4B — April 20, 2015
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SportsMonday

The insurance runs proved to 

be vital with the Boilermakers 
mounting their own comeback 
in the eighth. First baseman Kyle 
Wood singled to center field to 
drive in a run, and outfielder 
Brett Carlson hit a two-RBI single 
to left two at-bats later to cut the 
Wolverines’ advantage to one.

Michigan appeared to be on 

the verge of falling behind as 
Purdue loaded the bases with two 
outs. But junior left-hander Evan 
Hill got the Wolverines out of the 
jam when he got Boilermakers 
first baseman Daniel Sander to fly 
out to center.

Michigan’s 
weekend 
series 

sweep was its first in Big Ten play 
since April 12-14, 2013, against 
Penn State, while the Wolverines’ 
last doubleheader sweep occurred 
May 11, 2008, against Minnesota. 
Michigan now sits in fifth place 
in the Big Ten standings, three 
games behind Illinois for the top 
spot.

BASEBALL
From Page 1B

BASEBALL
Stars shine bright in sweep

By DANNY VARGOVICK

Daily Sports Writer

Friday, roughly 15 to 20 

scouts were in attendance to 
watch junior right-hander Jacob 
Cronenworth pitch.

What they may not have 

been expecting, though, was his 
dominating performance at the 
plate.

Cronenworth, 
along 
with 

senior 
centerfielder 
Jackson 

Glines 
and 
sophomore 
first 

baseman 
Carmen 
Benedetti, 

dominated Purdue’s pitching all 
weekend. The trio hit .659 on the 
plate and accounted for 13 runs 
scored and 14 runs batted in of 
the team’s 23 total runs.

Friday, Cronenworth set the 

tone for the Wolverine offense, 
reaching base four times in five 
plate 
appearances. 
Michigan 

scored nine runs on the day, 
with Cronenworth credited with 
either a run scored or an RBI on 
six of them.

In the first game Saturday, 

Cronenworth picked up right 
where he left off, going 4-for-
5. The only change in his plate 
appearance was that of additional 
power, sending the ball over the 
395-foot marker in straightaway 
center field.

“I didn’t even expect it to 

go out,” Cronenworth said. “I 
thought it was just going to be a 
deep fly out, but it got caught up 
in the wind up there.”

Over the last two years, it 

has been Glines who has been 
the Batman to Cronenworth’s 
Robin. As the top two hitters in 
the lineup, the duo presents a 

daunting challenge in the first 
inning for any opposing pitcher.

Friday, Glines had three hits 

in five plate appearances. He 
managed to top those numbers 
Saturday.

Not 
to 
be 
outdone 
by 

Cronenworth, Glines reached 
base eight times in 10 plate 
appearances 
in 
the 

doubleheader. 
Like 
Cronenworth, 
he found his 
power stroke, 
tallying three 
doubles 
and 

one triple over 
the two games.

It was an 

encouraging 
line for Glines, who is back to 
leading the conference in hitting 
at .399 and on-base percentage at 
an even .500. The senior seems 
to be past a nine-game stretch in 
which he hit just .147.

“Hitting has some peaks and 

valleys,” said Michigan coach 
Erik Bakich. “Jackson Glines is 
fortunate that everybody knew 
that he wasn’t going to be down 
for long. He wasn’t really down, 
he just had some tough luck with 
balls hit right at people.”

Adding 
to 
the 
onslaught, 

Benedetti has been the third 
member of the Wolverines’ big 
three offensively this season.

Benedetti joined the party 

Saturday in the first game, also 
going 4-for-5. He went 3-for-5 in 
the second game, and collected 
four RBI, three of which plated 
Glines.

The team’s cleanup hitter has 

hit .510 over his last 12 games, 
improving his average to .378 — 
good for second in the Big Ten 
behind Glines. He also leads the 
conference in RBI with 44, 10 
clear of second place.

Bakich has said that last 

season, the team often relied 

on 
its 
stars 

to do all the 
heavy 
lifting 

on 
offense. 

That 
hasn’t 

been the case 
this 
season; 

the lineup is 
much 
deeper 

with 
players 

like freshman 
shortstop 
Jake 
Bivens 

consistently 
contributing 
and 

senior catcher Kendall Patrick 
turning in quality performances 
like his 3-for-4 line on Friday. 
Even 
sophomore 
outfielder 

Johnny Slater — gently used for 
much of his collegiate career 
— posted two multi-hit games 
in the weekend sweep that 
saw 
Michigan 
outscore 
the 

Boilermakers, 23-8, in three 
games.

The Wolverines have been 

able to win without their stars 
contributing, just like they did 
during the stretch when Glines 
hit .147. But the Wolverines are at 
their best on days like Saturday, 
when Cronenworth, Glines and 
Benedetti all reached base four 
times in five plate appearances.

Though 
Michigan 
doesn’t 

need its stars to shine to win, it 
certainly helps to have them.

“Everybody knew 

that he wasn’t 

going to be down 

for long.”

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

Ryan Nutof pitched 7.1 scoreless innings in one of Saturday’s wins over Purdue.

Hitting proves contagious

By CHRIS CROWDER

Daily Sports Writer

In the second inning of the 

Michigan softball team’s game on 
Friday, an epidemic came across 
the team. The hits didn’t stop 
coming from the Wolverines as 11 
straight batters reached base and 
10 of them scored.

