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Thursday, May 21, 2015

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS

Season on the line as 
baseball heads to the 
Big T
en T
ournament

By ZACH SHAW 

Managing Sports Editor

The Michigan baseball team is 

playing some of its best baseball in 
years.

The rest of the conference, how-

ever, has followed suit.

The 2015 Big Ten Baseball Tour-

nament is set to begin in Minneap-
olis Wednesday in what will be one 
of the most competitive conference 
tournaments in the country.

For the first time ever, the Big 

Ten will send six teams inside the 
nation’s top 50 rankings to the 
eight-team event. The six Big Ten 
teams is a number only bested 
by the Southeastern and Atlantic 
Coast Conferences, which each 
boast eight such teams

Despite having their most wins 

since 2010 and earning the No. 3 
seed, the Wol-
verines — who 
kick off the 
tournament 
against 
Indi-

ana at 10 a.m. 
eastern 
time 

Wednesday — 
aren’t one of 
those teams.

In 
fact, 

Michigan (14-
10 
Big 
Ten, 

33-23 overall) finds itself dead-
last in Ratings Percentage Index, 
which factors in win percentage 
and strength of schedule. Despite 
being on the outside looking in, 
momentum has been building for 
the Wolverines.

“It’s been an upward slope 

ever since I got here,” said senior 
infielder Eric Jacobson. “We’ve 
gotten better and better every time 
and the program is on the rise. 
We’ve got a resilient bunch and a 
confident bunch, and I think that 
bodes well for the postseason.”

Michigan finished conference 

play with a 7-2 record, and recently 
showcased its postseason poten-
tial by toppling No. 13 Oklahoma 
State on Sunday.

Among the stars of that game 

was sophomore left-hander Brett 
Adcock, who struck out seven in 
three shutout innings. Guiding 
the Wolverines in their last game 

against the Hoosiers (12-10, 32-20) 
— a 4-3 win in Bloomington April 5 
— Adcock gets the nod for Wednes-
day and will lead the pitching staff 
into battle.

The sophomore is 6-1 with a 2.00 

earned-run average in his last seven 
starts. But should he run into trouble, 
Michigan coach Erik Bakich isn’t afraid 
to tap into his resources to get outs.

“One positive about our staff — 

whether it’s our starters or relievers 
— is that everybody is battle-tested,” 
Bakich said. “Everyone’s been in 
some type of a nail-biter, some type 
of a close game, some type of a big 
situations where they had to make 
big pitches.

“That’s only going to help us.”
What also helps is that the Wol-

verines can usually count on their 
offense to provide some breathing 
room. Leading the conference in hits, 

on-base percentage, 
and a bevy of other 
statistics, Michigan 
has no shortage of 
production 
at 
the 

plate.

Sure, 
there 
are 

four 
Wolverines 

ranked inside the 
conference’s top 11 
in batting average, 
but the bottom of the 
order — which went 

8-for-18 in Sunday’s win over the 
Cowboys — makes Michigan a legiti-
mate threat against any team.

“One-through-nine, 
anybody 

can step up at anytime,” said senior 
catcher Kendall Patrick. “(Opposing) 
pitching coaches know that, and it 
makes them pitch everybody straight-
up because they know there’s a dan-
gerous guy behind them.”

Ranking last in RPI, Michigan will 

need to win the whole tournament 
to earn its first postseason berth 
since 2008. But with its best team 
in Bakich’s tenure, the excitement 
around the team is equally high.

“We’ve got to grind, and we know 

that,” Bakich said. “We know that the 
end of the year is always going to be a 
grind, always going to be a battle, so 
we’ve got to play pitch-to-pitch.

“We know we’re going to take 

some blows, we know we’re going 
to trade punches, and we look for-
ward to that challenge.”

Seniors end on high note, 
beat No. 13 Oklahoma State

By ALEX KHALIFEH 

Daily Sports Wrter

If there’s one way to win a 

baseball game, it’s through dom-
inant pitching.

The Michigan baseball team 

(14-10 Big Ten, 33-23 overall) con-
trolled its 
regular-
season 
finale 
with pitching, en route to its 6-2 
win against No. 13 Oklahoma 
State on Saturday.

Whether it was sophomore left-

hander Brett Adcock’s dominance 
— Adcock pitched 3.0 innings, 
recording seven strikeouts and 
one hit — or the relievers strong 
showing, giving up just two earned 
runs, the Wolverines’ pitching 
fired on all cylinders to the tune 
of 15 total strikeouts and just four 
hits allowed on the afternoon.

“Adcock did a great job of set-

ting the tone,” said Michigan 
coach Erik Bakich. “He attacked 
the zone and mixed up all of his 
pitches. I thought he did a terrific 
job. … He was able to keep them 
off-balance.

“I thought (senior right-hand-

ed pitcher) Donnie Eaton was 
very good in his inning, striking 
out the side. … Our guys weren’t 
going to be denied today.”

Conversely, Oklahoma State 

(34-17) faced trouble against 

Michigan’s 
offensive 
lineup. 

With a 0.89 earned-run aver-
age coming into his start, right-
hander Remey Reed seemed like 
a tough matchup for any offense 
to go up against.

But the Wolverines didn’t let 

up, highlighted by senior out-
fielder Jackson Gline’s two-run 
blast in the third — his second 
home run in the series. Reed was 
pulled after 3.1 innings, giving 
up seven hits, three runs and 
striking out zero.

The 
Cowboys’ 
offense 

attempted several comebacks, 
with the most notable being a 
three on, two out situation faced 
by freshman left-hander Michael 
Hendrickson in the fifth. Okla-
homa State’s shortstop Donnie 
Walton came 
through with 
a 
two-RBI 

single, 
but 

further dam-
age was pre-
vented 
after 

senior 
right 

fielder Kevin 
White nabbed 
catcher Gage 
Green on a throw to freshman 
third baseman Jake Bivens, who 
promptly tagged Green out.

Though the pitching didn’t 

come without its share of stress-
ful innings, the defense record-
ed outs when balls went in play. 

With a runner on, infielder 
David Petrino hit a deep fly ball 
to left field off of sophomore 
left-hander Keith Lehmann. But 
junior left fielder Cody Bruder 
made the catch and saved what 
would’ve been extra bases and 
resulted in a tie game.

After the possible comeback 

opportunities, Oklahoma State 
fell apart in the bottom half 
of the eighth, when Michigan 
tacked on three insurance runs, 
attributed in part by fifth-year 
senior catcher Kendall Patrick’s 
two-RBI double against right-
hander Carson LaRue.

For Michigan, it ends its regu-

lar season with its most wins 
since 2010, and is hungry for suc-
cess in the Big Ten Tournament.

“A win like 

this … brings 
momentum,” 
said 
Bakich. 

“It’s 
a 
good 

feeling to have. 
These 
guys 

work extreme-
ly 
hard 
and 

deserve 
suc-

cess. The way 

we played today with the execu-
tion, the effort and the mentality. 
The total feeling today of (us) not 
going to be denied.

“If we bottle this up and keep 

this going, we’re going to be a 
tough team to beat.”

AMANDA ALLEN/Daily

Sophomore left-hander Brett Adcock is 6-1 with a 2.00 earned-run average in his last seven starts and started Wednesday.

OKLAHOMA ST
MICHIGAN 

2
6

“We’re going to 
be a tough team 

to beat.”

“We know we’re 

going to take 
some blows ... 
trade punches.”

