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Thursday,May 11, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS

Wolverines fall to 
Central Michigan

By PAIGE VOEFFRAY 

Daily Sports Writer

With two gone in the top of the 

ninth, Miles Lewis stepped up the 
to the plate. The redshirt sophomore 
left fielder knocked a single down 
the middle, but his base running was 
what gave Michigan the edge. He 
stole second base and the catcher’s 
throw was overthrown, allowing 
Lewis to advance to third. So when 
sophomore designated hitter Nick 
Poirier ripped a two-out double 
down the right field line, Lewis 
scored easily to put the Wolverines 
up by one.

But the late heroics weren’t quite 

enough for the No. 16 Michigan base-
ball team (11-7 Big Ten, 36-11 overall), 
as Central Michigan had an explo-
sive ninth inning and took the game, 
4-3, with a walk-off double. 

The Chippewas (13-5 Mid-Amer-

ican, 25-22 overall) were the first 
on the board. After second base-
man Jason Sullivan singled through 
the first and second base gap on a 
ball that hit a bump and sailed over 
a diving Jake Bivens at first base, it 
brought up right fielder Daniel Rob-
inson at the plate. Michigan fresh-
man right fielder Christian Bullock 
barely moved as he realized Robin-
son’s hit would easily clear the right 
field wall for a two-run home run. 

At the beginning of the game, 

Michigan struggled to have quality 
at bats, let alone get a hit. Tuesday 
against Central Michigan, Michigan 
coach Erik Bakich worried that his 
team was being too defensive when 
on offense, and they continued that 
trend Wednesday.

“We have an approach where we 

want to only swing at balls we can 
drive with less than two strikes and 
I thought we got ourselves out a little 
bit,” Bakich said. “I thought offen-
sively we could have taken better 
swings early in the count than some 
of the weak contact that was made 
early in the count.”

But the Wolverines broke out of 

their slump in the top of the fourth 
inning. Junior third baseman Drew 
Lugbauer recorded the first hit for 
Michigan with a single into shal-
low left field. With senior shortstop 
Michael Brdar taking a walk prior to 
Lugbauer’s at bat, that left two men 
on with only one out. A wild pitch 
advanced both runners and allowed 

Lewis to pick up an RBI with a sacri-
fice fly to centerfield. 

From then on, the contest became 

a pitcher’s dual. Junior right-hander 
Jayce Vancena continued his normal 
style of groundout pitching, but did 
give up three walks — prior to this 
outing, he hadn’t walked a batter all 
season. 

“Sometimes you get liberal zones 

and tight zones. There were some 
borderline pitches.” Bakich said. 
“He had a decent outing and cer-
tainly gave us a chance, pitching into 
the sixth inning and holding them 
to only three hits and two runs. I 
thought he settled down nicely.”

Right-hander Cam Newton came 

in for the Chippewas in the fourth 
inning and had held Michigan to 
only one hit until Lugbauer struck 
again when he doubled past a diving 
Central Michigan first baseman and 
into right field.

Lewis followed Lugbauer with 

a walk, and Poirier bunted to try to 
advance Lugbauer and Lewis. Cen-
tral Michigan decided to throw Lug-
bauer out at third base, eliminating 
the leadoff runner. Fortunately for 
Michigan, a double steal by Lewis 
and Poirier made the Wolverines 
a threat once again. Sophomore 
second baseman Jimmy Kerr then 
squeeze bunted to score Lewis and 
level the game.

The Chippewas threatened to 

retake the lead in the bottom of the 
eighth inning. Halfway through the 
inning, Michigan brought in senior 
right-hander Keith Lehmann with 
two men on base. Fortunately for the 
Wolverines, Central Michigan tried 
to double steal and the leadoff man 
was thrown out at third base.

Lehmann did manage to load the 

bases, though, with only one out. But 
the righty came up big with a strike-
out and pop up to end the inning. 

Both teams appeared anxious to 

end the game. But in the end, it was 
Central Michigan who finished it.

