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Thursday, May 18, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Offensive explosion
propels Wolverines
Foerster conquers Betsa in upset
Two first-team All-Big Ten
players. Four plate appearances.
Lea Foerster vs. Megan Betsa.
It
was
the
game
within
the game during Michigan’s
dramatic 5-4 defeat at the hands
of Michigan State in Friday’s Big
Ten Tournament quarterfinal.
Foerster’s
unstoppable
bat
against
the
Wolverines’
ace
proved the difference in arguably
the biggest win in Spartans
program history.
In the second regular season
matchup between the teams,
Betsa got the best of Foerster in
a big spot. With two outs and the
bases loaded in the matchup in
April, Betsa blew a 2-2 pitch past
the Michigan State centerfielder
to end the threat on the way to a
5-1 Michigan victory.
“The past two games this year
against (Betsa), she’s gotten me
out of my zone,” Foerster said.
“I’ve struck out quite a few times.”
In
her
two
starts
this
season before Friday against
the Spartans, Betsa totaled 31
strikeouts and just two runs in
her 14 innings of work in two
convincing wins.
But on this day, it was Foerster
getting the best of Betsa, proving
a menace atop the Spartans’ order
— reaching base in all four of her
at-bats — and paving the way for
the win nobody could have seen
coming.
She got the afternoon started
by working a full count, finishing
off her seven pitch walk with
a defiant clap of the hands and
gesture to her boosted dugout.
Her approach and demeanor set a
clear tone: Michigan State wasn’t
here for a moral victory.
With one swing of the bat in
her next at-bat, Foerster changed
the entire game, shooting a
deep fly ball to left field that just
outreached a leaping effort from
sophomore
outfielder
Natalie
Peters. The ball ricocheted off
the wall, scoring a runner from
first. Foerster scampered into
third base, and just like that the
Spartans had a lead and, maybe
more importantly, hope.
In her third plate appearance,
Foerster continued her dominance
of Betsa, lacing a line drive into
right field for a clean single.
“I think typically things start
(in your head) and then they affect
your mechanics,” Michigan coach
Carol Hutchins said of Betsa’s
struggles. “Whether you’re trying
too hard, whether you’re trying to
be perfect, whether you’re “Wow,
you’re a good hitter, I better
throw around her,” I’m not in her
head, but I didn’t think she was
herself tonight and I think she
can throw better than she threw.
But give credit to Lea Foerster
and some of those kids, they were
outstanding.”
Betsa struck out just six hitters,
her lowest total in a six-plus
inning outing all season.
In
total,
Betsa
threw
18
pitches to Foerster, and got just
two strikes past her. Foerster
reached a full count twice on
the
Wolverines’
right-hander,
including an epic seven-pitch
battle in the top of the seventh
inning.
With the first two runners
in the inning reaching base and
Michigan leading 4-2, Foerster
lined an RBI single into right field
and advanced to second base on
the throw. She would later score
the game-winning run on a single
from
third
baseman
Kaitlyn
Eveland.
Hutchins is famous for her
depiction of softball as a “one-
pitch” game, intending to convey
the scope with which a given
game can change on a given pitch.
But this game was determined
in four at-bats. In 18 pitches. It
was a battle of two all-Big Ten
players, but Friday, only one of
them proved that distinction.
MAX MARCOVITCH
Daily Sports Writer
MIGUEL MARTINEZ/Daily
Senior right-hander Megan Betsa allowed Spartan centerfielder Lea Foerster to reach base in all of her at-bats Friday.
Spartan centerfielder wins all-conference battle
BASEBALL
PAIGE VOEFFRAY
Daily Sports Writer
Tuesday
night’s
matchup
between the No. 16 Michigan
baseball
team
and
Eastern
Michigan made their previous
matchup seem like a distant
memory.
The previous defensive slugfest,
a 2-1 win in 13 innings, was put in
the past, and the Wolverines (40-
12 overall, 14-7 Big Ten) rallied for
a 12-4 victory.
“A form of toughness and being
gritty and the things we talk
about are being able to compete
as hard as you can every game
you play, regardless of if it’s in or
out of conference,” said Michigan
coach Erik Bakich. “You got an
opportunity to play, an opportunity
to compete, a tough team is able to
line up and go as hard and fast as
they can with their best effort and
best intent.”
The Eagles (21-32 overall, 12-9
Mid-American) were the first to
strike in the second inning when
senior centerfielder Johnny Slater
made an error and allowed John
Montgomery to reach second base.
It was followed by another double
that went underneath junior third
baseman Drew Lugbauer’s legs.
Another line drive to centerfield
would
tack
on
another
run
for Eastern Michigan, but the
Wolverines managed to escape
with just a 2-0 deficit.
Fortunately for Michigan, it
made up for its defensive mishaps
by tying the game in the bottom
of the second inning. Redshirt
sophomore left fielder Miles Lewis
notched the first hit — his first of
four on the day — of the inning
with a single to a diving second
baseman. Sophomore designated
hitter Nick Poirier followed Lewis
with a bouncing ball that sailed
just over the head of the second
baseman, earning Poirier a single
and a run batted-in. A sacrifice fly
would later bring Poirier home to
level the game.
It appeared the game was going
to stay close, especially when
Eastern Michigan added another
run in the third inning with a solo
home run over the left field wall.
After giving up four hits and three
runs in just 11 batters faced, junior
right-hander Jayce Vancena was
replaced by sophomore left-hander
William Tribucher.
Tribucher faired much better
than Vancena, giving up just two
hits and earning five strikeouts
through four innings. His stellar
work on the bump propelled the
offense to follow suit.
Impacting the game the most
was Lewis. He went 4-for-5 with
two doubles to right field and two
singles — earning him three runs
and an RBI.
“Just being confident out there,”
Lewis said. “Just attacking the ball
instead of letting the ball attack
you. …That’s the thing that kind of
clicked for me tonight.”
Lewis wasn’t the only one
leaving his mark on the game as
four other Wolverines managed
two hits each. Sophomore right
fielder
Jonathan
Engelmann
garnered a hit and an RBI with
one swing of the bat as he had a
solo home run in the bottom of
the fourth inning — his second of
the season. The Eagles’ left fielder
clearly thought the ball was foul,
but after Eastern Michigan’s coach
had a word with the umpire, the
call stood as it was.
Michigan managed to score in
five of the eight innings where
they were on offense, and the sixth
inning was the most eventful. Five
batters stepped up to the plate
before Eastern Michigan could
record an out, and four more runs
were added by the end of the
inning.
With the Wolverines up 12-3,
it allowed them some room to
make defensive changes. Five non-
starters saw the field against the
Eagles and freshman outfielder
Dominic
Clementi
and
junior
catcher
Brock
Keener
both
notched a hit to improve their
batting averages to .474 and .429,
respectively.
While the victory against the
Eagles means the Wolverines have
reached 40 wins — something
that hasn’t the program hasn’t
accomplished since 2008 — it
doesn’t mean they are stopping.
“It’s not a landing spot. It’s
something to catapult off from,
keep moving, keep growing, keep
getting better,” Bakich said. “It’s
been a season where the words
‘Pleased, but not satisfied’ have
been said a lot and ‘Finished
strong’ has been said even more
than that.”