2B — March 28, 2016
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Bruder hits game-winner
Wolverines win on
walk-off to secure
weekend sweep of
Illinois-Chicago
By COLE ZINGAS
Daily Sports Writer
Friday
and
Saturday,
the
Michigan baseball team scored
25
runs
in
three
blowout
victories
against Illinois-Chicago (9-15),
but Sunday’s contest wasn’t so
easy.
Instead, it required a walk-
off. Facing a 1-1 count with
runners on first and second,
senior outfielder Cody Bruder
nailed the ball up the middle,
and junior Carmen Benedetti
dove home to score the game-
winning run in the ninth inning.
“I was just trying to see the
ball up, and the rest was a blur,”
Bruder said.
Bruder couldn’t even recall
what pitch he was thrown, but
a hard swing brought Michigan
(16-5) the victory, 5-4 at Ray
Fisher Stadium.
The game started similarly to
the previous contests against the
Flames, as Michigan jumped on
the board first.
A couple of quick innings for
senior left-handed pitcher Evan
Hill and a string of hits from
the bottom of the lineup put
Michigan on top, 2-0, after two
innings. After seeing Michigan
win the previous three games
against the Flames (9-15) by
a combined 19 runs, an early
lead had the Michigan faithful
confident about their team’s
chances.
But in the top of the third,
an offensive outburst by the
Flames, including a triple by
Derrick Patrick, tied the game,
2-2. In the next frame, Hill still
couldn’t settle down, and the
Flames took the lead on an RBI
double from No. 8 hitter Cody
Mohanek.
The
Wolverines’
starters usually pitch deep into
games, but UIC knocked Hill
out after just 3.1 innings.
The bullpen, though, provided
the relief that Michigan needed.
Freshman
left-hander
Will
Tribucher stepped in to face
Patrick and forced a 6-4-3
double-play to end the inning.
Down 3-2 in the following
inning,
freshman
outfielder
Jonathan Engelmann checked
his swing and
was
punched
out
on
an
appeal to first
base. Michigan
coach
Erik
Bakich
immediately
came out onto
the
field
to
argue the call.
“C’mon,
give
me
a
warning,”
Bakich
yelled,
taunting the umpire.
The ump skipped the warning
and tossed Bakich, but the
Wolverines weren’t fazed by
their coach’s abrupt exit.
“He got us all together and
pretty much told us that we’re
going to win the game, so it really
got us fired up,” said sophomore
first baseman Drew Lugbauer.
In the bottom of the fifth,
the Wolverines knocked Flames
starter Connor Ryan out of the
game and loaded the bases. But
unlike the Wolverines, the UIC
relief wasn’t able to pitch out of
the jam.
Lugbauer stepped up and
delivered a single through the
hole
on
the
left
side
of
the
infield,
scoring
two
to reclaim the
lead, 4-3.
It
seemed
that was all the
Wolverines
would
need,
as junior left-
handed pitcher
Carmen
Benedetti came in for Tribucher
and cruised through the next
three innings.
“(Our bullpen) is a great
advantage … especially when
you’re playing the 4th game in
three days, and you think you
could be a little thin,” Bakich said.
Benedetti held UIC without
a hit and handed the ball to
sophomore right-hander Bryan
Pall with a 4-3 lead in the 9th.
Pall faced the top of the
Flames lineup and couldn’t finish
the job. Two leaping catches by
sophomore third baseman Jake
Bivens held a runner at third, but
UIC eventually scored on a two-
out RBI single.
But the Wolverines also had
the meat of their lineup due up
in the bottom of the ninth, and
they delivered.
Benedetti and junior catcher
Harrison
Wenson
continued
impressive
weekends
and
reached base, setting the stage
for Bruder’s heroics.
Though
Michigan
didn’t
beat the Flames as soundly as
it did to start the series, to the
Wolverines, this victory was
equally impressive.
“That pitching staff that they
put out today is one of the best
we’ve seen all year,” Bruder
said.
Ryan had only allowed one
run in eight appearances thus
far, and the Wolverines tagged
him for four in just 4.1 innings
of work.
EVAN AARON/Daily
Senior outfielder Cody Bruder hit a game-winning, walk-off RBI single to win the game Sunday against Illinois-Chicago.
“I was just
trying to see the
ball up, and the
rest was a blur.”
UIC
MICHIGAN
4
5
BASEBALL
Bottom of Michigan
lineup comes up big
By SYLVANNA GROSS
Daily Sports Writer
It was the bottom of the
second in the first of two games
for the Michigan baseball team
Saturday. With the bottom of
the lineup coming up against
Illinois-Chicago,
sophomore
infielder
Drew
Lugbauer
stood on third, junior infielder
Michael Brdar was on second
and freshman infielder Ako
Thomas on first.