The virus easily spread from 

teammate to teammate, and it 
doesn’t look like the Wolverines 
will be cured of it any time soon.

The epidemic that came across 

the team was hitting, and it’s 
more contagious than ever.

“Once they all start hitting, 

they all believe we can hit,” said 
Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. 
“I like for them to focus on every 
pitch as the same, whether bases 
are loaded or if nobody is on.”

This weekend, No. 4 Michigan 

(14-2 Big Ten, 41-6 overall) 
excelled at the plate, especially 
with runners in scoring position, 
going 11-for-32 in such situations. 
Hitting when it mattered most 
led the Wolverines to a sweep of 
Indiana (5-10, 14-31).

In the first game, Michigan 

went 
6-for-15 
with 
runners 

in scoring position, including 
3-for-6 with the bases loaded in 
the second inning alone. Those 
at-bats contributed six runs to 
the 10-run frame. Nearly every 
Wolverine batter stepped up 
when they walked up to the plate. 
Not a single Michigan player 
struck out in the second, and 
every batter put the ball in play, 
forcing Indiana’s defense to react. 
The Hoosiers had two errors in 
the inning, giving the Wolverines 
more opportunities to keep piling 
on their lead.

Michigan had 15 batters step 

up to the plate in the second. 
The two freshmen in the lineup, 
catcher Aidan Falk and first 
baseman Tera Blanco, each had 
two hits in the inning, driving 
two and three RBI, respectively. 
They were responsible for the 
first two runs of the inning, 

starting the rally to take control 
of the game.

“(When the bases are loaded), 

I try not to think about it,” Falk 
said. “Because if I start to think 
about it, it just doesn’t end up 
well. I didn’t even know the bases 
were loaded.”

Soon after the freshmen had 

their first at-bats, junior second 
baseman 
Sierra 
Lawrence 

tattooed a three-run homer to 
put the Wolverines up, 7-0.

Michigan wouldn’t fare as well 

with runners in scoring position 
in the third inning, going 0-4. 
After that, there wouldn’t be 
another at-bat with runners in 
scoring position for the rest of the 
game. But the damage was done 
as Michigan won game one, 11-2.

In game two of the weekend, 

the 
contagious 
hitting 
with 

runners 
in 
scoring 
position 

continued. In the third inning, 
the Wolverines went 2-for-3 
with runners in scoring position, 
scoring all three runs in those 
situations. Sophomore shortstop 
Abby 
Ramirez 
and 
junior 

centerfielder Sierra Lawrence 
hit back-to-back doubles, with 
Lawrence knocking in Ramirez 
on her knock into the right field 
gap. Romero was the next batter, 
and again, poked one over right-
field wall, this time for a two-
run homer. The home run was a 
display of Romero’s power, as the 
ball was nearly in the left-side 
batter’s box. But she stuck her bat 
out anyway, giving Michigan a 
3-0 cushion.

The Wolverines finished 2-for-

7 with runners in scoring position 
in game two, holding on to the 
3-0 lead to defeat the Hoosiers by 
the same score.

“We’re not always going to 

run-rule people,” Hutchins said. 
“I didn’t always like our at-bats, 
but I like the fact that we were in 
a tight game.”

Game three of the series 

started with a leadoff solo home 
run by Lawrence. The next 
run came in the third inning, 

as sophomore left fielder Kelly 
Christner hit an RBI single to 
score Ramirez from second. With 
two on and two down, junior 
right fielder Kelsey Susalla got 
all of a 2-0 pitch. Off the bat, it 
looked like a no-doubt home run, 
as fans stood up and cheered as 
the ball flew through the air. The 
ball went over the wall, but didn’t 
land there, as the wind blew it 
back in play, allowing the Indiana 
right fielder to catch it nearly a 
foot in front of the wall.

But Susalla got her payback 

against the wind in her next at-bat 
in the fifth inning. This time, she 
hit the ball a little harder in the 
same direction, landing in the 
right-field bleachers for a three-
run homer. The round-tripper 
gave Michigan a 5-1 lead, and 
its second hit with runners in 
scoring position for the game.

“I wasn’t too happy about (the 

near home run),” Susalla said. 
“After I hit the second one, I 
felt a lot better and a little more 
confident.”

With the bases loaded in the 

sixth inning for Romero, the 
wind was once again a factor. She 
hit what looked to be a fly out to 
right field for the second out, but 
the wind stopped the ball from 
traveling any further, as it fell 
into no-man’s land for a single. 
Two runs scored on the play, and 
Romero advanced to second. The 
Wolverines didn’t score again, 
winning 7-1 and finished 3-for-10 
with runners in scoring position.

Though sometimes the hitting 

wasn’t infectious for Michigan’s 
benefit, it hit well enough to 
earn all three wins. But if the 
contagiousness 
continues 

to strand from base hits, the 
Wolverines may reach their full 
potential soon enough.

“Honestly, 
we’re 
very 

contagious,” Hutchins said. “If 
one (batter) hits pop-ups, we all 
hit pop-ups. If one (batter) hits 
home runs, we all hit home runs. 
We’re very infectious, and we 
need somebody to break out.”

SOFTBALL

