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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