In a rarity for baseball, both
teams were racing against the
clock.
With a five-and-a-half hour
drive back to Terre Haute,
Ind. ahead of Indiana State
on Wednesday evening, even
the possibility of a shortened
seven-inning
game
wasn’t
enough to risk pushing up
against
their
prearranged
7:30 travel curfew. Coming off
yesterday’s
hard-fought
8-7
loss — only its second home
loss of the year — the Michigan
baseball
team
managed
to
hold its lead despite a worthy
challenge from the Sycamores
to hang on and win, 6-4.
“Indiana State is a savvy,
quality team,” said Michigan
coach Erik Bakich. “They don’t
get rattled, they play well on
the road, they’re a good and
complete team. We knew we
had our work cut out for us.”
A sluggish start to the game
for both teams was highlighted
by a solo home run fired over
right
field
by
sophomore
outfielder Jesse Franklin in
his first at-bat of the game
—
exactly
what
happened
in Sunday’s 8-0 win against
Minnesota.
With
Michigan
leading
2-0 in the top of the third,
Indiana
State
momentarily
threatened to tie the game
up after starting left-hander
Angelo
Smith
walked
two
batters in a row. That threat
was quickly extinguished as
the Sycamores’ Romero Harris
hit a grounder which Michigan
turned into a 6-4-3 double play.
“They probably feel like
they
had
multiple
scoring
opportunities in the first three
innings
that
they
couldn’t
capitalize on or we stopped,”
Bakich said. “Angelo (Smith)
pitched us out of some big jams
as well.”
The
Wolverines’
offense
picked up in the bottom of the
inning. Singles from Kerr and
Blomgren sent two runners
home while freshman first
baseman Jack Van Remortel
scored on a passed ball.
Sophomore
catcher
Harrison Salter, who started
over sophomore Joe Donovan,
dropped a sacrifice bunt in a
squeeze play to send senior
Ako Thomas home and widen
Michigan’s lead to 6-0. Salter,
who has had limited playing
time so far this season, had
made his mark on the game
with a sacrifice fly in the
bottom of the second that
scored Blomgren.
“Those
hits
felt
great,”
Salter
said.
“We work a lot
on
situational
stuff, and while
the team gives
me
crap
for
being
such
a
good
bunter,
we
ended
up
needing it.”
After
a
lightning-fast fourth inning
with 1-2-3 frames for both
teams, Indiana State found its
offense in the top of the fifth
and managed two runs from
singles, marking junior right-
hander Jack Weisenburger’s
first conceded runs of the
season.
It seemed initially as though
the Wolverines would contain
the Sycamores’ offense in the
sixth. But with two outs and
the bases loaded, a single to
center field from Jake Means
notched Indiana State another
two runs to narrow the score
to 6-4.
“We knew even up six that
they weren’t going to go away
quietly,” Bakich said. “Today
was shaping up
to be very much
like
yesterday
if
it
weren’t
for the travel
curfew.”
With
the
clock
relentlessly
ticking toward
the
7:30
deadline,
the
Sycamores were
unable to capitalize on this
momentum. To allow Indiana
State to get on the road, the
game was ended after the sixth
inning,
and
Michigan
was
saved by the bell.
Baseball is a long game. Nine
innings; three-plus hours; three,
four or even five days a week,
come rain, shine, or even snow
– a legitimate possibility in Ann
Arbor, even in April.
The time has arrived in the
Michigan baseball team’s season
when its demanding schedule
is starting to take a toll on the
players’ bodies. It’s not uncommon
for players to sit out a midweek
game to rest up for a big weekend.
On Wednesday against Indiana
State, it was sophomore catcher
Joe Donovan who was scratched
in favor of redshirt sophomore
catcher Harrison Salter ahead of
a big weekend series at arch-rival
Ohio State in Columbus.
Salter ended up making the
most of the opportunity for the
Wolverines. He notched a single
and two RBI on a sacrifice fly and
a sacrifice bunt as well as a solid
performance behind the plate
in No. 24 Michigan’s 6-4 victory
over the Sycamores.
“I was really excited. It’s
always great to come out here
and get the start,” Salter said.
“It’s always an honor to come out
and do my part and continue our
legacy here this season.”
Salter has served this sort of fill-
in role all year for the Wolverines.
He’s
started
games
against
California
State
University-
Northridge, Manhattan, Western
Michigan and San Jose State – the
last two also coming in the middle
of the week – as well as coming
off the bench in games against
Binghamton and Michigan State
over the course of the season.
He’s hitting for a respectable
.267 batting average over his nine
games this season with five hits
and five RBI. Wednesday was
his biggest day so far this season,
though. His two RBI helped build
Michigan’s momentum in what
ended up being a tight game to
close a midweek series against the
Sycamores.
“Today was just great,” Salter
said, grinning. “We work a lot on
situational stuff. People on the
team always give me crap for being
a good bunter, but it always comes
in handy when you need it during
games.”
Clutch hitting like Salter’s
has
become
an
increasingly
important part of Michigan’s
success recently. Four of their
last five games have been decided
by a margin of two runs or fewer.
Against tough teams like Indiana
State, which, like Michigan, has
been in and out of the rankings
over the course of the season, a
hit here or there can make all the
difference.
“We had our work cut out for
us,” said Michigan coach Erik
Bakich. “They’re a very complete
team. We knew even up six, they
weren’t going to go away quietly.
We were two very evenly-matched
clubs. It’s whoever gets that one
extra hit or makes that one extra
play wins the game.”
Saved by the bell
In shortened contest, Michigan tops Indiana State, 6-4, salvaging a series split with the Sycamores
AIDAN WOUTAS
Daily Sports Writer
ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
The Michigan baseball team beat Indiana State after the Sycamores failed to capitalize on momentum late in the game.
