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Thursday, May 14, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS

Baseball thumps 
Eastern by 15

By ZACH SHAW 

Managing Sports Editor

No one in the stands Tuesday 

evening would’ve guessed that 
Eastern Michigan had beaten the 
Michigan baseball team eight of 
its last nine tries. Few would have 
guessed that the same Wolverines 
lost to the same 
Eagles less than 
a month ago.

On 
a 
cold, 

windy 
night, 

Michigan (14-10 
Big Ten, 32-21 
overall) 
hast-

ily 
unseated 

its 
Washtenaw 

County 
rival, 

pouring 
on 

17 runs in the 
first four innings to cruise past the 
Eagles (19-33).

With the 17-2 win and a 19-1 win 

over Northwestern on Sunday, the 
Wolverines have perfected their 
blowout look.

“We took advantage of the free 

passes that we got,” said Michigan 
coach Erik Bakich. “With our offense, 
if you get that many free passes, that 
many walks, hit-by-pitches, errors, 
you’re going to score. I didn’t think 
we had an unbelievable day offen-
sively, but I thought what we strive 
for, which is quality at-bats, we had 
a lot of.

“Whether they were given to us 

or earned, it’s still stringing together 
quality at-bats together, and that was 
a positive tonight.”

In total, Michigan hitters reached 

base via 14 walks, 11 hits, four errors 
and two hit-by-pitches. Sophomore 
infielder Carmen Benedetti led the 
way for the Wolverines, going 4-for-4 

with three runs and 
three RBI. Benedetti 
now has 63 RBI, the 
most by a Big Ten 
player since 2010 
and good for third in 
the nation.

On the other side 

of the ball, Michigan 
used seven pitchers, 
who combined to 
allow just five hits, 
eight strikeouts and 

zero earned runs. With No. 13 Okla-
homa State coming to town on Thurs-
day, the committee — comprised 
mostly of lesser-used bullpen arms 
— gave some of the regular pitchers 
much-needed rest.

“We had kind of scripted it out, 

that that’s how we wanted the day 
to go,” Bakich said. “We were hoping 
that we would have a lead that was 
expanded that we could do that. Get-
ting all of those guys some innings 
pitched keeps everybody fresh for 
Oklahoma State.

“It was good to get everybody 

and inning or two, and everybody 

Wolverines to begin shootout 

with No. 13 Cowboys Thursday 

By BEN FIDELMAN 

Daily Sports Writer

Over its last two games, the 

Michigan baseball team scored 
an average of 2.25 runs per 
inning, blowing out Northwest-
ern in a rubber game, 19-1, and 
rolling over cross-town foe East-
ern Michigan, 17-2.

However, those two opponents 

combine to have just three more 
wins than the Wolverines (14-10 
Big Ten, 32-21 overall) on the sea-
son. No. 13 Oklahoma State will 
travel to Ann Arbor this week-
end to provide a tougher test. 
The series pits the Big Ten’s top 
offense and the Big 12’s leading 
pitching staff against each other, 
with high stakes for both sides.

As it stands, Michigan looks in 

from the outside on the field of 64 
teams that comprise the NCAA 
Tournament. Sitting at 83 in the 
Rating Percentage Index stand-
ings doesn’t look good for the 
Wolverines, who enter their final 
regular-season series. RPI takes 
into account both win percent-
age and strength of schedule, so 
a series win for Michigan over 
a highly-ranked (15th in RPI) 
opponent could help a late push 
toward the tournament.

“We know we haven’t done 

anything yet,” said Michigan 
coach Erik Bakich. “We have a 
challenge with a ranked Oklaho-
ma State team coming in, but we 
just want to be playing our best 

at the end of the year because of 
the momentum that can create to 
allow us to extend our season as 
long as we can.

“The only way we’re going to 

do that is to play well, train hard 
and execute well. You want to be 
playing your best baseball when it 
means the most at the end of the 
year.”

