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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.

Read more at michigandaily.com

Read more at michigandaily.com

