It’s a play the Michigan
baseball team (15-8 Big
Ten, 33-19 overall) is all too
familiar with.
The
Wolverines
were
batting in the bottom of
the frame in extra innings
with bases loaded and the
game on the line. A player
stepped up and delivered a
sacrifice fly to deep right
field allowing the runner
at third to score the win-
ning run. Michigan then
mobbed the hitter who
smacked the walk-off fly
out.
It’s how the Wolverines
downed Illinois, and it’s
how they overcame Iowa
(13-9, 33-19) in the first
game of the Big Ten Tour-
nament.
The inning began with
some pitching trouble for
the Hawkeyes. Iowa reliev-
er Zach Daniels walked
two
consecutive
batters
on eight straight pitches
prompting Iowa to make
a much needed call to the
bullpen.
Right-hander
Nick Nelsen entered the
game and relented a quick
infield single to junior cen-
ter fielder Jonathan Engel-
mann.
Then early on a Wednes-
day
morning,
freshman
slugger
Jesse
Franklin
stepped to the plate with
bases loaded and delivered
the sacrifice fly, giving
Michigan a hard-fought 2-1
win.
While the wild finish
injected a healthy dose of
drama into the contest, the
game was a defensive bat-
tle, through and through.
Making
diving
catch
after diving catch and web
gem play after web gem
play, the Wolverines were
flashing the leather early
and often to extinguish any
life out of the Hawkeyes’
lineup.
“For us it felt like Michi-
gan had 15 fielders out
there,” said Iowa coach
Rick Heller. “You hit three
balls off the pitcher and
you don’t get a hit, and
they’re making diving plays
left and right, and it’s the
same thing in the outfield.
We made a nice play, and it
went right at ‘em.”
And the tight defense
began on the mound.
Both
sides
benefited
from terrific outings on the
mound with the Hawkeyes
riding left-hander Nick All-
geyer through seven lights
out innings. However, the
Wolverines kicked things
off with a fright from the
bump.
After
only
pitching
through one inning, sopho-
more left-hander Tommy
Henry was nailed by a line
drive. The ball rocketed
off the bat of right field-
er Robert Neustrom and
punched Henry straight in
his throwing arm. Ever the
warrior, Henry collected
the ball and got the force-
out at first.
The injury put Michigan
coach Erik Bakich in a dif-
ficult position. Try to keep
Henry in or make a quick
call to the bullpen and hope
everything works out. See-
ing a happy medium, Baich
kept the lefty in the game
while senior right-hander
Alec Rennard frantically
warmed up in the bullpen.
After Henry walked the
next batter on five pitches,
Bakich made the switch.
“I think it was easier
coming in in the second
than it would be coming
in in the fourth or fifth
because I was actually still
warm from playing catch
pre-game as bad as that
sounds,” Rennard said. “So
I went down to the bullpen
and tossed as many fast-
balls as I could.”
Luckily
for
Rennard,
he was allotted extra time
to warm up due to the
unpredictable
nature
of
the event. Just as luck-
ily for Michigan, Rennard
brought his A-game.
The righty would go
on to pitch 5.2 innings of
‘M’ walks off in a defensive
battle against the Hawkeyes
DARBY STIPE / DAILY
Freshman slugger Jesse Franklin saves the day with a walk off hit in a game that let few hits through
THEO MACKIE
Daily Sports Writer
scoreless relief while giv-
ing up only one hit — a
bloop to right field that
snuck just inside the foul
line.
“Today was just getting
back to that, ‘One pitch at
a time,’ approach,” Ren-
nard said. “Sometimes the
focus tries to broaden out
and narrow focus on one
pitch at a time, take care of
this pitch and having short
memory really helps.”
While
both
squads
donned
impressive
defense
and
pitching
throughout
the
game,
offense was nowhere to be
found. Attribute it to the
size and scope of the park,
the lights out pitching or
big game nerves, neither
team could buy a hit in the
low-scoring affair.
The one shining light of
offensive productivity and
the
Wolverines’
saving
grace was Franklin. Aside
from his heroic walk-off,
the first-year crushed his
10th home run of the year
to right-center field in the
fourth inning and also
secured a double to deep
left field in the sixth.
However, Franklin will
be the first to celebrate the
role of his teammates and
give credit where credit is
due. After committing an
error earlier in the con-
test, Franklin was picked
up by his teammates and
sought to make amends for
his misstep.
