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Thursday, May 20, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Redshirt sophomore left-hander
Steven Hajjar and sophomore right-
hander
Cameron
Weston
have
provided Michigan with a formidable
1-2 punch at the top of its rotation.
Hajjar sports a 4-0 record with an
impressive 3.02 ERA while Weston,
the number two starter, has posted a
5-3 record and has an excellent 2.85
ERA. After those two, however, the
Wolverines continue to search for
consistency.
On Sunday, sophomore left-hander
Jacob Denner showcased himself as a
pitching option.
Denner has had a good 2021
campaign as the team’s third starting
pitcher. He has shown flashes of
brilliance, but there is still room
for improvement. As the schedule
winds down, each game increases in
importance and in perhaps the biggest
game of the year, Denner was lights
out.
On Sunday afternoon, Michigan met
No. 21 Indiana in the rubber match of its
three-game series. Considering their
proximity atop the Big Ten standings,
it had the feeling of a postseason tilt. In
one of the most important games of the
season, Michigan coach Erik Bakich
needed a big outing from his third
starting pitcher.
“Coach Bakich does a great job of
shrinking the moment,” Denner said.
“Just taking it one game at a time, one
inning at a time, one pitch at a time.
That’s really the mindset he’s put into
us, win every pitch and good things
will happen.”
The New Jersey product had
arguably his best, and most clutch,
game of the season versus the
Hoosiers. He went six and one-third
innings, gave up four hits, one walk,
and six strikeouts. From the get-go, he
was in control of the strike zone. He
overpowered Indiana with his fastball
and his changeup had good movement.
He dictated the pace of the afternoon
and allowed the offense to operate on
their own terms.
Denner’s lone mistake came in the
top of the fifth. Hoosiers’ outfielder
Morgan Colopy lined a ball into right
field that carried over the wall. Despite
the slip up, Denner remained poised.
He went through the rest of the inning
with ease and propelled the Wolverines
into the seventh with a two-run lead.
With the win, Denner improves to 4-3
on the year and his ERA is nearing the
4.00 mark.
“He attacked with three pitches,”
Bakich said. “That’s a tough lineup to
navigate, they’re very good players. To
only give up a solo home run and get us
into the seventh inning was huge.”
During game two on Saturday, the
Wolverines’ bullpen was decimated
by Indiana. They allowed nine runs
during the seventh and eighth innings.
More importantly, however, was that
Michigan had an opportunity to pull
off the comeback before the bullpen
collapsed. Sunday afternoon, they
redeemed themselves.
Big hits power Michigan over Indiana, 6-1
Sophomore infielder Ted Burton
stepped into the batters’ box at the
bottom of the second with the full
intention of hitting the ball. After an
embarrassing loss to Indiana the day
before, Burton knew giving his team
a chance to score could make the
difference in the game.
After a 0-1 count, Burton lined the
ball through left field for a single,
giving life to the Wolverines’ offense
and setting the tone for the entire
game. Burton went on to hit three-of-
four on the day, boosting Michigan
for a win over the Hoosiers 6-1.
The Michigan baseball team (25-
13 Big Ten) played No. 21 Indiana (24-
12 Big Ten) on Sunday for the final
game of the series. The Wolverines
opened the game with a swift relief
of Indiana’s offense. Left-hander
Jacob Denner and the Michigan
defense allowed a single through
to left field but quickly grounded
out the remaining Hoosier batters
to give the Wolverines a scoring
opportunity.
“Talking to (redshirt sophomore
left-handerSteven
Hajjar)
and
(sophomore right-hander Cameron
Weston) really helped me,” Denner
said. “Really thinking about a game
plan to attack those hitters, who are
all extremely talented.”
In the second inning, Michigan
capitalized.
Fifth-year
shortstop
Benjamin Sems and Burton had back-
to-back singles to put the Wolverines
on first and third. After a sacrificial
flyout by fifth-year catcher Griffin
Mazur, Michigan put the first score
on the board.
Sophomore infielder Tito Flores
continued the hitting barrage by
crushing an RBI double into left field
to push the Wolverines up 2-0.
Michigan added another score in
the fourth after Burton hit a double
to center field and finished with a
run on a wild pitch. Burton was able
to initiate the Wolverines’ offense
when it mattered most — which
would allow the defense to continue
to flourish.
“We say our best defense is our
offense,” Proctor said. “To show
that we can put up those types of
numbers gives our pitching staff
and defense all the confidence in the
world.”
Despite allowing a lone home run
in the fifth, Michigan continued to
negate Indiana’s offense and give
itself opportunities in the batters’
box.
Senior right-hander Blake Beers
pitched in relief for Denner in the
seventh, immediately striking out
the first Hoosier batter he faced.
After giving up a single, Beers and the
Michigan defense cleaned up with a
critical ground out to maintain the
Wolverines’ lead at 3-1.
“For (Beers) to jump into a role
as a high-leverage reliever is a huge
boost for us,” Michigan coach Erik
Bakich said. “He throws 95, 97 with
a nasty breaking ball as well. When
he’s filling up the strike zone with
those two pitches like he was today,
he’s really good.”
Junior right-hander Willie Weiss
replaced Beers in the eighth, striking
out Indiana utility player Drew
Ashley, who had given the Hoosiers
quality offensive production the
day before. The Wolverines made
another pitching change after Weiss
gave up two walks, putting junior
right-hander Will Proctor on the
mound.
“Something that’s been instilled
in us since the fall is a ‘next man up’
attitude,” Proctor said. “If one guy
can’t get it done, it’ll be the next guy.
That attitude is the bread and butter
on this team.”
Proctor and the Michigan defense
quickly got themselves out of trouble,
grounding out Indiana to maintain
the Wolverines’ lead and looked to
close out the game. Almost mirroring
the second inning, Sems and Burton
again hit singles to put runners on
base, and Flores had another RBI
double to put Michigan up 4-1.
ABBAS KAGAL
Daily Sports Writer
Denner deals, pushes Michigan past Indiana in crucial win
SAM BERNARDI
Daily Sports Writer
BECCA MAHON/Daily
Denner’s pitching was the key to Michigan’s win on Sunday.
BECCA MAHON/Daily
Michigan defeated Indiana on Sunday to win the series.
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