12
Thursday, May 4, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
In its 10th annual “Pink Game”
to raise awareness for breast
cancer, the Michigan softball
team capped off an undefeated
regular season home record with
an 8-0 run-rule victory over
Western Michigan Tuesday.
The win gave the Wolverines
(38-10-1 overall, 17-3 Big Ten) a
perfect home record of 17-0 to
end the season, a feat it hasn’t
accomplished since 2009.
Western Michigan (21-26, 9-12
Mid-American) entered the game
hoping to play spoiler, as winners
of five of its last six. But in a swift,
one hour and sixteen minute
affair,
Michigan
emphatically
took care of its business against
its MAC foe, pairing 11 hits and
five extra-base hits with a shutout
start from Tera Blanco. The
junior right-hander shut down
the Broncos in efficient fashion,
allowing just four baserunners
and needing to throw just 63
pitches to put the Broncos away.
Sophomore second baseman
Faith
Canfield
sparked
the
blowout early with her seventh
home run of the season in the
bottom of the first. With the first
two runners on base, Canfield
took an 0-2 pitch on the outside
corner and shot the ball to right-
centerfield on a line, just clearing
the fence.
And it was off to the races
for a Michigan offense that has
barely left the track in nearly two
weeks.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning,
senior third baseman Lindsay
Montemarano skied a high fly
ball down the left field line which
landed in the bullpen just right of
the foul pole. The power could be
a welcome sign for Montemarano,
who is now hitting .500 in her last
nine starts after hitting .226 prior
to that stretch.
The senior attributes that
improvement to her emphasis on
the lower body.
“I’ve been working on getting
some whip in, using my legs
a lot more than I had been in
the beginning of the season,”
Montemarano said. “I was using
way too much upper body, I
formed a couple of bad habits due
to a couple of things going on.
“But I feel really loose and
really strong in my lower half,
and I’ve been working really hard
on getting some whip back. I’m
seeing the ball well and trusting
the work that I’m putting into it.”
Added Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins:
“(Montemarano’s)
working. She’s coming in early,
and she’s accepting constructive
criticism, and she’s accepting
ideas. She’s had better energy,
and I think as you play better,
you get better energy. Hopefully
hitting her stride. Good time to
hit it.”
Sophomore
catcher
Alex
Sobczak capped the game off
with a solo home run to right-
centerfield in the bottom of the
fifth. The sophomore has forced
her way back into the lineup
after losing the catcher battle to
start the season to sophomore
Katie Alexander.
“Alex is another one who
just
stayed
on
course
even
though things didn’t go her way
throughout a good period of the
year,” said Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins. “I’m happy some of her
hard work is paying off, because
she’s worked hard.”
With
three
more
home
runs Tuesday, the Wolverines
have now hit 11 in their past 4
games, and 14 over the past six
games, with production coming
throughout the lineup.
The next time Michigan will
play at Alumni Field will be the
end of next week, for the Big
Ten Tournament. And for the
first time possibly all season,
Hutchins thinks her team is
ready.
“I want consistency in our
offense,” Hutchins said.
“And I don’t want to get ahead
of myself, but I sure feel like
I’ve seen it these past couple of
weeks.”
Wolverines beat Western Michigan
ALEXIS RANKIN/Daily
The Michigan softball team tallied 11 hits and five extra-base hits in a 8-0 run-rule defeat of Western Michigan.
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan run-rules Broncos in final regular season home game
Michigan falls in Big
Ten Championships
After a long rally, freshman Chiara
Lommer changed the direction of the
ball and hit an inside-out forehand
across the court. But the ball landed
just wide, ending the Michigan
women’s tennis team’s chance of
winning the Big Ten Tournament
Championship.
The Wolverines overcame Indiana
and Northwestern in the early rounds
of the tournament, winning 4-0 and
4-1, respectively. However, Michigan
fell in the final to Ohio State, 4-0.
Michigan had its best results when
it got out to an early lead. Against
both the Hoosiers and the Wildcats,
the Wolverines clinched the doubles
point easily.
Lommer and sophomore Brienne
Minor handily took care of their
Indiana opponents, dusting them
6-0. But it was the No. 3 doubles
pair of junior Mira Ruder-Hook
and freshman Valeria Patiuk who
clinched the point for the Wolverines.
After losing the first two games, the
duo rallied to win five straight games,
eventually taking the match, 6-3.
Ruder-Hook and Patiuk were
the first off the court against
Northwestern, but it was sophomore
Kate Fahey and junior Alex Najarian’s
turn to win the doubles point against
the Wildcats. Fahey and Najarian
charged the net, forcing the Wildcats
to sail the ball long.
When it came to singles play,
Michigan didn’t slow down. Najarian
dropped the Wolverines’ lone singles
match, but she still managed to force
it to three sets. Fortunately for the
Wolverines, Minor and Fahey battled
to win their three-set matches to
send Michigan to the finals.
Earlier in the year, the Wolverines
faced the Buckeyes as part of their
non-conference slate. Ohio State
came out in top form, winning the
matchup 5-1, and Sunday’s final was
no different.
After taking the No. 3 and No.
2 doubles matches, 6-2 and 6-3,
respectively, Michigan was in an
early hole.
“We knew the doubles point
was going to be important and we
unfortunately came out on the wrong
side of it,” said Michigan coach Ronni
Bernstein. “There was a big deuce
point at No. 2 that we didn’t win that
could have gotten that match back on
track. With the way doubles works
now, you have to get a good start and
we came out of the gates a little slow.”
The Buckeyes continued their
domination into singles play by
winning all six first sets.
Perhaps the most anticipated
match of the day was the No. 1 singles
contest between Fahey and top-
ranked Francesca Di Lorenzo. The
pair kept the match close, exchanging
breaks back and forth. But it was
eventually Di Lorenzo who claimed
the first set, 7-5.
The
match
was
abandoned,
however, after Lommer’s loss gave
Ohio State their fourth point.
The second point came against
Patiuk, who dropped the first set, 6-0,
and fell into a 5-1 hole in the second,
but still managed to fight off two
match points. But a driving forehand
down the line from the Buckeyes’
Ferny Angeles Paz sealed the match.
The next Wolverine off the court
was Najarian. She approached the net
and attempted to hit her opponents’
return cross court, but sent it into the
bottom of the net to put Ohio State
within one point of the championship.
At the conclusion of the contest,
the three remaining matches were
abandoned. Ruder-Hook had just
won the second set, Minor managed
to force a third set, and Fahey was in a
3-0 hole in the second set. Things may
have turned around for Michigan,
but it was all too little too late.
“We had our work cut out for us in
singles and we weren’t able to get it
done,” Bernstein said. “(Fahey) hung
in there at No. 1 and played a great
match. (Minor) and (Ruder-Hook)
were able to stay on court with wins
in their second sets.
“We played well in some spots
and not so great at some others, but
it is a team sport and you need to
win at multiple spots.”
While the Wolverines didn’t
manage to win the Tournament,
they will likely still have a chance
to continue their season in the
NCAA Tournament. They will
learn their fate on May 2 and can
hopefully learn from the loss to the
Buckeyes.
“As much as this hurts, we still
have a lot of tennis left this season,”
Bernstein said. “We have a really
good chance of hosting the first
and second rounds of the NCAA
Tournament and we are looking
forward to that. We will get back
to practice this week and get ready
for the rest of the postseason.”
PAIGE VOEFFRAY
Daily Sports Writer
WOMEN’S TENNIS
SPORTS