle in 2012, allowing just five 
hits, conceding four earned 

runs and leading Michigan to a 
6-5 victory.

And 365 days later, in 2013, 

the Wolverines’ ace picked up 
where she left off against the 
Buckeyes. Wagner produced a 
strong three-inning outing as 
Michigan cruised to a 17-5 run-
rule victory in which she didn’t 
allow a single earned run or 
walk.

Michigan didn’t get to play 

a game to mark Wagner’s 21st 
birthday in 2014, but she put 
together a shutout performance 
two days prior.

Michigan 
coach 
Carol 

Hutchins 
joked 
about 
the 

happenstance that Wagner has 
pitched on her birthday three 
times in her four-year career.

“It must be (a coincidence), 

because I’m not aware of that,” 

Hutchins said. 
“(And) 
last 

year 
didn’t 

fall 
on 
her 

birthday? 
Then I didn’t 
start her on 
her 
birthday 

(all 
four 

years).”

But 

Wagner’s 

career can’t be chalked up to a 
few special performances on 
her birthday. She boasts a 2.08 
earned-run average and a 15-2 
record in the 2015 campaign, 
and 
her 
performance 
has 

especially excelled as of late.

After faltering late in a 

loss to Iowa on March 29, the 
veteran quickly recovered for 
a crucial Big Ten series against 
Minnesota. 
In 
five 
innings 

against the Golden Gophers, 
Wagner 
allowed 
just 
one 

earned run and recorded five 
strikeouts, leading Michigan to 
a 9-4 victory.

“The 
main 
thing 
with 

her is her confidence,” said 
sophomore left fielder Kelly 
Christner. “When she has that 
self confidence, like, ‘Yeah I 
can dominate this game,’ and 
whenever she has that presence 
on the mound is when she really 
shuts the batters down.”

Tuesday was the last time 

Wagner will ever have the 
opportunity to step into the 
circle donning the maize and 
blue on her birthday. Yet for 
the next 30 games, she’ll still be 
wishing for the best gift of all — 
a Women’s College World Series 
ring.

RITA MORRIS/Daily

Senior left-hander Haylie Wagner pitched five innings of one-hit ball Tuesday.

Wolverines rout EMU

By CHRIS CROWDER

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan and Eastern 

Michigan campuses are roughly 
11 miles apart from each other. 
But 
when 
the 
Wolverines 

played the 
Eagles 
on 

Tuesday, 
they 
proved that the two softball 
programs are many more miles 
apart in talent and performance.

With a day off on Monday, 

Michigan 
looked 
mentally 

prepared 
against 
its 
cross-

county opponent. It got the win 
by run-rule in five innings, 11-1.

“We usually have Mondays 

off so we can catch up on our 
studies and everything,” said 
sophomore left fielder Kelly 
Christner. “Then we can come 
out stronger like today. We have 
those Mondays to not worry 
about and kind of forget about 
softball and relax, and then we 
come back Tuesday refocused 
and ready to go.”

Added Michigan coach Carol 

Hutchins: “It’s a long season, 
and it’s cumulative. … As a 
coach, you worry about how it 
will affect them and whether 
they’ll be focused when you 
have a game the next day.”

The worry may have settled 

in early as Eastern Michigan 
drew blood in the first inning. 
Senior pitcher Haylie Wagner 
went through the first two 
batters, earning a strikeout 
and a groundout. With Wagner 
needing one more strike to get 
out of the inning, sophomore 
Michelle Kriegshauser timed 
the 2-2 pitch perfectly, sending 
it over the left-field wall to give 
the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

But Wagner was perfect the 

rest of the way, not allowing a 
hit or walk through the next 
four 
innings. 
The 
offense 

backed her up, batting through 

the lineup in a single inning on 
two separate occasions.

The Wolverines evened the 

score 
almost 
immediately. 

Junior 
centerfielder 
Sierra 

Lawrence started the three-
run first inning with a walk 
and stolen base to get into 
scoring position. Junior second 
baseman Sierra Romero then 
drove Lawrence in with a 
base hit back up the middle, 
advancing to second on the 
throw home. Christner hit a 
ball right to the shortstop, but 
Romero was able to reach home 
on an errant throw. Christner 
scored off of another single 
by junior right fielder Kelsey 
Susalla.

Later in the inning, Michigan 

loaded the bases but couldn’t get 
a runner home. Nonetheless, the 
Wolverines had batted through 
the whole lineup, giving Wagner 
ample time to prepare mentally 
for the next inning. She used 
the time well, coming out in 
the second inning to earn three 

straight groundouts.

“They were ready to go and 

came out aggressive,” Hutchins 
said. “We love aggressive.”

The Wolverines started the 

second inning like they started 
the first, with Lawrence earning 
a walk and Romero hitting a 
single to knock the speedster 
in for a run. Two batters later, 
sophomore 
third 
baseman 

Lindsay Montemarano hit an 
RBI double to make the score 
5-1.

Sophomore shortstop Abby 

Ramirez stepped up to the dish 
in the third inning with one 
runner on. Given Ramirez’s 
status as a slap hitter, the Eagles 
outfield was playing in. Ramirez 
made them pay, hitting a shot 
past the centerfielder, batting a 
run in to push the lead to five. 
Two batters later, Christner 
hit a double to score two more. 
The next batter, Susalla, hit 
a liner past a diving Eastern 
Michigan right fielder, driving 
in yet another run. After an 

RBI sacrifice fly by freshman 
catcher Aidan Falk, Michigan 
had a commanding 10-1 lead to 
end the third.