Sophomore
infielder
Jake
Bivens,
the
leadoff
hitter,
walked up to the plate and
looked out at a beautiful bases-
loaded opportunity to drive in
his teammates.
But before Bivens could get
in a swing, a misplaced throw
by the Flames’ pitcher and a
fumble by the catcher sent the
ball all the way to the backstop,
allowing Lugbauer to score on
the passed ball. The Wolverines
led, 3-0.
Brdar then strolled to third,
Thomas advanced to second
and Bivens made it safely to first
with a base hit on the next play.
“Our goal at the bottom is to
get on base for the guys at the
top to knock us in,” Brdar said.
“When we get on base, it creates
pressure for the defense and
creates runs.”
The bottom of the lineup
contributed significantly toward
Michigan’s
offense
over
the
weekend. In the bottom of the
fifth Sunday, Lugbauer stepped
up to the plate with the bases
loaded and hit a two-run single as
both Bivens and Benedetti scored.
The lineup looked pretty
much the same for the duration
of the series with the exception
of
Lugbauer
and
freshman
outfielder Jonathan Engelmann
switching
off
between
the
sixth- and seventh-hitter slot.
Brdar spent the weekend as
a shortstop and the eighth in
rotation. Thomas finished the
series securely in the nine hole
as the second baseman.
“We have a good group of
guys out there, and honestly,
they’re just fun to play with,”
Brdar said. “Me and (Thomas)
in the 8-9 hole, we take pride in
our job down there and getting
on base with others knocking
RBIs and helping us come in
and help us win games. It really
relieves the pressure from us.”
The lineup was exactly what
a solid order should be. Keep
the highest batting percentages
at the top, the cleanup slugger
junior catcher Harrison Wenson
at number four, and the fastest
in ninth.
Thomas fits that speedy bill.
Deceptively small, Thomas
has one of the team’s top on-base
percentages (.426), falling just
short of left-handed pitcher
Carmen Benedetti and Wenson
at .500 and .465, respectively.
Coming out of the weekend,
Michigan coach Erik Bakich
praised his OBP.
But Thomas is new to the
slot, having hit second for most
of high school. But the routine
is the same no matter where he
bats. Thomas has to be fast and
see the pitch.
“Whatever coach needs me
to do, I’ll do it,” Thomas said.
“When you got a good group of
guys around you, it just makes it
easier to play anywhere. I don’t
think there’s any nerves. I just
wanted to play the game like we
usually play.”
Bakich has enough skill on his
team to fill the sixth through ninth
holes with reputable players, but
Lugbauer, Englemann, Brdar and
Thomas are confirming their
claim to the rotation.
After Sunday’s game-winning
hit by senior centerfielder Cody
Bruder, Lugbauer was waiting in
the wings to take over, something
that gives the top of the rotation
conviction in its game.
“All these guys up and down
can put the ball in the gap at
any time and have hard at-bats,”
Bruder said. “It gives you
confidence, because hitting is
contagious. I can’t speak enough
about those guys, to be honest.”
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
Red Berenson should stay one more year
I
n 32 years at the helm of the
Michigan hockey program,
Red Berenson has had a lot
of teams —
some great
ones, some
good ones and
some not-so-
good ones.
He spoke
consistently
throughout
this season
as if he knew
he had a good
team, right up
until that team gave everything
it had before losing to No. 1 seed
North Dakota in the regional
final in Cincinnati on Saturday.
But I’m guessing that for
all Berenson knows about this
year’s team, he knows next
year’s could be even better.
And that’s why the 76-year-
old Michigan hockey coach
should return for one more year
— to lead that team. He loves to
coach seniors, and he could have
nine of them next year.
Berenson has been signing
one-year contracts since 2009,
and with three straight missed
NCAA Tournaments, it hasn’t
always been easy. This year,
his team put it all together, and
after that, it’s clear he’s still
the right man for the job. For
as difficult as their regional,
dubbed the “Region of Death,”
was this weekend, they almost
escaped it.
Berenson proved, though,
that he can still lead his team
into the elite tier of college
hockey. New Athletic Director
Warde Manuel agrees, and he
has supported Berenson since he
was introduced Jan. 29
“I hope that this year is not
his last year,” Manuel said
that day. “I hope I get a chance
to be here and to watch his
team on ice again. But if he
decides that this is his last year,
then certainly he will have a
significant role in the process.”
If Berenson decides to
retire this year, Manuel
will be scrambling to find a
replacement. If he stays for
one more, it gives Manuel time
to decide on one of the many
suitable successors Berenson
has cultivated — Michigan Tech
coach Mel Pearson (who was
Berenson’s top assistant for 12
years) and current associate
head coach Billy Powers
(who has been Berenson’s top
assistant for the last five years)
among them.
