Stu Zaas gives us his story on the women’s lacrosse team. 

Ann Arbor, MI — In front of a standing-room only crowd, #3 ranked Michigan (10-2, 4-0) topped interstate foe #14 Michigan State by a score of 12-9. Over 475 fans crowded Oosterbaan Fieldhouse to watch the Wolverines battle the Spartans in tight contest from start to finish. Michigan had not been challenged in a game since returning from the Santa Barbara Shootout winning by an average margin of 11.2 goals in its last five games.

Michigan State made it very clear that this would not be another cakewalk for Michigan, taking a 2-1 lead off two goals from Allison Atchoo. On an eight-meter penalty, Micaela Battiste (Flint, MI/Grand Blanc) leaped into the air, then bounced a shot past the MSU goalie to knot the score at 2-2. Michigan would take the lead for good, using two more goals off eight-meter shots from Amy Johnson (Washington, D.C./Holton-Arms) and Rachel Lary (San Diego, CA/Torrey Pines). The Spartans would cut the lead to one with a goal at the 6:30 mark from Chelsea Beam. Quinn Golinske (Beverly Hills, MI/Groves) scored her second goal of the season, recovering after bobbling the initial pass then beating her defender with a spin move to open up a shot on goal. Johnson then opened the lead up with her second goal of the contest as she converted on an eight-meter, giving Michigan the 6-3 advantage. Michigan would take a 6-4 lead into the intermission, marking the eleventh time this year the Wolverines have gone into halftime with a lead.

Lary opened up the scoring in the second stanza with her season-high tying third goal of the game. Lary ran a give-and-go to perfection with Johnson who earned the assist. Alexis Pavle (Grosse Pointe, MI/Grosse Pointe South) became the third senior to tally a goal on Senior Night, putting Michigan on top 8-4. Fellow senior, Battiste raced up the field weaving through Spartan defenders before finding an open Pavle in front of the net.

The Spartans would not go down quietly with Atchoo taking control of the subsequent draw and beating the entire Michigan defense back leaving just Emmy Scheidt (Birmingham, MI/Seaholm) in her path. Scheidt was unable to come up with the save making the score 8-5. Michigan State would score again three minutes later to draw back to within two goals. Golinske erased any momentum the visiting Spartans were able to build up scoring her second goal of the night on a beautiful one-timer off a Lary assist. Lary found the cutting Golinske on the left post and Golinske swatted the pass right into the net before the MSU goalie could even move her stick. Pavle again pushed the Michigan advantage back up to four goals at 10-6, scoring at the 14:10 mark. After Michigan State narrowed the gap to 10-7, Lary found Britt Boehm (Rocky River, OH/Magnificant) with a cross-goal pass leaving Boehm an open net for her 22nd goal of the season. Pavle would ice the game, completing her hat-trick – all of which came in the second half – at the 7:21 mark. Michigan State would score two goals in the closing minutes to bring the final tally to 12-9.

Michigan will next be in action in Fort Collins, Colorado playing in the Colorado State Tournament this weekend. The Wolverines’ schedule for this tournament includes games against Wyoming, #10 BYU, Denver, #7 Colorado State, and #18 Minnesota.

Game Notes: This was the final home game for Michigan’s seven seniors: Alexis Pavle, Natalie Relich, Micaela Battiste, Julie Baskind, Rebecca Miller, Rachel Lary, and Christinne Lee…Michigan finished the season undefeated at home (7-0)…Game attendance of 475 set a new program record as spectators had to stand or sit on the ground once bleacher space was exhausted…Johnson’s two goals give her the team lead with 25 on the season…Lary and Pavle extended their team-high six game goal streak…Johnson now has ten multi-goal games on the season and has scored in ten of the twelve games this season.

Posted under Other Sports

From the mouth of Rod:

• 1st full scrimmage will probably take place on Saturday.
• One of the reasons Rich wants to have a big spring game (in terms of fan attendance) is to help young guys get used to playing in front of an audience, so they aren’t as nervous when they see crowds of 100K+ in the fall.
• Brandin Hawthorne, though he sometimes has been practicing with the safeties, is going to play outside linebacker.
• Steve Watson’s move to defensive end has gone well. He is competing well enough that he will get some real playing time if he keeps it up. The depth at TE (Koger, Moore, Webb all doing well) allows him to play there. If they need tight ends, he’s a smart enough player that he could move back.
• Will Campbell will be a big help for the team, because the depth at DT is pretty thin. He still has lots of learning to do.
• Steve Schilling is at guard for now, and he’ll probably stay there for the time being. He looks good at the guard position, and shows good leadership on the field.

