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Thursday, May 25, 2017
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS
‘M’ stunned by Northwestern, 6-4
By JACOB SHAMES
Summer Managing Sports Editor
Ninth inning, bases loaded, no outs.
The Michigan baseball team faced
a similar situation in its regular-
season finale last Saturday against
Michigan State. With the game tied
at one in the bottom of the ninth,
redshirt junior right-hander Jackson
Lamb recorded three straight outs to
escape the jam, and the Wolverines
eventually defeated the Spartans, 2-1,
in 10 innings.
In its Big Ten Tournament opener
against Northwestern Wednesday,
Michigan wasn’t as fortunate. Down
4-3, the seventh-seeded Wildcats (24-
28 overall, 13-11 Big Ten) plated three
runs in the top of the ninth against
Lamb and sophomore left-hander
William Tribucher to earn a come-
from-behind, 6-4 upset win against
the second-seeded Wolverines.
The loss was a shocking turn for
Michigan (42-14, 16-8), beyond the
the unexpected nature of a No. 7 seed
defeating a No. 2 seed. Wednesday’s
contest marked just the third time
this season the Wolverines had lost
a game in which they held a ninth-
inning lead. Also, the three earned
runs Lamb gave up were the first
three he had surrendered all season in
28 innings.
Junior right-hander Ryan Nutof
came out firing for the Wolverines,
hammering the strike zone with
his mid-90s fastball in the first and
second inning. At first, Northwestern
had no answer — the Wildcats struck
out three times in their first five
at-bats. But they were soon able to
pick up on Nutof’s approach: First
baseman Connor Lind sat on a Nutof
fastball and homered to right to give
Northwestern a 1-0 lead in the second
inning.
However, Michigan was unfazed.
Two-out rallies have been a staple
for the Wolverines this season, and
this continued in the second inning.
Junior first baseman Jake Bivens
drove a double down the left-field
line, and sophomore designated hitter
Nick Poirier slapped an RBI single
into centerfield to tie the game.
After adjusting to Nutof’s velocity,
the Wildcats continued to make
strong contact — their next four
at-bats consisted of a double, a hard
line-drive out to end the second, a
single and a two-run bomb by second
baseman Alex Erro in the third
inning. But Nutof responded with
his secondary arsenal, recording four
strikeouts via off-speed pitch in the
third and fourth innings.
“Northwestern’s a good fastball
hitting team. They ambush the
fastball,” said Michigan coach Erik
Bakich. “Nutof has a good fastball, but
they were ready for it after the first
inning. ”
Michigan responded again in the
bottom half of the third inning. Senior
centerfielder Johnny Slater took the
first pitch he saw from left-hander
Cooper Wetherbee and parked a shot
to deep right field to cut the deficit in
half.
The Wolverines took their first,
and only, lead in the fifth inning.
Sophomore right fielder Jonathan
Engelmann ripped a double to the
gap in left field to lead off. He later
advanced to third on a textbook
bunt from senior catcher Harrison
Wenson, and sophomore second
baseman Ako Thomas knotted the
score with a double down the left-field
line. A passed ball allowed Thomas
to move to third, and he scored when
Northwestern catcher Jack Claeys’s
throw flew past the base and into the
outfield.
With his entire array of pitches
established, Nutof was dominant. He
hurled a career-best 10 strikeouts, and
retired nine straight batters during
one span from the fourth to seventh
innings before he was relieved by
senior right-hander Mac Lozer after a
one-out double ended that streak.
That lead may have been only one
run, but it was a lead that Michigan
felt fully confident in, especially with
two relievers that sported perfect
earned-run averages coming into the
game. Lozer stranded the runner at
second with two strikeouts in the
seventh, and left another runner at
second to keep the Wildcats off the
board.
Lamb then took the mound in
the ninth, but from the first batter,
it was clear that he wasn’t nearly
as sharp as usual — according to
Bakich, his shoulder soreness leading
up to Wednesday played a role. He
surrendered two consecutive singles
and a four-pitch walk to load the
bases, and also threw a wild pitch.
Tribucher
attempted
to
salvage
the situation, but to no avail —
Northwestern hit two more singles to
drive home three runs.
The
Wolverines
won’t
have
much time to move on from their
surprising defeat, as they’ll face No.
