4B — February 17, 2020
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
The 2020 season started
the way the No. 8 Michigan
baseball team (3-1) hoped the
2019 season would end.
Trailing by one run in the
top of the ninth inning, first
baseman Matt Schmidt stepped
up to the plate. For the fifth-
year senior, this opportunity
had been a long time coming.
In the first game of the
season in a rematch against the
defending national champions,
the story wrote itself. But
Schmidt wanted to write the
ending.
Schmidt blasted a go-ahead,
two-run home run off of one of
the nation’s premiere closers
to give the Wolverines a lead
they wouldn’t relinquish en
route to a 4-3 victory over No.
1 Vanderbilt.
“It was kind of a surreal
experience,”
Schmidt
said.
“We fought and competed and
got the win against a good
Vanderbilt team. ... It was kinda
good to get revenge there.”
Michigan rounded out the
MLB4 Collegiate Tournament
in Scottsdale, Ariz., with wins
over Cal Poly, 8-5, and No. 3
Arizona State, 5-0, and a loss in
its final game of the weekend
against UConn, 7-1.
On the pitching side in the
opening game, junior right-
hander Jeff Criswell got the
start and fifth-year senior left-
hander Benjamin Keizer earned
the win. Keizer came out of
the bullpen in the sixth inning
and finished with 1.2 shutout
innings and gave up no runs.
The pitching drama was
saved for redshirt sophomore
right-hander
Isaiah
Paige.
Paige entered in the ninth
inning after Schmidt’s heroics
put Michigan back on top. The
final three outs proved to be
the hardest of the night as Paige
gave up a single and hit a pair of
batters. Despite this, he didn’t
allow any runs and earned the
save.
The first game against the
Commodores
to
open
the
weekend garnered the most
attention — and rightfully so —
but the three remaining games
provided insight into what the
rest of the season might hold.
“There
were
so
many
different breakout candidates
that could be on the horizon,”
Michigan coach Erik Bakich
said. “Just guys
that had their
moments
in
different games
that
could
be
positive
contributors
for
the
entire
season.”
In
the
Wolverines’
second
game
of the weekend
against Cal Poly,
junior
right-
hander
Blake
Beers, with the
help of strong
infield defensive
play, didn’t allow a baserunner
until the bottom of the fourth
inning. Beers earned the win
with no earned runs and just
four hits.
The
top
of
the
batting
order provided strong hitting
with three base hits from
junior outfielder and leadoff
hitter Jordan Nwogu. Junior
shortstop Jack Blomgren added
four hits of his own, helping
Michigan to an 8-5 win.
Down
the
stretch
of
the
game,
the
Wolverines’
defense started
to
become
a
little
sloppy
and
allowed
several
extra
bases.
Bakich
thought
the
game could have
easily gotten out
of
hand
with
all
the
added
baserunners, but
freshman right-
hander Cameron
Weston
came
out of the bullpen to earn his
first career save.
After
its
win
over
the
Mustangs,
Michigan
immediately boarded the bus
to head to Phoenix Municipal
Stadium for its third game of
the weekend, against Arizona
State — an added game that only
made the Wolverines’ weekend
tougher.
The situation wasn’t the most
conducive
environment
for
redshirt freshman left-hander
Steven Hajjar to start his first
career game. But Hajjar took
the game in stride, getting more
comfortable as the innings
went on and earning his first
career win in the 5-0 victory.
He pitched six innings with just
three hits and seven strikeouts.
In
arguably
its
most
impressive win of the weekend,
Michigan
looked
toward
players on last year’s bench.
Sophomore left-hander Jack
White pitched three scoreless
innings in the relief effort.
Senior pinch hitter Dominic
Clementi provided the final
boost for Michigan when he hit
a two-run double in the ninth
inning.
“New guys stepping up, I
think that was kind of the
storyline throughout the entire
weekend,” Criswell said.
The Wolverines played their
final,
most
physcially
and
mentally tough game against
UConn. The Huskies scored
first in the first inning and,
despite a small rally in the
fourth inning led by Nwogu
and redshirt sophomore Danny
Zimmerman,
they
wouldn’t
relinquish their lead, as the
Wolverines fell, 7-1.
“This game was a learning
lesson,” Bakich said. “It was
good for them to experience
how they felt being emotionally
drained and physically drained
and still try to have to compete
with that, cause that’s how it’s
going to feel months from now.”
