End of season awards: Baseball
By COLE ZINGAS
Daily Sports Writer
In Erik Bakich’s fourth year
as the Michigan baseball coach,
positivity was in the air. Over the
last four years, Bakich has worked
to
build
his
program
around
a
consistent
mindset
and
a
team-first
mentality.
According
to
Bakich, this was
the most cohesive
team he has had,
and according to
others across the
country, it was his
best. Michigan even broke into
the preseason rankings at No. 15
and was projected to win the Big
Ten by many.
But even after a blistering hot
start to the season, the Wolverines
finished 36-21 after a 2-9 stretch
that ended the season with a
disappointing early exit from the
Big Ten Tournament — and no
spot in the NCAA Regionals.
Nevertheless, the season was
not completely lost. Plenty of
thrilling games and outstanding
individual
performances
kept
Michigan baseball as exciting
as ever in its 150th season of
existence.
Here are The Daily’s end of the
season awards:
Season high: Ako Thomas’
walk-off
against
Michigan
State on April 29
By
the
end
of
April,
a
conference
win
against
Michigan’s
biggest
in-state
rival was sorely
needed
after
losing
to
the
Spartans
11-5
in the two teams’ first matchup
of the year. This time around,
though, it was the freshman
infielder Ako Thomas delivered
for the then-sixteenth ranked
Wolverines in the 11th inning.
He singled with two outs in the
frame, scoring sophomore catcher
Drew Lugbauer from second, who
beat the throw home. Featuring
the marquee starting pitchers
for both squads, it was by far
the biggest win the Wolverines
racked this season.
Season low: Michigan loses
to Central Michigan, 8-7 in Mt.
Pleasant
At the time, a May 11 road
loss
against
the
middling
Central Michigan seemed to be
just a bump in the road after a
dominating
weekend
sweep
of
Rutgers,
but
it
turned
out to be the
beginning
of
the
Wolverines’
late-season
demise.
The
biggest loss of
the game was
senior outfielder Matt Ramsay,
who suffered a season-ending
injury. His absence was felt in a
big way for the remainder of the
season.
Most exciting win: Michigan
beats Hawaii 5-4 in 10 innings
on March 11
It was the Wolverines’ first
late-inning test of the season,
and it ended in dramatic fashion.
A packed Les Marakami Stadium
in Honolulu was as “loud as a
stadium can get” according to
Bakich, and Michigan certainly
felt the pressure. After cruising
to a 4-1 lead on a seven-inning,
12-strikeout
performance
by
junior left-hander Brett Adcock,
Hawaii came roaring back in the
ninth. To stop Hawaii’s rally,
Lugbauer made a behind-the-
back toss to sophomore right-
hander Bryan
Pall to tag a
runner out at
the plate, and
keep the game
4-4. Michigan
won, 5-4, on
an RBI from
junior catcher
Harrison
Wenson in the 10th inning.
Best individual performance:
Matt Ramsay on April 1 against
Northwestern
Bakich says he hasn’t seen
a performance like this in 20
years,
so
Ramsay’s
definitely
tops the list. In the midst of the
Wolverines’
longest
winning
streak of the season, Michigan
crushed
Northwestern,
12-3,
thanks to three home runs from
Ramsay. On the day, he was 5-for-
6 with seven RBIs to contribute to
the Wolverines 21-hit effort.
Most Valuable Player: Brett
Adcock
The junior left-hander was
the
Wolverines’
horse
all
year, and held opponents to a
.190 batting average. He had
several signature performances
throughout the season. Against
University of Illinois – Chicago,
he threw a complete game
shutout. In a road contest against
Illinois, he threw 8.1 innings of
three-hit baseball as Michigan
won 1-0 — Michigan’s only win
in an eight-game stretch to end
the regular season. Though he
struggled with his command
at times, Adcock tallied 100
strikeouts on the season, good
for fifth in Michigan history. He
holds a 3.09 career earned-run
average, which ranks fifth in
program history.
MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily
Right-hander Brett Adcock tallied seven wins and held opponents to a .190 average in his junior campaign.
The Wolverines
lost 9 of their
final 11 games of
the season.
Matt Ramsay
hit three home
runs April 1.
11
Thursday, June 9, 2016
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS