B 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 See SOFTBALL, Page 2B See BASEBALL, Page 2B STREAK OUT