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.”