Montemarano 
walked 

with the bases loaded in the 
fourth inning, scoring another 
run. But that was it for the 
Wolverines, as Wagner struck 
out to close the inning. With 
a 10-run lead, Wagner had the 
opportunity to redeem herself 
after her strikeout by pitching 
a shutdown inning to end the 
game on the run rule.

She did just that, picking 

up two more strikeouts to put 
her count at six on the day. 
With Wagner’s stellar pitching 
and Michigan’s potent offense 
scoring at will, it was a near-
perfect day for the team.

And with the Wolverines’ 

dominant performance, they 
continue 
to 
have 
bragging 

rights in Washtenaw County. 
The schools are close, but with 
regard to their softball teams, 
there’s a much bigger gap.

Hill, Maezes continue road back

Benedetti keeps 
hot streak going in 
blowout win over 
Eastern Michigan

By NATHANIEL CLARK

Daily Sports Writer

The Michigan baseball team 

was already rounding into form 
in the last two 
weeks. 
Now 

it 
has 
two 

key contributors returning to 
provide a boost.

Following a series win at 

defending Big Ten champion 
Indiana last weekend, Michigan 
returned home and steamrolled 
Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, 
18-4, notching 20 hits in the 
process.

“It was great to see some 

offensive explosion and some 
fireworks out there today,” said 
Michigan coach Erik Bakich. 
“They did a good job of taking 
advantage of pitches that they 
could drive for extra base hits. 
We didn’t hit 20 singles.”

The contest featured two key 

contributors for the Wolverines 
who have been suffering from 
injuries: 
junior 
left-handed 

pitcher Evan Hill and junior 
infielder Travis Maezes.

Hill 
— 
who 
has 
been 

rehabilitating 
from 
a 
knee 

injury — made his first start of 
the season Tuesday. He pitched 
two innings and surrendered 
only one run on two hits while 
striking out two batters. Hill’s 
return adds even more depth 
to an already-stacked pitching 
staff.

“I definitely thought I had 

more in me, but the two-inning 
start was scheduled,” Hill said. 
“Whatever (the coaching staff) 
wants me to do going forward, 
I’ll be there ready to go.”

Maezes, 
who 
has 
been 

suffering 
from 
a 
strained 

oblique, was moved from his 
usual 
shortstop position 
to 

third base in order to allow 
him 
playing 
time 
without 

exacerbating the injury.

And it has paid off. Since 

returning to the lineup April 
1 against Central Michigan, 
Maezes is batting 10-for-21 
with six runs scored and three 
doubles. Against the Eagles, he 
went 1-for-4 with a run scored.

BIG 
EARLY 
INNINGS 

PROPEL 
MICHIGAN: 
In 

Tuesday’s game, the Wolverines 
scored three runs each in the 
first and second innings.

Michigan’s 
offense 
has 

made a habit of storming out 
of the gate, such as in the first 
innings 
of 

games against 
Maryland 
on 

March 29 and 
Toledo 
on 

March 31. The 
Wolverines 
put up five in 
the first frame 
against 
the 

Terrapins and 
four 
against 

the Rockets.

With 

runners on first and second 
and none out in the first 
frame, Maezes hit a single and 
advanced to second on an error 
that also allowed a run to score. 
Two batters later, junior left 

fielder Cody Bruder smacked a 
double to left field that drove in 
two more runs.

“Our guys are focused on 

helping the team score the most 
runs,” Bakich said. “A lot of it is 
just that we’ve got good hitters.”

In the second, with Michigan 

ahead, 3-1, sophomore right 
fielder Johnny Slater added 
another run to the Wolverines’ 
total by rounding the bases in a 
highly unusual fashion. He drew 
a walk, advanced to second on a 

failed pickoff 
attempt, 
reached third 
on a balk and 
scored 
on 
a 

wild pitch.

“(Slater) 

manufactured 
the 
run 
all 

by 
himself,” 

Bakich 
said. 

“We’ll 
take 

it. It was a 
big run at the 

time.”

Later 
in 
the 
inning, 

sophomore 
first 
baseman 

Carmen Benedetti and Bruder 
contributed to the Wolverines’ 
cause in a more conventional 

matter. Both belted RBI base 
hits — Benedetti a double and 
Bruder a triple — to extend 
Michigan’s lead to 6-1.

“A lot of guys had quality 

at-bats,” Bakich said. “We made 
a lot of hard contact all over the 
field.”

BENEDETTI CONTINUES 

HOT STRETCH: It has been 
a banner year for Benedetti, 
who leads the Big Ten with 35 
RBI. In addition, he posts a .353 
batting average with 41 hits, 
three home runs and a team-
best 12 doubles.

But he really made waves in 

last weekend’s series against 
the Hoosiers by going 7-for-
13 with a slugging percentage 
of 1.077. Benedetti carried his 
momentum 
into 
Tuesday’s 

game, nabbing three hits in four 
at-bats and scoring a run in the 
process.

Benedetti is hardly alone in 

his offensive success, though. 
The Wolverines topped the Big 
Ten in batting average (.294) 
following the weekend series 
against Indiana.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence 

right now,” Benedetti said. “It’s 
an awesome feeling.”

“It’s cool to get 
a win on your 
birthday. It’s 

fun.”

CONGRATULATIONS 
TO MICHIGAN DAILY 

BRACKET POOL 

CHAMPION

KEVIN SANTO

(EVEN IF HE IS A FRESHMAN)

PAUL SHERMAN/Daily

Sophomore Carmen Benedetti leads the Big Ten with 35 RBI and is hitting .353 with three home runs and 12 doubles.

ROBERT DUNNE/Daily

Sophomore outfielder Kelly Christner went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored Tuesday against Eastern Michigan.

E. MICHIGAN
MICHIGAN 

1
11

NOTEBOOK

“It was great 
to see some 

offensive 

explosion today.”