Two men were on base, no outs 

and an 0-2 count awaited junior left-
hander Austin Batka when he took 
over the mound. Things appeared to 
be going well for Michigan as Batka 
struck out a batter with a single pitch. 
But shortstop Alex Borglin crushed a 
deep ball to right field that landed on 
the warning track, and it was enough 
to bring two men home and end the 
game. 

Montemarano hitting stride

BASEBALL

By MARK CALCAGNO

Daily Sports Writer

February has never been kind to 

Lindsay Montemarano.

Last season, the senior third 

baseman started the year 0-for-16 
at the plate, recording her first hit 
on the last day of the month. 2015 
had been only marginally better, as 
Montemarano recorded a .212 bat-
ting average.

March — and the following 

months — usually brought an 
uptick in offensive production for 
the New York native. Montemara-
no was a vital part of the Michigan 
softball team’s run to the Women’s 
College World Series last year, hit-
ting .388 over the final 45 games of 
the season. In the Super Regional, 
she launched key home runs in con-
secutive games to boost the Wol-
verines to Oklahoma City. 2015 was 
a similar story, as Montemarano 
provided a spark out of the seven-
hole with a .277 batting average 
after February.

But this year, the calendar page 

turned, and Montemarano’s bat 
stayed cold.

She struggled from the plate 

throughout February and March, 
hitting just .265 with only one home 
run midway through the year. Mon-
temarano frequently finished games 
hitless as she clung to the eighth and 
ninth spots in the order, a far cry 
from the usual lift she had provided 

in previous seasons from the sixth 
or seventh spot.

And when Michigan coach Carol 

Hutchins decided to challenge her 
Wolverines by benching many of 
her upperclassmen April 22 at Wis-
consin, Montemarano saw the third 
base spot she’d occupied for four 
years taken over by sophomore Alex 
Sobczak — a backup catcher.

Hutchins’ move paid off for 

both Michigan’s previously anemic 
offense and Montemarano. In the 
last six contests, she’s leading the 
Wolverines with an astounding .466 
batting average as Michigan has 
won its last nine games by a com-
bined 84 runs.

“In the beginning of the season, 

I had to fight through a couple of 
personal things that were going on,” 
Montemarano said. “I wasn’t able 
to put in the reps that I really want-
ed to put in, and I had to change a 
couple things around. But lately, 
I’ve been feeling really good, and 
I’ve been able to put in a lot of extra 
work.”

That extra work has focused 

around 
Montemarano’s 
lower 

half at the plate — something that 
allowed her to provide surprising 
power in years’ past despite being 
just 5-foot-3.

“I’ve been working on getting 

some whip in, using my legs a lot 
more than I had been in the begin-
ning of the season,” Montemarano 
said. “I was using way too much 

upper body, and I formed a couple 
of bad habits. But I (now) feel really 
loose and really strong in my lower 
half.”

Added Hutchins: “She’s coming 

in early, and she’s accepting con-
structive criticism, and she’s accept-
ing ideas.” 

In Tuesday’s game against West-

ern Michigan, Montemarano’s extra 
work was on full display. In the bot-
tom of the third inning, she took her 
familiar swing — only her legs were 
especially behind it this time — and 
sent a shot over the left-field wall for 
a two-run homer.

As she trotted from third base to 

the plate, the sense of relief the blast 
brought Montemarano was evident. 
Touching home, she took a deep 
breath, made a causal dance move 
with her arms and looked up to her 
teammates for congratulatory high-
fives and helmet-slaps — all while 
smiling ear-to-ear. 

“It was really awesome,” Mon-

temarano said. “I haven’t hit a ton 
of home runs this year, and the fact 
that the ball went over shows that 
hard work does pay off. One of the 
best feelings is touching home plate 
when your team is so excited for 
you, and everyone was so excited 
for me.”

It lasted longer than just Febru-

ary this year, but through that extra 
practice, it appears that Montema-
rano has finally emerged from her 
slump.

ARNOLD ZHOU/Daily

Senior third baseman Lindsay Montemarano has rebounded from a two-month long slump to spark Michigan’s offense.