We knew even
up six that they
weren’t going to
go away.
6A — Thursday, April 11, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
A tale of two seniors: The story of Emma McLean and Olivia Karas
It all started in the summer of
2013.
Emma McLean, a rising high
school junior, was spending
a beautiful day on a boat in
northern Michigan. Her phone
rang, the screen flashed the name
“Olivia Karas.” She answered.
“I
just
committed
to
Michigan!!” said the girl on the
other end.
And just like that, McLean had
her future Michigan women’s
gymnastics counterpart, and a
dynamic duo was born.
Right off the bat, the two
became
immensely
close.
Like,
finishing-each-other’s-
sentences
close,
so
it’s
no
surprise that McLean and Karas
spent all of their time together
trying to figure out the game
called life. There were times
when they would miss the
bus and chase after it so they
wouldn’t be late to practice, or
would miss dinner and would
eat dry cereal on McLean’s dorm
room floor.
“I think that coming in as
a
two-person
class,
you’re
kinda
automatically
bonded
and put through everything
together,” Karas said. “Which
I think we both liked. I think
we have similar but different
personalities, so we complement
each other nicely. I think you
get tossed into this environment
with just one other person and
we just kinda —
“…We just kinda have to figure
it out,” finished McLean. “That’s
something that’s important to
explain to every freshman class.
Like,
there’s
no
guidebook,
there’s no handbook, no one’s
there to hold your hand and tell
you what college is going to be
like. Nothing prepares you for it.
And I think having to figure that
out with each other really just
forms that bond.”
As the lone two newcomers
on
the
Michigan
women’s
gymnastics team when they
arrived,
the
adjustment,
unsurprisingly,
was
difficult.
However, they always knew that
they had a strong, loving team as
their backbone. And they used
that fortitude to make sure that
everyone else that came in had
that same secure, cherished
feeling.
“I think that when we were
freshmen, we did get that love,”
Karas said. “And we were kinda
taken in as the babies that
everyone really did love. And we
got that affection right off the
bat.
“But some people didn’t …
so I think for the two of us, we
saw that, and were like, ‘There’s
no more of this (feeling of
exclusion). This is how it goes.
This is how we’re going to do it.’
It’s taking everyone under your
wing, appreciating everyone …
there’s no hierarchy.”
Using that inclusive mentality,
McLean and Karas have taken
their experiences and tenure
to create a lead-by-example
mindset for the rest of the
team. That means going up to a
teammate before they are about
to compete and giving words
of encouragement or cheering
as loud as they can from the
side because they know it’s that
teammate’s personal preference.
It means knowing that everyone
is different, and accepting and
utilizing those differences to
bring the team
closer together.
“It
means
being…,”
Karas
started.
“Balanced,”
McLean said.
Karas smiled.
“Exactly.”
It’s
not
just
the
love
that
brings the team
together. It’s the
fact that, going
into
national
championship
weekend, they have so much still
to prove.
“Personally,
I
think
I’m
looking forward to just shocking
everyone,” McLean said. “And
I think, something that I know
Michigan says — I think it was
the basketball team that used
it a long time ago — ‘Shock the
world.’ That kind of thing.”
But the best part about being a
leader is learning, too.
“You
learn
more
every
single year that
you’re here, and
your senior year,
you
kinda
put
it all together,”
McLean
said.
“And you’re like,
‘This is why.’ And
I think this year,
(Michigan coach)
Bev
(Plocki)
has helped me
learn that when we believe in
ourselves, the sky is the limit.
And I think going through
adversity and never giving up
really brings it full circle.”
Karas agreed and reminisced
about
how
last
year,
she
questioned whether she even
wanted to try to ever do a
floor routine after tearing her
Achilles. She remembers the
work, the frustration, but the
ultimate realization of why she’s
here shone through.
“This year is definitely my
‘why,’ ” Karas said. “Because of
this group, this team, what we’ve
accomplished so far, and what
we will accomplish.”
Since that day in that summer
of 2013, Karas and McLean have
rebounded from injury, learned
countless
lessons,
developed
incredible skills, and grown
tremendously
as
teammates,
housemates, leaders, and friends.
And now, as seniors, going into
their final weekend competing
in the maize and blue, they’ve
taken time to reflect on their
years in Ann Arbor.
“I would definitely thank this
whole University for the pride in
Michigan,” Karas said.“I think
once you get here, there is an
automatic ‘We are Michigan, we
bleed maize and blue, we’re the
leaders and best.’ And I think
that’s ingrained in everyone,
athlete or not.”
Added
McLean:
“Walking
around
on
campus,
where
else would you
rather be? I don’t
think
there’s
anywhere that’s
better.
The
experience as a
whole has been
great, and well-
rounded. It’s just
been the best. From the second
I got on campus freshman year,
I’ve loved every second.”
So, what next?
Standing in sweatpants before
conditioning in the Donald R.
Shepherd Women’s Gymnastics
Training Center for one of the
last times ever, reminiscing
on the times they’ve had at
Michigan and together, the duo
looked at each other and laughed.
“I think it’s going to be
interesting
experiencing life
without a sport
in a few weeks,
but we’ll figure it
out,” Karas said.
“Like we always
do.”
“That’s
literally
our
thing,”
McLean
said. “We don’t
know what the
hell we’re doing,
but we’ll figure it out. like we
have so far … There’s never a dull
moment.”
Karas laughed, and repeated:
“Never a dull moment.”
KATELYN MULCAHY/Daily
Seniors Emma McLean and Olivia Karas will finish out their respective Michigan careers at NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas next week.
SHIRA ZISHOLTZ
Daily Sports Writer
Coming in as
a two-person
class, you’re
kinda ... bonded.
I don’t think
there’s
anywhere that’s
better.