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Thursday, June 13, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Tommy Henry shines when it matters most for the Wolverines
The bottom of the seventh inning
got off to a rocky start for Michigan.
With the count at 1-2 and his
team trailing, 3-2, UCLA freshman
catcher Noah Cardenas smacked a
leadoff double into the gap against
the Wolverines’ junior left-hander
Tommy Henry. The energy in the
stadium intensified, while Henry
calmed.
Battle tested, Henry has pitched
in high pressure environments
before, and channeled the resulting
experience to his advantage.
The following batter for the
Bruins,
sophomore
outfielder
Jack Stronach, sacrifice bunted,
establishing a one-out and runner
on third situation. With the infield
in, Henry then induced a quick
groundout to third to secure out
number two.
Cardenas remained stranded at
third, but with two outs, UCLA’s
top hitter, sophomore center fielder
Garrett Mitchell slowly made his
way into the box. After working
himself into an advantageous 3-1
count, Mitchell waved through a
slider to bring the count full.
On his 104th pitch of the night,
Henry delivered another slider, this
time high and tight. Mitchell made
contact, softly lining the ball onto
the infield grass between the first
and second baseman.
Senior first baseman Jimmy
Kerr made the read and fielded the
ball on the hop. Henry, recognizing
the vacated base, hustled over to
cover the bag. In his footrace with
Mitchell, one of the fastest players in
the country, Henry won by an inch
–– securing his final out of the night
and preserving the Michigan lead.
His final line: a remarkable seven
innings pitched, seven hits, two
earned runs, six strikeouts, and no
walks.
All that while battling the flu.
“Looking at this team, looking at
this field, the super regional stage,
it’s something that I know all of
us have envisioned playing in the
backyard growing up, every time
you’re swinging a bat,” Henry said.
“You know, you envision these
moments and you dream about
being on this stage. So, I know that
the 35 of them would not skip a beat
and would never miss this moment,
so I wasn’t going to either.”
For Henry, yesterday’s outing
came on the heels of an up-and-
down season.
On April 10th, the lefty was
named
to
the
Golden
Spikes
Midseason Watchlist, the award
given to the best player in college
baseball.
However, following an eight-
inning
performance
against
Michigan State on March 29th,
Henry’s
earned-run
average
gradually rose from 0.76 to 3.69. In
his last two regular season outings
of the year, he ceded 12 runs across
10 innings of work.
Once the postseason arrived
though, Henry returned to form.
In the Big Ten Tournament, Henry
threw seven innings across one
start and one relief appearance.
He allowed two runs total while
striking out nine hitters and walking
only one.
Last weekend, Henry excelled
again as he twirled seven and a third
innings of three run baseball against
Creighton, one of the nation’s most
imposing offenses.
But last night was Henry’s
biggest test of the year against top-
seeded UCLA. It was perhaps his
most important outing since he
pitched in game one of the Cape
Cod League semifinals last summer.
In that game, Henry started, but
lasted a mere 1.1 innings. Last night,
he reflected upon how that game
enabled him to grow as a pitcher.
“There were definitely a lot of
learning experiences being out at a
place like The Cape. You’re facing
the best of the best and it really gives
you a chance to learn.” Henry said.
“And that’s a credit to Coach Bakich
for giving us the tools to have an
open mind and use those learning
experiences to make yourself better.
The credit goes to him for working
hard on that, drawing us all in
together, speaking to us about it and
giving us those tools so that when
you do face adversity, you can learn
from it and improve.”
In the face of more adversity last
night and his team’s season on the
line, the tools were on full display
as Henry locked down a potent
Bruin offense. He made continuous
adjustments on the mound and as a
result did not allow a run in his final
four innings of work.
In addition to his impressive
seventh inning, the fifth inning
provided a major highlight as well.
With the count full and runners on
second and third, Henry spun in a
curveball to ring up UCLA junior
second baseman Chase Strumpf.
After unleashing a roar, Henry
quickly stared down Strumpf as he
returned to the dugout.
Now, Henry has the Wolverines
staring down their first Omaha trip
since 1984.
ADAM RICH
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan eliminates UCLA 4-2 to advance to College World Series
The Michigan baseball team
was in a familiar position against a
familiar foe.
Trailing 2-1 to No. 1 UCLA in the
fifth inning, they sorely needed some
clutch hitting.
Junior
outfielder
Christian
Bullock opened the fifth inning
with a walk and then stole second
base. Blomgren hit a single, allowing
Bullock to advance to third. The
Wolverines
then
turned
near-
calamity
into
opportunity.
As
Blomgren was inches away from
being picked off at first, he avoided
the tag and beat the failed rundown
attempt to advance to second.
And with runners in scoring
position, Ako Thomas delivered.
The senior infielder drilled a two-
RBI ground-ball single to retake the
lead for Michigan, 3-2.
The
Wolverines
added
one
more run and were able to hold off
the Bruins for the third time this
season, winning 4-2 to advance to
the College World Series for the first
time since 1984.
Michigan opened the scoring in
the top of the second inning. Senior
infielder Blake Nelson was walked
and junior outfielder Christian
Bullock smashed a double down
the first base line to advance Nelson
to third. Sophomore infielder Jack
Blomgren stepped up and delivered
a ground ball allowing Nelson to
score.
The Bruins weren’t daunted. In
the bottom of the second, outfielder
Jake Pries launched a solo home
run to left-center on the third pitch
of the inning to tie the game at 1-1.
UCLA broke the deadlock in the
third inning. The score was set up
by an untimely slip and fall by junior
outfielder Jordan Brewer in right
field allowing the fly ball to get past
him and the batter to reach third. A
ground ball to the shortstop allowed
the runner on third to cross home
plate.
The Wolverines’ defensive issues
continued from Saturday and nearly
caused a disaster in the fourth
inning. With two outs and a Bruins
runner on first, a ground ball came
to Nelson who bobbled the ball, then
rushed the throw to first airmailing
senior first baseman Jimmy Kerr.
Kerr hustled to get the ball and
fired a throw to home plate where
sophomore catcher Joe Donovan
applied the tag to the diving UCLA
runner to get the out.
The Michigan offense sputtered
after the early innings, in a game that
was eerily reminiscent of Saturday’s
contest. This time, however, they
received an insurance run in the top
of the ninth to extend the lead to 4-2.
Bullock crushed a ball into
left-center over the heads of the
outfielders and used his speed to
stretch it into a triple. A sac-fly from
Donovan sent Bullock home. Bullock
went two for three, stole a base and
scored twice; an incredible bounce-
back game after a forgettable
Saturday where a costly error
allowed UCLA to score a crucial run.
Tommy Henry did his part for the
Wolverines. The junior left-hander
was fighting an illness and pitched
seven innings, giving up only two
runs while striking out six. Innings
four through seven, Henry was rock-
solid allowing no runs and coming
up with clutch outs when the Bruins
were threatening.
Redshirt
junior
left-hander
Benjamin Keizer replaced Henry.
Keizer went 1-2-3 in the eighth but
ran into some adversity in the bottom
of the ninth. He allowed a single and
then hit the very next batter before a
pop-fly and a ground ball ended the
Bruins’ comeback bid.
It was a gutsy performance from
Keizer and the entire team, sending
the Wolverines to their first College
World Series in 35 years.
AVI RAJENDRA-NICOLUCCI
Daily Sports Writer
ALEC COHEN/Daily
Junior outfielder Christian Bullock recorded two hits in Michigan’s 4-2 victory.