“There were like a mil-
lion other plays today
that helped us win the
game,” Franklin said. “A
lot of guys picking each
other up. Like, I made a
poor error, and then the
first thing that Alec Ren-
nard said was, ‘It doesn’t
matter. Flush it.’ And that
means a lot. He could’ve
just yelled at me for mess-
ing up the beginning of his
outing, but he didn’t.”
It’s great to see team
cohesion on any level,
but if Michigan has any
chance of winning the Big
Ten Tournament, it must
be out in full force and
guide the Wolverines to
solid pitching, defense and
timely hitting.
And a walk-off every
now and then doesn’t hurt
either.
Rennard performs
with relief pitching
Just four batters into the
Big Ten tournament, Michi-
gan encountered coach Erik
Bakich’s
worst
nightmare.
Iowa rightfielder Robert Neus-
trom ripped a line drive up the
middle where it struck sopho-
more
left-hander
Tommy
Henry in his pitching arm.
Henry fielded the ball to get
the out, but after a long mound
meeting and a five-pitch walk,
it became apparent that he
would be unable to continue.
As Henry tested his injured
arm, senior right-hander Alec
Rennard sprinted to the left
field bullpen where he deliv-
ered a series of rapid-fire fast-
balls to freshman catcher Joe
Donovan.
“Leading into the week,
coach said, ‘All the rules go out
the window,’ and, ‘Be prepared
for anything, anytime,’ ” Ren-
nard said.
“I think it was easier com-
ing in in the second than it
would be coming in in the
fourth or fifth because I was
actually still warm from play-
ing catch pre-game.”
That may have been the
most stressful part of Ren-
nard’s outing. He gave up a
quick bloop single, and a Jesse
Franklin error allowed an
inherited run to score.
After the error, Rennard
faced the minimum over the
next thirteen batters, allow-
ing just one base-runner and
no hits.
“Alec
Rennard
stepping
in and giving us 5 2/3 inning
of scoreless relief was huge,”
Bakich said.
Added Iowa coach Rick
Heller: “When Henry went
out, Rennard comes in and just
does a really nice job — it’s just
a really tough situation to be in,
and he handled it extremely
well and really was key to the
game.”
Rennard was in a free fall
heading into the tournament.
The senior relented five earned
runs in less than an inning two
weeks ago against Illinois.
Three days earlier at Michi-
gan State, he gave up seven hits
and two earned runs in just
two and two-thirds innings.
All of that came after a har-
rowing season that he began
as the Wolverines’ Friday
starter. After missing seven
weeks with an arm strain, the
Michigan rotation’s dominant
performances meant Rennard
was resigned to bullpen duties.
“Today was just getting
back to that, ‘One pitch at a
time,’ approach,” Rennard said.
“Sometimes the focus tries to
broaden out and narrow focus
on, ‘One pitch at a time, take
care of this pitch’ and having
short memory really helps.”
Before running into troubles
down the stretch, Rennard ini-
tially handled his bullpen role
admirably, giving up one run
in his first 11 2/3 innings back
from injury. Amid that stretch
was a dominant performance
against the Hawkeyes in which
he pitched three and a third
scoreless innings.
“When it’s game day, even
if it’s not the specific situation
that everyone expected, that
I know I can give my team a
chance to win.”
While the Wolverines lost
that day in Iowa City, Ren-
nard’s performance Wednes-
day morning provided just the
boost they needed to start the
Big Ten Tournament in the
win column.
For weeks, freshman right-
hander Jeff Criswell and junior
left-hander William Tribucher
have anchored the Michigan
relief staff with inconsistent
support from the rest of the
bullpen.
Wednesday, those concerns
were avoided as Rennard’s out-
ing meant Bakich could bypass
— and rest — his middle reliev-
ers and turn the ball over to
Criswell in the eighth.
Two innings later, fresh-
man
first
baseman
Jesse
Franklin
walked
off
the
Hawkeyes with a sacrifice fly
to right field. While the ensu-
ing celebrations paint Franklin
as the Wolverines’ hero, Ren-
nard’s lights out pitching was
just as vital.
JACOB KOPNICK
Summer Managing Sports Editor
BASEBALL
11
Thursday, May 24, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS