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The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | April 10, 2017
A busted streak
The Michigan baseball
team failed to complete a
comeback and dropped the
third game of its weekend
series against Illinois.
» Page 4B
Livin’ on a prayer
Andrew Robinson and
Dymonte Thomas united in
prayer before every game of
2016 season.
» SportsMonday Column,
Page 2B
Wolverines’ offense sputters against Ohio State, Michigan
fails to maintain perfect conference record in Columbus
Michigan’s ninth inning comeback effort falls short, Wolverines’
nine-game winning streak is snapped by the Fighting Illini
The fairytale script was there.
Down 9-7 in the ninth inning,
with two men on, two men out and
a 2-2 count, junior third baseman
Drew Lugbauer launched a ball
deep to left field.
The
crowd
erupted,
anticipating a walk off three-
run home run – only to watch the
ball drift foul.
The strong winds kept the ball
from staying fair. On most other days,
that shot would have been gone.
The very next pitch, Lugbauer
struck out.
“You’re not always going to
get the fairy tale ending,” said
junior
right-hander
Alec
Rennard.
The loss marked the
lone blemish for the No.
18 Michigan baseball
team (6-3 Big Ten,
25-7 overall) in
its
three-game
series against
Illinois (1-5,
11-18) – the
defeat
snapped a nine-game win streak from
the Wolverines.
Similar to the first game of the series,
the Fighting Illini got on the scoreboard
early Sunday.
In the top of the second inning, Illinois
managed three runs with only one ball
leaving the infield. After a leadoff single
by right fielder Jack Yalowitz, Michigan
junior left-hander Michael Hendrickson
loaded the bases with a hit by pitch and
a walk.
Then, third baseman Trent Hammond
bunted down the third baseline. The
ball was fielded by Hendrickson, whose
throw bounced in front of junior first
baseman Jake Bivens and slipped past
him to the wall – allowing two runs to
score. Two at-bats later, the Fighting
Illini added another run on a fielder’s
choice, giving them a 3-0 lead.
The following inning, Michigan’s
woes continued when Illinois left fielder
Dan Rowbottom hit a three-run home
run.
Hendrickson’s outing ended after
that homer. In 2.1 innings, he allowed
two walks, six hits and six runs (three
earned) – the most runs the lefty has
given up on the season.
The
Wolverines
had
allowed
16
combined runs in the first three innings
of their last four games.
“Our mindset has consistently been
good to start each game,” said Michigan
coach Erik Bakich. “But for whatever
reason, we weren’t as sharp (in) three of
the four games this week.”
Despite being down by six, the
Wolverines responded quickly, cutting
the deficit to two with four runs in the
bottom of the third.
With
the
bases
loaded,
senior
centerfielder Johnny Slater hit a single
to
right
field,
scoring
sophomore
designated hitter Nick Poirier and
sophomore
right
fielder
Jonathan
Engelmann. Two at-bats later, with an
0-2 count, Lugbauer belted the ball to
right field for a double, adding two more
runs.
In the fifth, Michigan scored another
run as sophomore second baseman Ako
Thomas advanced home following a wild
pitch. But the Fighting Illini picked that
run back up in the seventh off a double by
second baseman Michael Massey.
However, it could have been a much
worse inning for the Wolverines. With
men on second and third and no outs,
senior right-hander Mac Lozer and
freshman left-hander Tommy Henry
escaped the jam with two strikeouts and
a ground-out.
In the bottom of the eighth, Michigan
had
a
comeback
opportunity
with
runners on first and second. But the
Wolverines were unable to capitalize,
leaving both men on base. On the day,
Michigan stranded eight runners.
HUNTER SHARF
Daily Sports Writer
Going into its final game of the series against
Ohio State on Sunday, the Michigan softball
team was riding a 14-game win streak. Only one
day earlier, it blasted 26 hits in a doubleheader,
symbolic of a swelling offense that had found its
rhythm. It was invincible so far against Big Ten
competition.
The Wolverines had been making it look easy.
But that didn’t mean that it always would be
easy. And Sunday shed light on that.
In its first time being shutout in over a month,
No. 18 Michigan (8-1 Big Ten, 28-8-1 overall)
fell, 5-0, at the hands of its conference rival,
the 25th-ranked Buckeyes (7-2, 23-9). Though
the Wolverines took the series with consecutive
victories Saturday, they left Columbus with
their previously perfect conference record
gone.
“Today wasn’t easy,” said Michigan
coach Carol Hutchins. “We get our
toughness when things don’t go our
way, not just when things go our way.
And we need to be tougher when
things aren’t going our way.”
In a storyline that seems all
too familiar for Michigan this
season, it left eight runners
stranded on base Sunday,
finding just three hits on the day. For a team
seeing so many wins as of late, this problem
may be easy to overlook, but it has continued to
plague the Wolverines all season.
With a solo home run in the bottom of the third
inning, Ohio State took a 1-0 lead that Michigan
would not be able to recover from. In the fifth
inning, the Buckeyes sealed the deal under
pressure, picking up four additional runs with
two outs on the board. The offensive surge led to
the removal of senior right-hander Megan Betsa
from the circle, putting junior right-hander Tera
Blanco in her place to finish the game.
The Wolverines saw their best scoring
opportunity in the final inning with two outs
and bases loaded. But they couldn’t capitalize,
stranding all three runners and ending the game.
Hutchins was less than pleased with the day’s
performance.
“We had so many poor at-bats,” Hutchins said.
“We swung at poor pitches and we didn’t have
anybody step up and give us confidence in our
lineup.”
But that’s not to say Ohio State’s sole victory on
the weekend wasn’t well deserved. The Buckeyes
had triple the number of hits as Michigan and
stayed dominant in the circle as well.
Ohio State’s right-hander Shelby McCombs —
the
third-best
pitcher
in
the
Big Ten, according
to
earned-run
average — commanded
the
circle
with
10
strikeouts,
neutralizing
the Wolverines’ offensive
efforts throughout the day.
“I
thought
Shelby
McCombs
was
outstanding
today,” Hutchins said. “She threw a
great game against us and she built
on her confidence. Her presence kept
getting better and better. But again, when
you’re facing good pitching you have to
counter it. And we really just played into
her game. It was her win.”
However, Saturday’s story was much
different.
In the pair of games, Michigan outshined
the Buckeyes across the board.
Seven separate Wolverines pounded out hits
in both games, contributing to 13 total RBI on
the day. Senior shortstop Abby Ramirez and
junior first baseman Aidan Falk registered four
hits apiece, with Falk bringing in four RBI.
ANNA MARCUS
Daily Sports Writer
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See BASEBALL, Page 2B
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