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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | April 20, 2015

‘M’ sweeps 

doubleheader, 

series over 

Purdue

By NATHANIEL CLARK

Daily Sports Writer

It’s 
never 
easy 
to 

win both games of a 
doubleheader.

But that’s exactly what 

the 
Michigan 
baseball 

team did on Saturday. The 
Wolverines (8-6 Big Ten, 
23-16 
overall) 
defeated 

Purdue (1-10, 12-16), 7-0, 
in game one and took the 
second contest, 7-5.

“Our guys were on a 

mission,” said Michigan 
coach Erik Bakich. “We 
talked about not thinking 
of today as two games, but 
just thinking of today as 
giving everything we got 
to each inning, each at-bat 
and each pitch.”

The big story of game one 

was Michigan’s pitching, 
specifically freshman right-
hander Ryan Nutof. He 
pitched 7.2 shutout innings, 
giving up two hits and 
two walks while striking 
out five. His start closely 
resembled his March 28 
outing against Maryland, 
in which he struck out six 

and surrendered only one 
run in 7.1 innings.

“You 
don’t 
see 
a 

freshman 
like 
Nutof 

very often,” Bakich said. 
“He’s 
been 
consistent 

with 
his 
attitude 
and 

his 
work 
ethic. 
His 

demeanor on the mound 
and his success doesn’t 
surprise me because of his 
preparation.”

But 
the 
Wolverines’ 

offense chipped in, too. 
The first inning began with 
a single by junior infielder 
Jacob Cronenworth. Senior 
outfielder Jackson Glines 
followed up with a single of 
his own before junior third 
baseman Travis Maezes 
hit an RBI single to drive 
Glines in.

“Top to bottom, we have 

guys that can hit home 
runs,” Glines said. “We 
have good hitters top to 
bottom.”

Another RBI single by 

sophomore 
designated 

hitter Carmen Benedetti 
and a sacrifice fly by junior 
outfielder 
Cody 
Bruder 

gave Michigan a 3-0 lead.

But it wasn’t until the 

eighth 
frame 
that 
the 

Wolverines truly put the 
game out of reach. With 
Michigan up 4-0 at the start 
of the inning, Cronenworth 
got things going with a 
one-out RBI single and 

SportsMonday

HOW SWEEP IT IS

Wolverines 

earn third Big 
Ten sweep over 

Indiana

By TYLER SCOTT

Daily Sports Writer

The way the Michigan 

and Indiana softball teams 
both attacked the pitching 
throughout 
Saturday’s 

doubleheader looked like a 
welterweight title fight. As 
each team jabbed with the 
bat at the plate, the other 
stepped to counter with the 
glove. The resulting dance 
kept everyone on their toes.

The Wolverines (14-2 Big 

Ten, 41-6 overall) ultimately 
landed the punches that 
mattered and downed the 
Hoosiers in both games of 
Saturday’s 
doubleheader, 

3-0 and 7-1, respectively. 
They extended their lead 
in the Big Ten and earned 
their 
third 
conference 

series sweep.

Indiana 
(5-10, 
14-31) 

came 
out 
swinging 
at 

nearly every pitch, but 
senior left-hander Haylie 
Wagner 
handled 
the 

Hoosiers’ attack, allowing 
no runs and five hits while 
striking out five through 
seven innings in game one.

“Any team can be a good 

hitting team, and they were 
really going after the first-
pitch strikes,” Wagner said. 
“They put up a good fight. I 
was just going out there to 
attack them.”

The first hit from either 

team that did any damage 
was 
sophomore 
Abby 

Ramirez’s stand-up double 
in the third inning of game 
one. Junior centerfielder 
Sierra 
Lawrence 

immediately followed with 
a double of her own, and a 
homer from junior second 
baseman Sierra Romero 
gave the Wolverines a 
three-run lead.

Michigan recorded nine 

hits in game one, but after 
the three-run third inning, 
the 
Wolverines 
failed 

to advance a batter past 
second base.

“I felt that we were 

swinging (too) big,” said 
Michigan 
coach 
Carol 

Hutchins. 
“I 
thought 

(Michigan) was seeing the 
ball well. They were just 
trying too hard to hit it – 
and trying harder doesn’t 
really work.”

Indiana’s 
defensive 

effort was backed up by 
starts from senior right-
hander 
Lora 
Olson 
in 

Saturday’s 
first 
game 

and senior right-hander 
Miranda Tamayo in the 
series finale. They each 
took losses, but prevented 

See BASEBALL, Page 4B

See SOFTBALL, Page 3B

Michigan 
from 
doing 

catastrophic damage at the 
plate.

“It was a good game for 

us because it forced us to 
rely on our pitcher, and I 
thought (Wagner) did a 
great job,” Hutchins said. 
“There are going to be 
games like that. We’re not 
always going to run-rule 
people.”

Lawrence 
put 
the 

Wolverines on the board 
early in game two of the 
doubleheader 
with 
a 

leadoff homer. Her 11th 
home run of the season 
gave 
sophomore 
right-

hander Megan Betsa an 
immediate cushion to work 
with. 
Sophomore 
right 

fielder Kelly Christner had 
an RBI single in the third 
inning that extended the 
Wolverines’ lead to two 
before Indiana responded 
with a run of its own.

The 
Hoosiers 
were 

resilient throughout both 
games, coming within a few 
hits of erasing Michigan’s 
lead multiple times. Even 
with 14 strikeouts from 
Betsa and a fifth-inning, 
three-run jack from junior 
left fielder Kelsey Susalla, 
Indiana had chances to cut 
deeply into a 5-1 Wolverine 
advantage in the sixth 
inning.

With runners on first 

scored when Glines hit a 
triple. A wild pitch on the 
next at-bat allowed Glines to 
score, extending the lead to 
seven.

Glines, after hitting .174 

over 
the 
previous 
nine 

games, 
completed 
the 

doubleheader hitting 6-for-8 
with five runs scored.

“Hitting has peaks and 

valleys,” Bakich said. “I think 
everyone knew that (Glines) 
wasn’t going to be down for 
long. He’s kept the approach 
of hitting line drives and 
having quality at-bats.”

The scoring was more 

spread out in the second 
game as Michigan found 
itself ahead, 4-2, going into 
the seventh inning.

The Wolverines’ offense 

was then put into action, 
as a one-out RBI double by 
sophomore infielder Carmen 
Benedetti and a two-out RBI 
single by freshman infielder 
Jake Bivens extended the 
Michigan lead to three. 
Benedetti finished the day a 
combined 7-for-10 with five 
RBI — four in the second 
game alone.

“Clutch hitting is also 

known as two-out RBIs,” 
Bakich said. “When you 
get those, they are huge 
momentum plays for your 
team. It uplifts the entire 
dugout.”

LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

