Wednesday, May 25, 2022 — 7
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan exhausts bullpen options in regular season finale
IAN PAYNE
Daily Sports Writer
With its postseason hopes locked
in, the regular season’s end took
a new purpose for the Michigan
baseball team.
Entering the day locked into the
fifth seed of the Big Ten Tournament
thanks to wins in their previous
two games, the Wolverines took the
opportunity to rest most of their
typical arms — and struggled in their
absence.
Of course, that bullpen day was a
byproduct of Thursday’s and Friday’s
games, in which the Wolverines went
all in with their best arms.
“We are going to treat every
week … from here on out like
it’s tournament baseball, double
elimination
baseball,”
Michigan
coach Erik Bakich said on Thursday.
“(Treat) every individual game like
it’s the only game of the week.”
As a result of that mentality, when
Saturday rolled around there wasn’t
much experience left to put on the
mound.
Senior left-hander Jack White got
the start in his fourth appearance of
the season. White has struggled this
season battling back from injury, and
as a result he has not been the high-
leverage innings-eater as Michigan
hoped him to be.
Though he allowed two runs
and only lasted 1.1 innings, it was a
sentimental note for the senior to get
the chance to play one last regular
season game after all the years he has
given to Michigan. And White wasn’t
the only upperclassmen given that
respect.
In addition to White, some other
graduating players got time on the
mound. Senior right-hander Keaton
Carattini — who, like White, has been
sidelined by injury — made his second
appearance of the year in the fourth
inning. However, he also gave up two
runs in his inning of work.
That
performance
could
be
expected as better arms rested.
But some consistent relievers made
their way into the game, like when
graduate left-hander Angelo Smith
made
his
final
regular
season
appearance in the fifth inning.
Still, the Wolverines got creative
with their pitching selections. Even
senior infielder Jack Van Remortel
got in on the action, taking the
mound for the first time in his career.
Though he predictably struggled on
the mound, he did notch the last two
outs in the top of the ninth inning.
Apart
from
the
seniors,
underclassmen also got a chance to
take the bump. Sophomore right-
hander Brandon Lawrence — who
also played Friday in the infield —
had the Wolverines’ best outing of the
day. He tossed 1.2 scoreless innings
while allowing no hits and no walks.
His outing wasn’t the only quality
performance, though. Junior right-
hander John Torroella also had a
scoreless inning of work in just his
second outing of the year.
In the end, though, some of the
more established pitchers had less
successful outings and that led to the
game being blown wide open.
Sophomore
left-hander
Logan
Wood gave up three runs without
recording an out, and sophomore
right-hander Ahmad Harajli did
the same while only recording one.
Even freshman right-hander Jake
Keaser gave up four runs in one of his
toughest outings of the season.
Michigan’s playoff attitude worked
in the first two games of the series,
but after all its pitching resources
were exhausted, it struggled to put
anything resembling a lid on Rutgers’
offense.
The regular season is officially
over, and the attention shifts to
whether Michigan’s rested arms can
deliver in true playoff baseball.
After using its best arms to win its first two games against Rutgers, the Michigan baseball
team turned to its depth on Saturday.
JULIA SCHACHINGER/Daily
Michigan’s season ends in NCAA Quarterfinals
against Ohio State
CHAMPAIGN
—
Without
a
moment’s
hesitation,
graduate
student Nick Beaty took a return off
serve and smashed a ball that took one
bounce over the fence. His smooth
move halted Ohio State’s fiery start
by giving the Michigan men’s tennis
team its first doubles win.
And although Beaty’s success
carried over to junior Ondrej Styler
at the No. 3 doubles court — who
delivered a furious return off serve
to clinch the doubles point for the
Wolverines — that momentum didn’t
extend into singles.
Splitting the season series in
four total matches, Michigan (25-4
overall, 8-1 Big Ten) came up short
against Ohio State (28-3, 7-0), 4-2, to
suffer its first postseason loss and end
its season in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
“I don’t think (Styler, senior
Andrew Fenty and sophomore Nino
Ehrenschneider) played to the level
they’re capable of,” Michigan coach
Adam Steinberg said. “I know they
didn’t want to play that way … maybe,
in some respects, the moment got too
big for them.”
These players comprised one
side of the courts, and each of them
struggled to break away from their
Buckeye opponents.
After Ohio State’s Cannon Kingsley
grabbed the first break point at the
No. 1 singles court, Styler recovered
with a break in straight points, tying
the first set at three games apiece. But
that mid-set success did not translate
to Fenty and Ehrenschneider. Even
then, Styler could not sustain his
high-energy backcourt play, and Ohio
State earned three first-set victories
over Styler (6-4), Fenty (6-2) and
Ehrenschneider (6-2).
On the other side, sophomore
Jacob Bickersteth looked to galvanize
his teammates by jumping out to a 5-0
lead in his first set. Before his match
was moved indoors due to inclement
weather, Bickersteth dropped the
ensuing three games, but he knew he
could give the Wolverines their first
first-set win.
“(The move inside) didn’t really
affect too much,” Bickersteth said. “I
was serving, so I knew I could come
out on the winning side.”
On either side of Bickersteth stood
senior Patrick Maloney and Beaty, but
after holding for one service game,
Maloney fell in a 6-1 first-set loss.
Moments later, Beaty was unable to
break on a crucial deciding point that
contributed to his 7-6 (11-9) first-set
loss.
“Beaty has been a role model for
me for two years,” Bickersteth said.
“He does everything right and is the
heart of our team … that’s how you
want to be as a college tennis player.”
Before
Beaty
and
Maloney
were the last Michigan players left
standing, Fenty lost in consecutive
sets to the Buckeyes’ JJ Tracy —
ranked No. 19 by the Intercollegiate
Tennis Association — 6-2 and 6-2.
Bickersteth broke the 1-1 tie by giving
the Wolverines their only singles
victory in the match, winning 6-3 and
6-3.
The Buckeyes, however, translated
their
first
set
success
against
Ehrenschneider
and
Styler
by
winning their second sets, 6-3 and
6-4, respectively. It brought them
within one point of clinching an
appearance in the NCAA Semifinals.
With the season on the line, Beaty
was unable to break Ohio State’s
Andrew Lutschaunig, falling 6-4 in
his second set.
“I didn’t want Beaty to be (our final
losing player),” Steinberg said. “He’s
made me a better person and coach …
but, without Beaty, we’re not here —
we’re not even close.”
To that point, Michigan will not
allow its final loss this season to
define it.
“They fight so hard for each other,
and … I’m impressed with them
everyday,” Steinberg said. “You don’t
get this far without having a special
group of guys with character and
heart that love Michigan more than
anything.”
Looking beyond their record-
setting
season
and
the
singles
troubles that ended it, the Wolverines
will hope that dedication to each
other will stick long into the future.
Michigan associate head coach Benjamin Becker speaks with senior Patrick Maloney
during his singles match at the NCAA Men’s Tennis Championship in Urbana-Champaign.
TAYLOR PACIS/Daily
ABHIJAI SINGH
Daily Sports Writer
BASEBALL
TENNIS