12
Thursday, June 2, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Selection Committee passes on
Wolverines, ends season abruptly
By COLE ZINGAS
Daily Sports Writer
After a rocky finish to end its
season, the Michigan baseball
team was on the bubble entering
Monday’s NCAA Tournament
selection show.
Baseball
America
listed
Michigan as one of the “First
Four Out” of the 64-team field
before the selection show, leaving
the Wolverines hoping that they
could sneak into the field. Last
year, Michigan did not have to
sweat out the selection process,
as a Big Ten Tournament Title
gave it an automatic bid into the
tourney.
But this year, the selection
committee
passed
on
the
Wolverines, ending their season
prematurely. From the Big Ten,
Nebraska and Minnesota earned
the at-large bids. No. 23 Ohio
State earned their way into the
field after winning the Big Ten
Tournament.
Michigan entered the season
ranked No. 15 in the country, and
for a long while, they lived up
to the high expectations. They
blistered their way to a historic
start to the year, holding a 34-12
overall record through May 8.
But the Wolverines hit a rough
patch, and stumbled to the finish.
Their final two weeks of the
season featured losses against
Central
Michigan and
Oakland, and
they
ended
the
regular
season losing
seven of eight
heading
into
the Big Ten
Tournament.
The
Wolverines,
however, still
had fight left in them. After
an opening round loss to Ohio
State, they beat the No. 1 seed
Minnesota, 3-2, to earn a rematch
against the Buckeyes. However,
Michigan was again unable to
power past Ohio State, and fell,
11-4. Though the Wolverines
were unable to repeat as Big Ten
Tournament Champions, a win
against
Minnesota
certainly
provided a boost to their NCAA
résumé.
They held a No. 37 ranking in
the ratings percentage index, the
highest of any Big Ten school,
but the Wolverines were hurt
by their lack of marquee wins.
They went 4-7
against the Top
50. Also, the
only
opponent
on
Michigan’s
schedule
that
currently
sits
in the Baseball
America
Top
25
was
the
Buckeyes. The
Wolverines
did
not win a game
against Ohio State in five games
played.
Still, dominant sweeps against
Big Ten foes like Rutgers and
Nebraska,
along
with
out-
of-conference
wins
against
Oklahoma State and California,
set the stage for a possible
selection into the postseason.
The Wolverines
were hurt by
their lack of
marquee wins.
‘M’ Baseball: A
season in review
By NATHANIEL CLARK
Daily Sports Writer
At the start of the 2016 season,
the Michigan baseball team was
ranked in multiple polls, including
No.
15
by
Baseball
America.
Coming off a Big Ten Tournament
championship and a close NCAA
Regional loss to Louisville last
season, the Wolverines looked
poised for another big year with
several key contributors returning
from the 2015 squad.
For
most
of
this
season,
Michigan lived up to the hype. By
May 10, the Wolverines were off
to their best start since 1987 with
a 34-12 record. Michigan (13-10
Big Ten, 36-21 overall) was within
striking distance of its first Big Ten
regular-season title since 2008
and looked to be a shoo-in for the
NCAA Tournament. There was
even talk of the Wolverines hosting
a regional. All of these seemed well
within reach, so what could’ve
gone wrong?
As
it
turned
out,
almost
everything.
The
Wolverines’
troubles
began with a tough loss at Central
Michigan on May 11, in which
they trailed 8-0 and rallied in the
late innings to make it 8-7, but
fell just short of the comeback
victory. While road losses are not
uncommon even for the best teams
in college baseball, the Chippewas
finished the year just 24-37, making
it especially painful for Michigan.
But the real catastrophe for
the Wolverines was a three-game
sweep by Ohio State on May 13-15.
Michigan came up just short in the
first contest, a 3-2 loss, before the
Buckeyes topped the Wolverines
7-3 and 8-2 in the following two
contests.
To add insult to injury, the
Wolverines lost senior left fielder
Matt Ramsay and junior first
baseman, outfielder and pitcher
Carmen
Benedetti
to
injuries
during the Ohio State series.
While Michigan still retained
key contributors such as senior
center fielder Cody Bruder and
sophomore third baseman Jake
Bivens, Ramsay’s and Benedetti’s
absences proved to be severe blows.
After a nail-biting 6-5 home
defeat at the hands of Oakland,
Michigan coach Erik Bakich and
the Wolverines appeared to regain
momentum with a 1-0 road win
at Illinois thanks to a masterful
pitching
performance
from
junior left-hander Brett Adcock.
Michigan then found itself with a
7-2 advantage in game two against
the Illini.
Any traction the Wolverines
gained was quickly lost, though, as
Illinois stormed back to win game
two, 11-8, before taking game three,
6-1.
The Big Ten Tournament didn’t
start any better for Michigan
when Ohio State downed the
Wolverines, 8-3. It looked like
Michigan was going to exit the Big
Ten Tournament with a whimper
when it was down 2-1 against
Minnesota in the eighth inning, but
an RBI single by Bivens and several
miscues by the Golden Gophers
propelled the Wolverines to a 3-2
victory, which gave them hope for
another tournament run.
The Buckeyes — the eventual
Big Ten Tournament champions
— ended those dreams quickly,
though, when they eliminated the
Wolverines with an overwhelming
11-4 victory.
In spite of the way the season
ended, there were several moments
from 2016 that the Wolverines will
look back on fondly, including a 5-0
win at then-No. 10 California on
Feb. 29 and a three-game sweep of
eventual NCAA-Tournament team
Nebraska on April 17.
But the most exciting moment
for Michigan may have been
an 11-inning, 4-3 win against
Michigan State at Ray Fisher
Stadium on April 29. Freshman
second baseman Ako Thomas
secured the victory with a two-out,
walk-off single.
Unfortunately
for
the
Wolverines, that win was their only
one against the Spartans in 2016.
Michigan squandered a 5-0 edge
April 30 in East Lansing en route
to a 7-6 defeat, and fell 7-4 in Ann
Arbor on May 1. In light of the way
the season ended, those shortfalls
against the Spartans sting the
Wolverines even more now with
their season at an end.
Michigan will lose some key
contributors to graduation this
year, including Ramsay, Bruder,
designated hitter Dominic Jamett
and left-hander Evan Hill.
SPORTS