Observations and E-pinions:

• Starting defense appeared to be a 3-4 set with the following personnel: DL – Van Bergen, Martin, Graham. LB – S. Brown, Evans, Ezeh, Fitzgerald. S – Williams, B. Smith. CB – Warren, Cissoko.
• 1st team backfield featured Nick Sheridan, and often had 2 RBs (Minor at FB, C. Brown at RB) in. Moundros was the starting true fullback, in front of Grady and with Forcier as the QB.
• The starting offensive line looked to be (L to R): Ortmann, Schilling, Molk, Moosman, Omameh. 2nd team: ? (green jersey), Barnum, Khoury, Ferrara, Dorrestein. In individual drills for the offensive linemen, either Barnum or Omameh (the only 2 black O-linemen having 56 and 65, respectively, was confusing) appeared to be by far the quickest on the team. I think it was Omameh.
• Practicing taking direct snaps at QB with rollout runs: Feagin, T. Robinson, C. Brown.
• An observation from the Oklahoma Drill (or the “Wolverine Drill” or whatever they call it here): Brandon Minor looked like a man among boys. He trucked a couple defenders, was able to spin off a couple more, and run by one or two (not easy in a 5-yard-wide playing area). We should have video of at least one of the impressive runs. Vincent Smith is super shifty, as can be expected of most tiny backs.
• GERG Robinson has amazing silver hair, which he partnered up with a gray sweatsuit. Lookin’ fly.

Random (and not so random) people spotted:

• Skyler Schofner, William Gholston, Teric Jones, Rick Leach (more of “heard.” He also sat behind us at Friday’s baseball game), Michael Taylor, Johnny Thompson, recently fired EMU coach Jeff Genyk.
• I didn’t notice Toney Clemons in attendance, but I may have just missed him.

MGoBlue report on the entire first week of practice can be found here.

Video:

Posted under Football, Media, Spring Coverage, Video

Saturday’s game against Vanderbilt was canceled, so the Wolverines only partook in one contest this weekend. They squared off against fellow Washtenaw-ites (Washtenaw-ians?) Eastern Michigan on Friday night.

So, before this game I was told to listen for a few new names, because a lot of bench players would be scoring for the Wolverines. The obvious implication here was that Eastern isn’t exactly a lacrosse powerhouse. Understatement of the year. The Wolverines were up 6-0 before you could blink an eye, and ended up winning the game by 25 goals. Senior Peter Vasher returned from a hamstring injury to score his first 4 goals of the year, Trevor Yealy scored 8, Wes McGowan notched 6, and 5 other Wolverines got on board multiple times.

Once again, Sophomores Andrew Fowler and Mark Stone split time in net, with Fowler getting the start. Fowler allowed 5 goals on 8 shots in the first half, and Stone allowed 3 goals on 7 shots in the second. The men in net for Eastern also played really well (though the final score wouldn’t seem to indicate it). Michigan probably could have gotten as high as 40 considering the quality of defense, but the Eastern goalies made a couple ridiculous saves.

The only times Eastern put up any resistance were a couple stretches where the Wolverines had mental lapses, allowing the Eagles 2 goals in a 37-second stretch in the first quarter, and 3 goals in a minute and a half during the second quarter. Other than that, the Michigan depth in the second half gave up a couple.

This weekend, Michigan will face off against Central Michigan on Friday night at 7PM. However, the headline game of the home schedule is the following night, with the #4 BYU Cougars attempting to come into Oosterbaan fieldhouse and steal a win from their rivals.

Posted under Other Sports

This weekend Michigan faced off with IPFW, and did it ever turn out better than the series the weekend before against Arizona. During the Arizona game, pitching was alright, but wildly inconsistent. Hitting was doing alright, but couldn’t manage to get runs across the plate. This weekend, it was all about effectively wild and moving runners around to make them easier to score. Everything shifted from alright, too pretty good.

Game 1

Box Score													R	H	E
IPFW	0	1	1		0	0	0		0	0	0		2	8	0
Michigan	0	0	2		1	0	1		0	0	x		4	11	0

W – Chris Fetter (3-1) L – Walker (0-1) Sv – Burgoon (2)

For my initial reactions, visit my post from Saturday. The story of this game was pitching. Chris Fetter, despite the pretty stat line, had a fairly weak start for him. He admittedly claimed he was just missing his spots, but from the sounds of the radio crew, perhaps he was getting squeezed a little on the corners. Either way, as mentioned, his stat line was still really good. Fetter lasted 6 innings, giving up 2 runs (both earned), 7 hits, and 2 walks while striking out 5. I’d take that out of any pitcher any day of the week, it just happened that this was Fetter on an off day. He’s just that good.

Following Fetter was Tyler Burgoon for a rare 3-inning save opportunity. Burgoon only gave up 1 hit and three walks, but did allow three base runners with 2 outs in the 8th. After a brief talk with Coach Maloney, he struck out the last batter of the inning on 4 pitches. The rest was a cake walk for Tyler.

