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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.

