8A — Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan aims for
another win streak
After its 14-game win streak
was snapped Sunday at the
hands of No. 25 Ohio State, the
No. 18 Michigan softball team
(8-1 Big Ten, 28-8-1 overall) is
determined
to
start
a
new
string
of
victories
as it squares
up
against
Michigan
State (5-4 Big
Ten,
21-12
overall)
on
Wednesday
night.
The
midweek
game between
the
two
in-state rivals
was originally
scheduled to be in East Lansing
— the first of a home-and-home
series over the next two weeks
— but floods from the Red
Cedar River left the softball
facilities unusable, forcing the
game to be relocated to Ann
Arbor.
Following
a
seven-game
winless skid, the Spartans have
rebounded, winning six of their
last seven contests. Five of
those wins have come against
Big Ten schools — including a
sweep of Maryland and two of
three against Penn State.
Seven players on Michigan
State’s squad that have 62 or
more at-bats under their belt
post a batting average of .300
or higher. Junior outfielder
Lea
Foerster
stands
out
among them, boasting a .420
batting clip and a .870 slugging
percentage.
However,
the
Spartans’
recent
success
looks
meek
compared to the Wolverines’
impressive
play
the
past
month. Michigan has won 14 of
its last 15 games, and is 8-1 in
Big Ten play — tied with No. 6
Minnesota for the best record
in conference play.
Sophomore second baseman
Faith Canfield continues to be
the top offensive producer for
the Wolverines, as she went
7-for-10
during
Saturday’s
doubleheader.
She
was
complemented by four hits
apiece from senior shortstop
Abby
Ramirez
and
junior
first
baseman
Aidan
Falk.
Despite that hitting explosion,
Michigan failed to score a
single run in the final game of
the series Sunday, registering a
mere three hits in a 5-0 defeat
to the Buckeyes.
Though there are no specific
indications about how a short
lead-up to the Michigan State
matchup will alter practice
routines, Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins continues to preach
the importance of consistent
improvement — notably, higher
quality swings, especially with
runners in scoring position.
She believes in approaching
every game with the same
mental fortitude, regardless
of the opponent’s ranking and
skill.
“My goal is for us to just keep
getting better,” Hutchins said.
“We’ve gotten a lot better in the
last month and two months, but
I thought we took a step back
(Sunday). We can’t ever think
that we’re done getting better.”
Added Canfield: “We’ll work
on going out there every game
to attack, and not giving in so
easily.”
Hutchins also says excelling
in the face of adversity is
important to work on, which is
something she didn’t see out of
her squad against Ohio State on
Sunday.
“We get our toughness when
things don’t go our way, not
just when things go our way,”
Hutchins said. “And we need to
be tougher when things aren’t
going our way.”
ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily
Sophomore second baseman Faith Canfield has led Michigan’s offense of late.
Michigan
State at
Michigan
Matchup:
Michigan State
5-4 Big Ten,
21-12 overall;
Michigan
8-1, 28-8-1
When:
Wednesday
5 P.M. ET
Where:
Alumni Field
BENJAMIN KATZ
Daily Sports Writer
With strong defensive effort, Wolverines
outlast Eastern Michigan in extra innings
With a man on second
base, sophomore right fielder
Jonathan Engelmann hit a ball
deep to centerfield. It appeared
it might leave the park for a
walk-
off home
run, but it
bounced
off the wall instead. Still, the
hit was enough to bring junior
first
baseman
Jake
Bivens
across the plate for the game-
ending double.
It may have taken 13 innings,
but
the
No.
13
Michigan
baseball
team
secured
the
win over Eastern Michigan on
Tuesday afternoon, 2-1.
The Wolverines were the
first on the board after Bivens
and
sophomore
designated
hitter Nick Poirier both hit
identical
singles
past
the
first
baseman.
Engelmann
followed it up by grounding
into a double play, but it was
enough to bring Bivens home.
