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