Michigan also has a chance 

to qualify with an automatic bid 
by winning the Big Ten Tourna-
ment, which begins in Minne-
apolis next Wednesday.

The Cowboys (14-8 Big 12, 

32-16 overall) are a lock to make 
the NCAA tournament, and at 
this point are playing to improve 
their seed, secure the opportu-
nity to host a Regional and keep 
momentum rolling through to 
the postseason.

Much of Oklahoma State’s 

success this season has come 
from its conference-best pitch-
ing staff. Carrying a combined 
2.90 earned-run average, the 
Cowboys are projected to cause 
problems from the mound for 
the Wolverines from the first to 
ninth innings.

Pitchers 
Michael 
Freeman 

and Remey Reed highlight the 
staff, holding 1.16 and 0.92 ERAs, 
respectively. Freeman anchors 
the rotation, and Reed works pri-
marily from the bullpen.

On the weekend of May 1, 

Michigan faced No. 16 Iowa and 
its 2.84 ERA — similar to Okla-

homa State’s. Though the Wol-
verines lost two of three games 
that weekend, they scorched the 
Hawkeyes for an average of six 
runs per game. Breaking through 
with that offensive success will 
prove to be key this weekend if 
Michigan moves to pull the upset.

This will be just the sec-

ond series the Wolverines have 
played against a ranked opponent 
this season, but the lack of expe-
rience against top-flight teams 
isn’t shaking the team’s confi-
dence. Sticking to the approach is 
something the coaching staff has 
preached all year, and there’s no 
sense in deviating from that now.

“The mentality has really 

been the same since September, 
which is to just get better every 
day,” Bakich said. “That’s all we 
talk about, and there’s no secret. 
Everyone has goals and everyone 
wants to win championships, but 
those things happen because of a 
relentless attack on each day to 
get better every day, and that’s 
kind of how we approach it. Keep 
pushing the program forward, 
keep getting each individual play-
er a little better, and the whole 
team will get better.”

The public test for that men-

tality will come Thursday eve-
ning, as Michigan and Oklahoma 
State kick things off at Ray Fisher 
Stadium. If the Wolverines want 
to prove to outsiders that they 
belong in the NCAA tournament, 
there’s no time like the present.

PAUL SHERMAN/Daily

The Michigan baseball team has outscored its opponents, 36-3 in its last two games

“We took 

advantage of the 
free passes that 

we got.”

Good job. Don’t think too 

much, just keep doing what you’re 
doing.’ ”

But 
Dries-

enga does much 
more than supply 
moral support for 
Michigan. She’s 
intimate with the 
craft of pitching 
as well as softball 
in general, and as 
such is a valuable resource for her 
teammates during in-game sce-
narios.

When assistant coach Jen-

nifer Brundage is relaying sig-

nals and calling pitches during 
games, Driesenga lends a valu-
able set of eyes to her pitching 
comrades. She’s on guard for 
lapses in fundamental mechan-

ics and stays 
wary 
of 

potential tells 
that 
might 

warn 
oppo-

nents of what 
pitch Wagner 
or Betsa are 
readying 
to 

deliver.

“I think I’ve definitely got-

ten closer with them over the 
course of the year,” Driesenga 
said. “I’ve been close with Hay-
lie (Wagner) because we’re in 

the same class, and last year I 
was close with Megan (Betsa) 
too, but I think our relationships 
have just developed because I 
can watch them.”

Dedicated to her desire to 

contribute and to see the Wol-
verines reach success, Dries-
enga has maintained a critical 
role within the pitching staff 
and developed a deepened bond 
with the other two hurlers.

“If they’re struggling with 

certain things, they ask me to 
watch them warm up or watch 
them pitch a little bit,” Dries-
enga said. “I think I’ve been 
able to help with them in that 
way and still just help them be 
confident.”

DRIESENGA
From Page 9

“I think I’ve 
been able to 
help them.”

