BSportsMonday
A PLAN FULFILLED
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | April 18, 2016
n The Daily’s Max Cohen bids farewell
in his last column. SportsMonday
Column, Page 2B
Hill, Michigan
defeat Nebraska
to complete three-
game home sweep
By NATHANIEL CLARK
Daily Sports Writer
On
March
22,
2015,
the
Michigan baseball team lost 6-3
to Nebraska, its third straight
loss to the Cornhuskers.
One year later, the now-22nd
ranked Wolverines (6-2 Big Ten,
25-9 overall) turned the 2015
result on its head, defeating the
Cornhuskers, 6-1, completing a
three-game sweep.
Michigan coach Erik Bakich
downplayed the feat.
“We really went into (the
weekend) talking about each
game as a one-game series,”
Bakich said. “We didn’t use the
word ‘sweep.’ ”
The
Wolverines’
victory
came on the back of masterful
pitching,
particularly
the
performance from senior left-
hander Evan Hill. He threw for
seven innings, surrendered one
run on four hits, walked one
batter and struck out four.
“I threw a lot of fastballs
today,” Hill said. “I was moving it
in and out.”
Sophomore Ryan Nutof picked
up where Hill left off. He finished
the contest with two scoreless
innings and two strikeouts.
The game remained scoreless
until the bottom of the fourth
inning when senior centerfielder
Cody Bruder singled up the
middle before stealing second
base on the next at-bat.
Sophomore first baseman Drew
Lugbauer brought Bruder home
with an RBI double to right field.
Michigan
was
unable
to
capitalize further, though, as
freshman
shortstop
Michael
Brdar struck out swinging and
freshman right fielder Jonathan
Engelmann grounded out to end
the frame.
“Those guys in the middle of
the order did a nice job of staying
connected with the guys who hit
in front of them,” Bakich said,
referring to hitters three through
six. “Each got on base a few times
and took advantage of some
situations to capitalize.”
Nebraska (7-5 Big Ten, 22-14
overall) threatened to erase the
Wolverines’ newfound lead in the
top of the fifth, when left fielder
Luis Alvarado hit a one-out
double down the left-field line.
But two batters later, after
a Nebraska base hit, senior
Wolverine
left
fielder
Matt
Ramsay made a perfect throw to
home plate to tag out Alvarado
and preserve Michigan’s 1-0 edge.
“Getting the defense back in to
hit is huge for momentum shifts,”
Bruder said. “Hats off to them.”
Nebraska
managed
to
tie
the game in the sixth as first
baseman Ben Miller hit a two-out
RBI single.
The Wolverines responded
right away, though, in the bottom
of the frame. With senior catcher
Harrison Wenson on first and
junior designated hitter Carmen
Benedetti on second, Bruder
singled up the middle to score
Benedetti. Lugbauer then hit a
sacrifice bunt to put two runners
in scoring position with one out.
After Brdar reached on a
fielder’s choice to load the bases,
Wolverines top
Ohio State in
come-from-behind
fashion, 5-3
By TYLER COADY
Daily Sports Writer
As Ohio State centerfielder
Taylor White crossed home plate,
a quiet hush fell over Alumni
Field, except for a pocket of
scarlet-clad fans cheering wildly.
White’s hit bounced off the left-
field wall, alluded the gloves of
junior left fielder Kelly Christner
and senior centerfielder Sierra
Lawrence and allowed her to
notch an inside-the-park home
run.
The Buckeyes had cut the
Wolverines’ lead to one, as
junior
right-handed
pitcher
Megan Betsa’s bid for a second
straight shutout vanished in the
fourth inning.
“It didn’t seem like we were
very locked in,” said Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins. “I said to
the team, ‘(Betsa) is doing her
part, and go give her some energy
because you just let her down.’
“I don’t think we are giving
enough right now, and we are
getting a little self-absorbed.”
Holding onto a tenuous 2-1
lead at the onset of the fifth
inning, the Michigan defense
once again lost its poise as
senior second baseman Sierra
Romero bobbled a ball, allowing
Ohio State first baseman Jess
Machovina to reach on an
infield hit. After Betsa walked
right
fielder
Alex
Bayne,
Buckeyes’ left fielder Cammi
Prantl made the Wolverines
pay for its poor fielding, as her
double into the right-center
field gap scored two, putting
Ohio State (9-4-1 Big Ten, 25-11-
1 overall) in front, 3-2.
“Bonnie (Tholl) went over and
… told them the game plan: Hit
the ball in the ground,” Hutchins
said. “I think getting behind
woke them up … but I thought
their energy during the whole
game was not very good.”
As
the
coaching
staff
attempted to spark its team, it
stressed that there were two
innings left to play. A lack of
confidence,
not
talent,
was
contributing
to
their
poor
performance. The Wolverines
(11-2, 33-4) entered the bottom of
fifth with the top of their lineup
due up to bat.
Romero and Susalla quickly
got
on
base
after
drawing
walks,
and
then
sophomore
first baseman Tera Blanco, who
drove in Michigan’s second run,
stepped up to the plate. Ohio
State coach and Wolverine alum
Kelly Kovach Schoenly walked
out to the circle, attempting to
inject a sense of confidence into
her suddenly shaken pitcher,
Shelby Hursh.
After seeing the first two
pitches go high, Blanco latched
onto the third one, sent it over the
center-field wall for a three-run
home run and vaulted Michigan
into the lead.
“I mean, I was just really
excited,” Blanco said. “I was just
really excited to come home to
my team.”
Blanco’s home run provided
the Wolverines all the breathing
room
they
would
need,
as
Betsa returned to the mound
SPRING CLEANING
See BASEBALL, Page 4B
See SOFTBALL, Page 4B
KRISTINA PERKINS/Daily
ROBERT DUNNE/Daily
TWO FOR TEXAS
n Two members of the women’s
gymnastics team earned All-America
honors in Fort Worth. Page 3B