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.