The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday
April 13, 2015 — 3B
Michigan sweeps Rutgers
By TYLER SCOTT
Daily Sports Writer
After a year and a half on
the Michigan softball team,
Abby Ramirez hit her first
career
home
run
Saturday.
For an encore, the sophomore
shortstop jacked a three-run
shot to give the Wolverines the
lead in the Sunday game. In nine
at-bats, Ramirez hit .889 for
the weekend. Ramirez was on
fire all weekend, but she wasn‘t
alone. The seventh through
ninth hitters combined for 11
hits as the Wolverines swept the
Rutgers.
“We’re a team, and we need
everybody on the team doing
their part, because the same
people aren’t always going to get
it done,” said Michigan coach
Carol
Hutchins.
“(Ramirez)
was in a great groove over the
weekend. … But we need the
bottom of the order to contribute,
and they were fantastic this
weekend.”
Before the weekend series,
Rutgers (7-5 Big Ten, 20-12
Overall) and Michigan (10-2
Big Ten, 37-6 Overall) were tied
for second place in the Big Ten
softball standings.
But you couldn’t tell that was
the case on the field.
No. 4 Michigan trounced
Rutgers in games one and two
by scores of 18-0 and 16-3,
respectively. In Sunday’s finale,
the Wolverines batted in fewer
runs, but still won 5-0 to earn
the series sweep. With the wins,
Michigan is now alone on top of
the Big Ten standings, edging
out Northwestern for the lead by
way of win percentage.
In the leadoff at-bat of the
series, junior centerfielder Sierra
Lawrence lifted a homer over the
left-field wall. It was a precursor
to the onslaught that buried the
Scarlet Knights through the first
two games.
Michigan scored 17 runs in
three innings as it mowed its way
through Rutgers’ bullpen. Three
pitchers besides the starter, left-
hander Alyssa Landrith, saw
action in Friday’s opener, but
none could stymie the Wolverine
offense. Junior second baseman
Sierra
Romero,
sophomore
outfielder Kelly Christner and
junior right fielder Kelsey Susalla
all homered as part of a seven-
run fourth inning. Christner
homered again her next time up
as Michigan added seven more
runs in the fifth.
“When
we
have
good
weekends, it’s usually because
we’re relaxed and not getting in
our own heads,” Ramirez said.
“When everyone’s playing really
well, we’re all playing really
loose and we’re not pressing to
get hits or anything, we go up
there kind of relaxed.”
With the bats as hot as they
were,
Michigan’s
pitching
staff had a massive margin for
error, but it didn’t need one.
Sophomore right-hander Megan
Betsa pitched Friday, giving up
just three hits and recording
nine strikeouts through five
innings in the run-rule victory.
Senior
left-hander
Haylie
Wagner was in the circle for
game two when the Scarlet
Knights scored their only runs
of the weekend. Wagner allowed
just four hits and one earned run
with three strikeouts, but an ill-
timed error by Sierra Romero at
second base allowed a runner to
advance and eventually score.
Rutgers
capitalized
on
Michigan’s defensive missteps
to score two runs in the second,
and
Scarlet
Knights
first
baseman Rebecca Hall jacked a
solo home run in the fourth to
provide Rutgers its only offense.
“There were a few slip ups, but
we were able to bounce back,”
said
senior
catcher
Lauren
Sweet. “That’s a huge thing.
Defense is the most important
part of the game, and our
pitchers really came out to play.”
Michigan sidestepped every
challenge that Rutgers cooked
up for it. In the series finale,
Landrith returned to the circle
seemingly well equipped for
the potency of the Wolverines’
lineup. Instead of a slugfest
like in game one, the Michigan
offense was contained to just
two productive innings.
The three-run homer from
Ramirez in the second inning
was the only difference until
Lawrence knocked in a two-
run single in the sixth frame.
Betsa chalked another superb
start, allowing just two hits and
striking out 14 Rutgers batters.
Happy with the results of the
weekend and her team’s place
atop the conference, Hutchins is
still looking for ways to improve
her team with the postseason
looming.
“I want to focus on Michigan
and what Michigan does well,”
Hutchins said. “That’s our brand
... we swing, and we swing well.
We just have to stay with that
and just continue to get a little
bit better around the edges.”
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
Abby Ramirez hit .889 in Michigan’s weekend series to help lead the Wolverines to a sweep over Rutgers.
Wolverines rebound
to win series on road
By DANNY VARGOVICK
Daily Sports Writer
It won’t be the start that sticks
out from the Michigan baseball
team’s series this weekend. It
will be the finish.
This weekend, the Wolverines
started horribly with an 11-1
beatdown at the hands of Penn
State (10-20 overall, 2-6 Big Ten).
After the game, Michigan
coach Erik Bakich told his
team that it just needed to put
the game in the past and forget
about it.
And that’s exactly what it did,
rallying on Saturday and Sunday
to take the series with 5-3 and
8-3 wins in State College.
For the Wolverines, the heroes
of the turnaround on Saturday
and Sunday were the starting
pitchers. Freshman right-hander
Ryan Nutof and sophomore left-
hander Brett Adcock both went
six innings, allowing only one
earned run combined.
Nutof wasn’t at his absolute
best, but he was good enough.
In his six innings, he allowed
five hits and four walks while
striking out two.