After putting up the run in
the second inning, the offense
slowed considerably until the
Engelmann RBI finally ended
the game.
After Michigan fell into
early holes in multiple games
against
Illinois
over
the
weekend, the Wolverines made
a point to avoid that against
the
Eagles.
Junior
right-
hander Jayce Vancena wasted
no time in the first inning,
striking out the side with ease.
He’s normally not a pitcher
known for strikeouts, but tied
his career high of six in the
midweek outing.
Along with fanning batters,
Vancena’s
usual
style
of
pitching into ground balls was
in full swing Tuesday, and his
teammates behind him did not
disappoint.
In such a low scoring game,
the defense made a point to be
sharper than ever.
“I
think
the
defense
definitely won us the game
today,” said sophomore second
baseman
Ako
Thomas.
“It
was tough out
there,
a
lot
of line drives
that didn’t fall.
Today we had to
scrap, and that’s
what we did and
we came out on
top.”
The
defense
was
on
full
display in the
fourth
inning
when
Eastern
Michigan’s
designated
hitter
Brennan
Williams hit a double to the
right field wall. Engelmann
collected it off the wall and
relayed it to Thomas, who
then made the throw to senior
catcher Harrison Wenson to
tag an Eagle out at the plate.
That
would
have
been
Eastern Michigan’s first run
of the game and would have
changed the situation of the
inning completely. The play
meant
that
there was one
out and a man
on second, as
opposed to no
outs, a run and a
man on second.
“That in itself
was
a
huge
momentum
shift
in
our
favor,”
said
Michigan coach
Erik Bakich. “But the execution
of the relay from Engelmann,
to Ako, to Wenson with the
good catch-tag, it was perfectly
executed.
“That’s exactly like they’ve
trained to do and they did it
perfectly.”
Through 13 innings, seven
Wolverines came out of the
bullpen to help keep Michigan
in the game. Senior right-
hander
Jackson
Lamb
—
normally just the ninth-inning
closer — pitched 2.1 innings
and struck out four batters. But
it was freshman right-hander
Karl Kauffman who picked up
the win after striking out two
batters and forcing a pop up
in just 13 pitches in the 13th
inning.
“We have a pitching staff
that can shut any team down,”
Bivens said. “We’re going to try
and score runs on offense, but
we know our pitchers always
have our back.”
While the players in the field
and on the bump may have
won this game for Michigan,
the Wolverines will need to
rediscover
their
offensive
prowess before they face No. 18
Oklahoma on Thursday.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Sophomore second baseman Ako Thomas helped execute a crucial throw to the plate to save a run in a close game.
PAIGE VOEFFRAY
Daily Sports Writer
“The defense
definitely won
us the game
today”
EASTERN MICH
MICHIGAN
1
2
Pitching, defense lead to victory for ‘M’
With a runner on first in
the
fourth
inning,
Eastern
Michigan
designated
hitter
Brennan
Williams
lashed
a
liner into right field. Michigan
sophomore right fielder Jonathan
Engelmann caught up to the ball
at the warning track, and turned
around to see Eagle centerfielder
Jeremy
Stidham
barreling
around second base, showing no
signs of slowing down.
Without
hesitation,
Engelmann fired the ball to
sophomore
second
baseman
Ako Thomas, whose relay throw
reached senior catcher Harrison
Wenson a split-second before
Stidham slid home.
“It needed a good throw from
Engelmann and Ako, and it
needed a good catch and a hard
tag from Wenson,” said Michigan
coach Erik Bakich. “We got all of
them.”
The successful relay preserved
a 1-0 lead for the No. 13 Michigan
baseball team (6-3 Big Ten, 26-7
overall), and proved even more
crucial after Eastern Michigan
(4-2 Mid-American, 12-20) tied
the game in the seventh inning.
Without a stellar effort on the
mound and in the field, the
Wolverines wouldn’t have been
able to grind out a 13-inning, 2-1
win against the Eagles.