Ultimately,
Michigan
finished its opening weekend
3-1, including two wins over top
ranked teams in the country.
“I think we knew going into
the weekend, if we came out of
this thing 4-0 we’re probably
not as good as it seems,” Bakich
said. “If we came out 0-4 we’re
not as bad as we seem. (There
were a) lot of takeaways of
growth opportunities.”
LILY ISRAEL
Daily Sports Writer
Lauren Esman wasted no time.
Pinch-hitting
in
the
sixth
inning with the bases loaded
and the score tied, the freshman
utility player belted the first pitch
she saw from Louisville’s Taylor
Roby over the right-center field
fence for a go-ahead grand slam.
Esman’s heroics sealed an 8-4
win for No. 11 Michigan softball
(9-0)
over
Louisville
(2-7),
capping off a weekend sweep that
also included a 6-2 win over the
Cardinals and 4-3 and 4-0 wins
over No. 25 North Carolina (5-5)
in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
“I was just ‘see ball, hit ball,’
that was my mentality,” Esman
said. “Just attack early. I knew
I needed to score some runs
because it was a tie ballgame, so
I was just trying to hit it to the
right side. It just happened to go
out.”
Prior
to
taking
the
lead,
the Wolverines had to claw
themselves out of a 3-1 hole,
their first and only deficit of the
weekend. In its first turn at bat
after Louisville took the lead,
Michigan
answered.
Senior
outfielder Thais Gonzalez drove
in a run with a single to right field
and junior infielder Taylor Bump
blasted a two-run home run to
center field.
“This
team,
they’re
very
resilient,” Michigan coach Carol
Hutchins said. “I’ve said that
since the fall. You know, we
accept that we’re not perfect, and
we’re just going to keep working
to be excellent.”
Esman might have provided
the weekend’s most memorable
moment, yet she was not alone
in contributing at the plate.
Across
the
four-game
slate,
production came from every spot
in the lineup. Seven different
Wolverines registered multi-hit
games, with senior outfielder
Haley Hoogenraad having two
such performances.
Michigan averaged 5.5 runs
per game, a welcome sign after it
mustered just three runs against
USF and Fresno State to close out
the USF-Rawlings Invitational a
week ago.
“I have confidence in every
player in our lineup when they
come up,” Hutchins said. “We all
know that there’s a chance to fail,
so we don’t worry about that. We
just go up there and try to get the
best situation we can.”
Sophomore
outfielder
Lexie Blair had a bounce-back
tournament, looking more like
her freshman year self when she
hit .405 as a unanimous All-Big
Ten first team selection. Despite
entering Friday’s game on a
three-game hitless streak, Blair
went 5-for-14 on the weekend,
earning a hit in each contest.
None was bigger than the
infield hit Blair recorded in the
seventh inning of Friday’s game
against North Carolina. After
two sacrifice bunts pushed the
go-ahead run to third, Blair beat
out a chopper to shortstop, giving
Michigan the lead.
“I was just trying to keep
it simple,” Blair said of her
approach. “I wasn’t trying to hit
the ball so hard, so my swing isn’t
how it normally is. Slow it down
and just do my part, however I
can.”
On
the
pitching
side
of
things, sophomore Alex Storako
and junior Meghan Beaubien
continued to shoulder the load. In
a 4-3 win against the Tar Heels,
Storako relieved Beaubien and
gave up only one hit across six
innings, striking out 13. The next
day, it was Beaubien’s turn to
offer a dominant performance,
going the distance with a three-
hit, nine-strikeout shutout.
“They’re
a
great
pitching
tandem,” Hutchins said. “I’m
pleased with that. … I think the
fact that both of them appear to
be quite selfless and are team
oriented and are ready to do their
part when they get the call is very
impressive.”
Across
the
four-game
challenge,
the
entire
team
certainly seemed ready to do its
part.
JARED GREENSPAN
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan gets revenge on
Vanderbilt in three-win
opening weekend
Wolverines move to 9-0 with sweep of Big
Ten/ACC Challenge
Baseball
Softball
ALEC COHEN/Daily
ALEXANDRIA POMPEI/Daily
We fought and
competed and
got the win
against a good
Vanderbilt
team.