Sunday, Adcock allowed just
two hits and struck out six, but
two unearned runs scored on
errors by junior second baseman
Jacob Cronenworth in the third
inning and freshman shortstop
Jake Bivens in the fourth.
Bakich has been tinkering
with his infield defense since
the return of junior infielder
Travis Maezes. At the start of
the season, Cronenworth was
at first, Maezes at shortstop,
senior Eric Jacobson at second
and freshman Drew Lugbauer
at third. In Maezes’ absence,
Bivens emerged into an everyday
player, registering a .422 on-base
percentage.
Sunday,
though,
Maezes
showed why it’s worth the
effort to juggle the lineup to
accommodate him. He went
3-for-4 with two clutch doubles
to bring home four Wolverine
base runners.
The
other
offensive
star
for
Michigan
was
senior
centerfielder
Jackson
Glines.
After leading the Big Ten in
hitting for the majority of the
season, Glines was held to
just two hits in last weekend’s
series win against Indiana. This
weekend, he collected four hits
— two doubles, a triple and a
single.
After starting the year coming
off the bench, sophomore right
fielder Johnny Slater received
three starts this weekend. He
has dynamic speed, but so far
in his career, his high strikeout
and low walk rates have limited
his ability to use his speed on the
bases.
Friday,
Slater
recorded
a
single and a stolen base. He
wasn’t able to score, but he didn’t
strike out. Saturday, he had two
singles, one on a bunt, but struck
out twice, got picked off once
and didn’t score. Sunday, though,
he recorded one single, didn’t
strike out and, in his final plate
appearance of the weekend,
walked and scored.
Bakich said he has been
impressed with Slater, and that
players like him are what make it
so difficult for opposing pitchers
to get through the Wolverine
lineup.
This
series
was
another
testament to the Wolverines
being real contenders this year.
Baseball is a game that has
a large and vitally important
mental component, and this
team had the mental fortitude to
move past a debilitating 11-1 loss
Friday and turn things around
and win the series.
After statement wins against
Big Ten favorite Maryland and
Big Ten defending champion
Indiana in the previous two
weekends,
this
weekend
could’ve been a trap for a lesser
team.
But for this team, it wasn’t.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
‘M’ adds two home wins
By LELAND MITCHINSON
Daily Sports Writer
As the No. 14 Michigan
women’s tennis team ended its
match Saturday, the focus was
on senior Kristen Dodge.
Dodge was trying to join
fellow seniors Emina Bektas and
Sarah Lee with wins on Senior
Day.
After a tough first set in
which she won in a seven-point
tiebreak, Dodge cruised to a
6-1 second-set victory to win
the final home
match of her
career.
“I have had
such a passion
for
Michigan
my
whole
life,”
Dodge
said. “It’s been
truly a blessing being able to be
here for four years, and now I’m
just glad I could make everyone
proud and my family proud, to
win one last match and to have
(my family) see me play one last
time.”
The success for the seniors
was part of another impressive
weekend for the Wolverines,
who defeated in-state rival
Michigan State, 7-0, on Friday
and took down Memphis, 6-1, on
Saturday.
Against
the
Spartans,
Michigan took the doubles point
with an 8-3 win from the No. 13
team of Bektas and freshman
Alex Najarian and an 8-6 win
from freshman Mira Ruder-
Hook
and
sophomore
Sara
Remynse.
Bektas took the momentum
to singles, winning the No. 1
singles match, 6-2, 6-0.
Ruder-Hook
finished
her
match next with an equally
impressive
performance,
winning in straight sets without
dropping a single game.
Lee eventually clinched the
match for Michigan, winning
6-0, 6-3.
“It
means
so much to
be
part
of
this,”
Lee
said. “Mostly
because
of
how
much
it has given
me and sort of taught me about
leadership and what it’s like
to be on a team with amazing
girls.”
Najarian, Remynse and junior
Ronit Yurovsky each added wins
to the Wolverines’ total to give
Michigan the clean sweep.
Saturday, the weather was
nice enough for the team to play
its first home outdoor match
of the season, when it took on
Memphis.
In doubles play, Lee and
Yurovsky won 8-2, while the
team of Ruder-Hook and Dodge
won 8-3 to give Michigan the
doubles point.
Following
the
doubles
matches, the seniors were joined
on the courts by their families
and were honored by the team.
“It’s crazy that four years
have gone by this fast,” Bektas
said. “I think the biggest thing
I’m going to take away is the
people I’ve been around. My
teammates and my coaches
have helped me grow as a tennis
player and as a person so much.”
Lee built on her success from
Friday, using her drop shot
to secure a win at the third
position, 6-3, 6-1.
“The drop shot is kind of my
go-to,” Lee said. “I love hitting
the drop shot but she especially
stood really far back so it worked
very well today and whenever I
had a chance I would go for the
drop shots.”
Bektas clinched the win with
a 6-3, 7-5 victory at the No. 1
spot.
The
weekend’s
only
loss
for the Wolverines came on
Saturday when Najarian lost
a three-set match, ending her
team-best 12 match win streak.
“It’s good. You want to get
pushed,” said Michigan coach
Ronni Bernstein. “When you
win easy and then you get put in
those tough situations you might
doubt if you can get through.
I think this was very good for
us heading into next Friday
(against No. 18 Ohio State).”
ALLISON FARRAND/Daily
Travis Maezes went 3-for-4 with two doubles in Sunday’s series finale.
“It’s crazy that
four years have
gone by this fast.”