On offense, Mike Dufek was the champion in this game, and really, the whole weekend was a Mike Dufek hit-a-thon. In this game he got the scoring started with a big 2-out double off the wall to plate Cislo and LaMarre. Dufek would finish the game 2/4 with 2 RBIs.

Notable Stars

• Mike Dufek – 2/4 2 RBI, 2B
• Tyler Burgoon – 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 Ks, Save
• Alan Oaks – 2/4 HR
• Kevin Cislo – 3/4 R, RBI
• Fan Attendance – 731 is a solid number for opening day in 40 degree temperatures. Paul tells me they got to sit right next to former baseball center fielder Rick Leach (yes, that Rick Leach).

Notable Goats

• Kenny Fellows – Despite getting a hit and walk, he stranded 4 base runners. More on stranding runners in the coming days.

Game 2

Box Score													R	H	E
IPFW	0	1	0		0	0	0		0	0	0		1	2	1
Michigan	3	1	0		0	0	0		0	0	x		4	6	1

W – Eric Katzman (3-1) L – Herrold (1-1) Sv – Miller (2)

This game probably would have bored half of the casual fans to death. Outside of the 2 innings, this game was an exercise of either offensive futility, or as I like to call it, good pitching and defensive excellence. Again, check the Saturday Reaction post for my initial thoughts.

Michigan jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first following a pair of singles by Cislo and Fellows and a Ryan LaMarre sacrifice fly. Two batters later Mike Dufek continued his hit parade with a bomb to right field. The hit even rattled a few people out of Dance Marathon as the homer hit the indoor track building where DM was taking place. Huzzah for uncounted attendance watching through the fence!

In the top of the second, Eric Katzman did his best sabotage effort. After giving up a lead off single, he then committed a throwing error on a pick off at first. The ball got away far enough from Dufek to allow the runner to second. Later on in the at-bat, Katzman balked the runner over to third. The explanation was hazy from the announcers as they didn’t see it either, but they believe he didn’t come to a full pause in the set position. He followed this up by giving up a sacrifice fly. If you ask me that’d be an earned run as it was all Katzman for letting him score, but baseball rules say its unearned.

The rest of the game Katzman was straight dealing. While he still was fairly inconsistent in hitting the strike zone, he managed to be just controlled enough to garner 10 Ks (!), a career high. Katzman was coming at the batters with many off speed pitches, including breaking balls and change ups. They were left just off balance by the several balls in the dirt that they were guessing most of the night.

Katzman was by no way economical with his pitches. Over his 6 innings, Katzman threw 100 pitches, only 61 of which were strikes. Ideally, he’d be hitting the century mark somewhere late in the 7th inning. Just for the sake of comparison, the IPFW pitcher threw all 8 innings and only threw 105 pitches. This trend of high pitch counts and early exits appear to be the normal thing for Katzman.

After Katzman left, Matt Miller entered the game for another 3-inning save opportunity – not so rare I guess. Miller picked up right where Katzman left off, striking out 5 in his 3 innings. He only allowed one hit and one walk in that time as well.

Offense for Michigan after the 2nd inning was horrendous. Not once from the third to eighth innings did Michigan ever get more than 3 batters up to the plate. Alan Oaks ended two innings with ground ball double plays. LaMarre got doubled up on a line drive back to the pitcher, which I can feel alright about as that’s just the luck of the draw. In another inning we got picked off at first. I can’t say we wasted opportunities, but we sure didn’t make the most of our base runners in this game.

Notable Stars

• Eric Katzman – 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 10 K, 2 BB, W
• Matt Miller – 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, Save
• Mike Dufek – 1/2 2-run-HR, BB
• LOB – 0 runners left on base?

Notable Goats

• Eric Katzman in the 2nd inning – 1B, E1, Balk, SAC FLY
• Alan Oaks – 2 inning ending double plays

Game 3

Box Score													R	H	E
IPFW	0	0	1		0	0	1		0	0	0		2	11	3
Michigan	0	0	2		0	0	3		1	3	x		9	14	0

W – Travis Smith (3-2) L – Baatz (0-1)

IPFW had every chance in the world to take this game, but Mike Wilson and Travis Smith became master escape artists every time the pressure was put on. They did just enough to get out of a couple of jams, and the offense finally started to roll by the 6th inning.

Mike Wilson continued the “wildly effective” pitching routine portrayed by Eric Katzman the day before. Despite throwing first pitch strikes to 13 of his first 18 batters, Wilson quickly fell behind batters and was forced into making hitters’ pitches. When it came to crunch time, Wilson locked down and made his pitches. He stranded 8 base runners on the afternoon in just 5 innings of play.

Wilson did give up one run in the third inning. After a lead off double and two quick outs, Wilson gave up back to back singles. I guess there just wasn’t enough pressure on him, so he tried to get runners on first and third so he could pitch better?