And, more importantly, if
Berenson stays, he could coach
the team he has always wanted
to coach.
The beliefs Berenson holds
as a coach go back a long time.
Once, just before he was set
to start his playing career at
Michigan in the 1950s, the
Montreal Canadiens attempted
to lure him away to the NHL.
The Canadiens tried every
which way to get Berenson to
fulfill his professional dream,
a Canadian native playing on a
Canadian team.
Berenson wouldn’t. Not yet.
“Montreal was waiting,”
Berenson told the Daily in 2010.
“They tried to bribe me, pay
me, and I said, ‘No, I’m going to
school.’ ”
Berenson told that story
to one of his players, Louie
Caporusso — though he has
probably told it more than once
— in an airport during a trip
home years ago.
“He went against the grain,
and I think that’s why he’s
become such a special figure
in hockey,” Caporusso told the
Daily in 2010. “I love that about
him because he knows exactly
what he wants. For anyone else,
it would’ve been a no-brainer.
Ninety-nine-point-nine percent
of people would have taken it,
but he didn’t. That’s what’s so
great about him.”
After returning their school
to the NCAA Tournament at
age 76, 99.9 percent of coaches
would retire. He should be
the 0.1 percent, just as he was
almost six decades ago.
He came back to Ann Arbor
from the NHL’s St. Louis Blues
in 1984 because he had a soft
spot for Michigan and wanted
to return his alma mater to
greatness. That he did.
Berenson has also been an
enduring fixture in college
hockey, a perfect representation
of the ideals of the sport. He urges
his players to stay in school for
four years, earn their degree and
play alongside their classmates.
Over the years, that ideal
has become harder and harder
to fulfill. NHL teams pressure
players to turn pro early,
depriving Berenson of the
seniors he loves to coach. Every
summer, Berenson takes his
seniors on a canoe trip up north.
He speaks highly of all of them
and cherishes the teams filled
with them.
Next year’s team could be one
of those teams.
The Wolverines will almost
certainly bring back at least
seven seniors: forwards Max
Shuart, Alex Kile and Evan
Allen, defensemen Michael
Downing,
Nolan De Jong
and Kevin
Lohan and
goaltender
Zach
Nagelvoort.
Then it gets
tricky. The
other two who
could come
back as seniors
are forwards
Tyler Motte and JT Compher,
two cogs in the prolific CCM
line and two NHL Draft picks
with professional futures.
If those two stay, Berenson
should, too. If his seniors stick
around, he should stick with them.
Even if freshman forward
Kyle Connor leaves, the
Wolverines need only find a
third member of their first line
to keep it rolling. They will
again have a senior in the net in
Nagelvoort,
and they’ll
have a second-
year captain in
Compher.
Most
importantly,
numbers-
wise, they’ll
have nine
seniors, which
is almost
unheard
of. North Dakota and Boston
College, the two teams that
won Saturday to advance to the
Frozen Four, have four each.
With the extra experience,
Michigan will have a better
chance of making a deeper run
into the NCAA Tournament.
“There should be a sense of
urgency in your senior year,
and that’s when most of our
seniors have their best seasons,”
Berenson said. “Even though
they have been good players,
we have rarely had a senior
that didn’t have his best year
as a senior, and that’s why I
encourage seniors to stay. I
think it is really important in
your development and your
growth and your maturity to
fulfill that senior year. It always
shows up on the ice.”
Now, Berenson prefers that
his players stay four years, but he
has said countless times that if a
player has a ticket straight to the
NHL (as opposed to the minors),
“I’ll drive him to the airport.”
Connor has that ticket. So
did Dylan Larkin, who left after
one season last year and has
now scored 43 points — tied for
fourth among NHL rookies —
for the Detroit Red Wings.
But it doesn’t always work
out like that. More common
these days are cases like
Andrew Copp, a captain on
last year’s team who forwent
his senior season and signed
with the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets,
disappointing Berenson in the
process.
“I just wish he would stay and
do it right — graduate with your
teammates and classmates,”
Berenson said that day. “Take
this team to another level. We
lost to a senior-laden Minnesota
team. Well, how about a senior-
laden Michigan team?”
Yes, how about it, Red? What
do you say — one more year?
Lourim can be reached
at jlourim@umich.edu and
on Twitter @jakelourim.
JAMES COLLER/Daily
Red Berenson will now have to decide whether to return for a 33rd season at the helm of the Michigan hockey program.
JAKE
LOURIM
“He went against
the grain ... he
knows exactly
what he wants.”