6-seed Indiana at 10 a.m. Thursday
in an elimination game. Michigan
has been a “bounce-back team” all
season long — the Wolverines have
lost consecutive games just once this
season — but the confidence that
comes with this will be tested once
again.
“We’re excited for tomorrow,”
Brdar said. “We gotta stick with what
we’re doing, stick with our approach
— pitching, good defense and timely
hitting, and tomorrow should be a
different outcome.”
Ninth-inning woes cost Michigan
BASEBALL
By PAIGE VOEFFRAY
Daily Sports Writer
It
appeared
the
second-
seeded Michigan baseball team
would squeak out a win against
seventh-seeded Northwestern in
its opening game of the Big Ten
Tournament.
The
Wolverines
led, 4-3, heading into the ninth
inning, and go-to closer senior
right-hander Jackson Lamb was
on the bump.
Coming
into
the
contest,
Lamb had a 0.00 earned-run
average and had allowed just
18 hits through 28.0 innings
pitched. Michigan expected the
same Lamb that had closed out
nearly every game this season
— but the Lamb that showed up
Wednesday was much different.
Wildcat first baseman Jack
Claeys walked up to the plate in
the lead-off slot and knocked the
3-2 pitch through the first and
second base gap. With the tying
run on first base, Northwestern
opted to replace Claeys with a
pinch runner. Lamb had been in
tough situations before, but with
the steady stream of rain and a
man on first, he threw just his
second wild pitch of the season
and the Wildcats advanced to
second.
With
a
man
in
scoring
position, third baseman Connor
Lind crushed a line drive over
a leaping sophomore second
baseman Ako Thomas. Michigan
managed to hold both runners on
the corners, but if Lamb wasn’t
shaky before, his confidence had
to have been dwindling.
It was clear Lamb wasn’t
himself when he walked the next
batter in four straight pitches.
The walk forced Michigan
coach Erik Bakich to bring in
sophomore right-hander William
Tribucher to try and clean up
Lamb’s mess — a tall task. The
bases were loaded with no outs.
Right-fielder
Ben
Dickey
hadn’t managed a hit all day, but
picked up his first in the ninth
inning when he singled through
the Wolverine third baseman and
shortstop. It wasn’t necessarily
hard hit, but it was perfectly
placed and just out of reach for
senior shortstop Michael Brdar.
The hit was enough to score one
run and tie the game, 4-4.
The first out of the inning
came at the hands of Brdar after
he slightly bobbled the ball but
managed to flick the ball with
the tip of his glove to junior third
baseman Drew Lugbauer. While
the go-ahead run crossed the
plate, it was an impressive move
from Brdar that minimized the
damage.
With one away and men on
first and second, the inning was
far from over and Northwestern
had the momentum in their
favor. Second baseman Alex Erro
crushed a single up the middle
passed a diving Thomas to score
another run.
Fortunately
for
Michigan,
Tribucher caught shortstop Jack
Dunn looking for the crucial
second out. An easy groundout
would end the frame, but instead
of celebrating, the Wolverines
had some work to do.
The bottom of the ninth inning
found junior first baseman Jake
Bivens in the leadoff spot. He
was hit by the second pitch he
saw, bringing the tying run to
the plate. Already having picked
up a run batted-in in the second
inning, designated hitter Nick
Poirier smacked a line drive to
second base. It was similar to
the one Michigan had seen in
the top of the inning, except
Northwestern was able to catch
it.
With
one
out,
sophomore
right-fielder
Jonathan
Engelmann skied the 1-2 pitch
and after the Wildcat shortstop
backed up to the grass, he easily
made the catch for the second
out.
The final out came at the
hands of senior catcher Harrison
Wenson. Currently batting .191
— the lowest of the starters —
he’s not the ideal choice to be in
this position. But he is one of the
few Wolverine players who has
the ability to hit the long ball,
something Michigan desperately
needed.
But it wasn’t in the cards for
the Wolverines as Wenson struck
out swinging in three pitches.
It was a rare — and crucial —
mishap from Michigan’s bullpen.
Now, the Wolverines will need
to win five straight games to
capture the Big Ten Tournament
title.
“50-some games where we’ve
been pretty consistent (in the
ninth inning) so I just look at this
as a fluke, just a speed bump,”
Bakich said. “Our guys have
responded every time they’ve
been knocked down all season
and they’ll respond tomorrow.”
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Junior right-hander Ryan Nutof started against Northwestern Wednesday.