While Michigan’s offense –
which has averaged 8.3 runs
over its last 11 games – has
received most of the attention
recently, its defense has been just
as spectacular. After Tuesday
night’s error-free performance,
the Wolverines now rank 10th
in the nation with a fielding
percentage of .983.
In the outfield, Engelmann,
redshirt sophomore left fielder
Miles Lewis and senior center
fielder
Johnny
Slater
have
recorded 171 putouts without an
error. Meanwhile, the infield of
Thomas, junior first baseman
Jake
Bivens,
junior
third
baseman Drew Lugbauer and
senior shortstop Michael Brdar
have combined to commit just
nine errors on the year.
Bivens, last season’s third
baseman, crossed the diamond
to first base this year due to
offseason Tommy John surgery
which
limited
his
throwing
ability, while Lugbauer moved
from
first
to
take
Bivens’
place. The pair’s versatility –
both played shortstop in high
school – has given Michigan
exceptional
athleticism
from
the corner positions, where this
type of athleticism isn’t always
prioritized.
Against
Eastern
Michigan, Bivens highlighted
his
performance
by
leaping
high to snare a high-bouncing
grounder in the second inning,
while Lugbauer’s arm strength
consistently made tough throws
seem routine.
“When you think about corner
guys, you don’t necessarily think
of them as premium athletes,”
Bakich said. “But we feel like
we’ve got four shortstops on the
infield, which gives us a lot of
range and athleticism and allows
a lot of playmaking abilities.”
Meanwhile,
Michigan’s
pitching staff has fed right
into the defense’s strengths
– thriving with an increased
emphasis on attacking hitters
and pitching to contact. Against
Eastern Michigan, Wolverine
pitchers walked just two of the
48 batters they faced, and threw
68 percent of their pitches for
strikes.
“We just want to let the defense
work,” Bakich said. “Something
we struggled with last year was
nibbling and avoiding contact. If
there are a lot of lulls every single
inning, you get caught on your
heels sometimes and you don’t
play as good defense.
“When the pitching staff is
relentlessly attacking the strike
zone and forcing a lot of contact,
and the pitchers are trusting
that defenders are going to make
those plays, those defenders
stay engaged. It’s easier to play
behind pitchers that are just
attack, attack, attack.”
Tuesday night’s starter, junior
right-hander Jayce Vancena, is
one of those pitchers. He was
ruthlessly
efficient
against
Eastern Michigan, throwing just
62 pitches in five innings, striking
out five and allowing three hits.
Perhaps
most
impressively,
Vancena did not surrender a walk
– in 29 innings this season, he has
yet to do so.
“In the infield, we don’t want
to be standing out there all day,”
Thomas said. “Jayce is known
for working quick and getting
everybody ground balls.”
Added Bivens: “He’s been
attacking the zone all year. He’s
a great pitcher – we just love
playing behind him. We trust in
him and we believe in him.”
When Vancena exited after
the fifth inning, the bullpen
picked up right where he left off,
striking out 10 batters in eight
innings and allowing just five
hits. While senior right-hander
Jackson Lamb highlighted the
group by striking out four in a
career-high 2.1 innings, it was
freshman
right-hander
Karl
Kauffman who picked up the win
with two strikeouts in the 13th
inning.
“We knew we had some older
guys that had some experience,”
Bakich said. “We also knew we
had some very talented freshmen
coming in with (left-hander
Tommy) Henry and Kauffman
and even (right-hander) Jack
Weisenburger in that mix. But
we have a lot of depth – that’s an
area that’s a huge priority in our
program.”
All season – and especially
against
Eastern
Michigan
–
Michigan has proven it has the
talent and mentality on defense
to win low-scoring slugfests.
Even if its offense can’t push
runs across the plate, if Tuesday
night’s game is any indication,
the Wolverines will be in good
shape.
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior first baseman Jake Bivens and his fellow infielders have combined to commit just nine errors on the season.
JACOB SHAMES
Daily Sports Writer