SPORTS

Big hits power Michigan over Indiana, 6-1

ABBAS KAGAL Daily Sports Writer

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-offour on the day, boosting Michigan for a win over the Hoosiers 6-1.

The Michigan baseball team (2513 Big Ten) played No. 21 Indiana (2412 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 backto-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.

BECCA MAHON/Daily

Michigan defeated Indiana on Sunday to win the series.

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Denner deals, pushes Michigan past Indiana in crucial win

SAM BERNARDI Daily Sports Writer

Redshirt sophomore left-hander Steven Hajjar and sophomore righthander 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.

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Thursday, May 20, 2021 The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS 15

Beniers, Power selected to play in World Championships

Michigan falls to Pepperdine 4-0 in round of 16

JOSH TAUBMAN Summer Managing Sports Editor

Michigan will have the chance to see a couple of its young stars compete for their national teams later this month.

On Thursday, it was announced that freshman forward Matty Beniers would be suiting up for Team USA at the 2021 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships — taking place in Riga, Latvia. Beniers will be joined at the tournament by freshman defenseman Owen Power, who was named to Team Canada’s roster.

The collegiate teammates will now face-off as international rivals.

Beniers has prior experience playing for Team USA, as he was part of the World Juniors team that won gold in January. Beniers had a quiet tournament, with just one goal and two assists, but the experience is something that will stick with him forever.

“I think that’s one of the best moments of my life so far, definitely the best hockey moment I’ve experienced,” Beniers said in January. “It was just an awesome experience to play with such great players on my team and definitely an awesome experience to play with such great players against us.”

After helping Team USA win gold at World Juniors for the first time since 2017, Beniers is hoping to help the team end a much longer medal drought at the World Championships. Team USA has not won gold since 1960, and most recently won Bronze in 2018.

At just 18 years old, Beniers will be the youngest member of Team USA. Youth was no issue for Beniers during his freshman campaign with the Wolverines, as he racked up 10 goals and 14 assists on the year and earned a spot on the Big Ten all-freshman team. He’ll hope to build on his Juniors performance and collect the second gold medal of his young career.

Power, meanwhile, will make his long-awaited debut for Team Canada. The defenseman was expecting to compete with Beniers while playing for his country at World Juniors but, facing the prospects of missing the first half of the collegiate season due to COVID-19 protocols with the Canadian team, Michigan coach Mel Pearson made a controversial decision to hold Power out of the tournament.

“I think the decision to have me stay here and play was fine. I think either way it was a good decision,” Power said after not going to Juniors. “I think just being able to stay here and just develop with the team was a good decision.”

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MILES MACKLIN/Daily Matty Beniers, along with teammate Owen Power, will compete in the IIHF World Championships later this month.

ALEX WALKON Daily Sports Writer

Chiara Lommer felt the weight of the world on her shoulders.

After dropping her first set 6-1, the fifth-year senior was down 5-3, 40-0 — one point away from Michigan’s season and her illustrious career as a Wolverine coming to a close.

Lommer would not go away, playing relentless defense to eek out two straight points to chip away at a nearly insurmountable lead.

In the following point, her outstretched backhand sailed just wide, giving No. 5 Pepperdine (22-3) a 4-0 victory over the Wolverines(19-3) in the round of 16 at the NCAA Team Championship.

Up against a deep, talented singles lineup from Pepperdine, the doubles point offered the Wolverines the opportunity to take an early lead.

When the No. 3 doubles tandem of sophomore Andrea Cerdan and senior Bella Lorenzini jumped out to a 4-1 advantage, it looked like Michigan could do just that.

Yet the Wolverines’ lead evaporated, as the Wave’s Jessica Failla and Anastasia Lamachkine rattled off six straight games to steal the doubles point from the Wolverines and take a 1-0 lead.

“I thought Pepperdine played really well,” Michigan coach Ronni Bernstein said. “That’s a team I think that could possibly win (the Championship). We needed to play a perfect match and we did not do that.”

At No.1 singles, freshman Kari Miller was stacked up against threetime All-American Ashley Lahey. While Miller took advantage of errors from Lahey to take an early lead, Miller was unable to close, as Lahey staved off multiple breakpoints to scrap her way to a 6-4 victory in the first set.

Despite a deflating loss in the first set, Miller came out with vengeance in the second set and took control.

“Kari is in every match she plays,” Bernstein said. “It’s a little bit that she’s young because she was up 40-0 a couple games in the first set and had a lot of opportunities. But Kari at the top of the lineup has been incredible for us. She’s up in the second set and still fighting and the kid she’s playing is a fifth-year and was number one in the country last year. That just shows you what Kari Miller is going to be for Michigan.”

Fellow freshman Jaedan Brown found herself in an early 3-0 deficit at No. 4 singles against Shiori Fukuda. After strong play from the baseline got her back in the match, Brown’s struggles serving lead to a 6-4, 6-1 defeat.

The Waves’ Taisiya Pachkaleva moved Cerdan all around the court to take a dominant 6-0 victory in the first at No. 3 singles.

Cerdan kept her composure, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Pachkaleva quickly retook the lead en route to a 6-3 win.

At No. 5 singles, Senior Alyvia Jones found herself in a back-andforth affair against Lisa Zaar. With her team falling behind, Jones delivered a dominant serving performance complemented by 5 aces to earn a 6-4 first-set victory, hoping to be a catalyst for the rest of the team.

Jones’ success continued as she was leading 5-1 in the second before Pepperdine clinched the victory.

“She was so close to getting us a point there,” Bernstein said. “She’s a great kid and she cares so much about our program and fought hard today. She’s one that’s asking the score and wants to know what’s going on (with her teammates).”

As Michigan’s three seniors continued to fight to close the Waves’ 3-0 lead, the weight of the moment set in.

“These guys play tennis for I don’t know how long,” Bernstein said. “I think they realize it’s the end at some point. They’ve done so much for our program. They’ve brought so much leadership. Bella, Chiara, and Alyvia were great Michigan players and are going to be part of our program for a long time.”

While the seniors will move on, the exceptional play from the Wolverines’ freshman players throughout the season put the rest of women’s tennis on notice. This team is young and getting better.