The run gave IPFW a short-lived 1-0 lead, their last lead of the game. Mike Dufek answered in the bottom half of the third with yet another home run, his second in as many games. The home run also extended his hitting streak to 10 games. According to the broadcasters, the ball landed in the Alumni Stadium, the softball field, well past the fence of the Ray Fisher Stadium. Wow.

Travis Smith came in with a 2-0 lead at this point and was throwing gas. His control wasn’t quite there, but he also managed to work himself out of jams. Smith stranded 4 base runners in 3 innings of work. He did allow one run to score in the 6th, leaving Wilson with a no decision. Kalczynski was crossed up on a pitch which lead to a passed ball. This moved a runner to second, who then would score on an ensuing single.

With the score tied at two in the 6th, Michigan came back to answer in the bottom of the inning. John Lorenz had the big hit with two outs, a home run to left field. This sparked the offense as Toth and Cislo (career high 15 game hit streak) both followed up with singles setting the stage for a Kenny Fellows double off the right field wall. Unfortunately Fellows thought he was a little faster than he was, getting caught trying to stretch it into a triple. Michigan was then up 5-2 and would never look back.

Michigan would add another in the 7th following a Dufek double and Alan Oaks single. Yet again, we had a batter runner thrown out trying to stretch for an extra base. Oaks wasn’t nearly fast enough to stretch it into a double. I appreciate the aggressiveness from Oaks, but just because he scored on a suicide squeeze in game one doesn’t mean he can barrel into second on a shallow hit to the outfield.

Michigan added two more in the 9th. After back-to-back singles by Kalczynski and Lorenz, Cislo went to sacrifice bunt. The pitcher fielded the bunt poorly then made a hurried attempt to second which skipped to the bag. Everyone was safe. Fellows followed that with a single to score two runs. LaMarre then hit a soft pop up between the center fielder and the second basemen. The ball popped out of the second basemen’s glove as the two players collided. Both players were alright and stayed in the game. Cislo scored from third on the play, but Fellows was forced out at second as it wasn’t clear if the ball was caught. He stayed close to first in case he had to tag. Tough out, but at least the two outfielders were okay.

Mike Dufek came in after this and closed out the game. Michigan won the game and it’s first home series of the year. Things were good and “Celebrate Good Times” was played.

Notable Stars

• Kenny Fellows – 2/5 4 RBI, 2B
• Alan Oaks – 3/4 RBI
• Mike Dufek – 2/4 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2B
• John Lorenz – 3/4 2 R, RBI, HR
• Kevin Cislo – 15 game hitting streak

Notable Goats

• Ryan LaMarre – Only starter without a hit, hitless all weekend

First Inning Shenanigans

For those of you who didn’t listen to the game, there was a bit of a commotion in the top of the first inning. With runners on first and third, Wilson threw a pitch toward the plate that was well low and inside. The pitch bounced in the front of the batter’s box and bounced off toward the IPFW dugout.

Kalczynski didn’t hustle right after the ball, which sent the runners going. The runner from third scored easily, and the runner from first came all the way around as none of the players on the field knew where the ball went to… or did they? Comes to find out the umpire didn’t see the ball hit off the batter.

The umpires conferenced after Coach Maloney and Timmy Kal made their case. They made the ruling that the batter was hit by the pitch. Both runs were taken off the board and the batter was given first base without even arguing. I know if I was hit but they gave me the choice of first base with the bases loaded and one out or 2 runs in and me still at bat, I’d be hollering in that umpire’s ear that there was no way I was touched by the pitch. IPFW didn’t even attempt to argue, which worked out really poorly for them. Wilson struck out the next two batters stranding the bases loaded. The crises was averted and Michigan didn’t have to worry about being down 2-0 right out of the shoot.

Lineup Shuffling

Coach Maloney has been shuffling the lineup frequently of late. With Alan Oaks now available after missing the first month with sickness and with Chris Berset still unavailable after I believe a broken thumb, there have been a couple attempts to balance out the lineup. Most of the activity has been centered around Jake McLouth at DH, Oaks in RF or at DH, Urban in RF or at 3B, and Lorenz at 3B.

Jake McLouth has been cooling off since my initial inquiry about him switching with Dufek in the lineup. I took another look at the stats before game 3 of the weekend to see how the two had been doing. I don’t think it’s worth going into deeply here, but long story short, Dufek has caught fire. His current 10 game hitting streak started the day the change took place. Coincidence? Yes, probably. Good for the team? Of course. So do I care that much? No. I don’t see the two switching in the near future, but if McLouth doesn’t keep producing, he may be run out of the DH spot.

Who would take it you ask? That would be Alan Oaks. Oaks returns after a bit of an illness to start the season. Last year, Oaks made several starts at third base doing pretty well. Alan offers some major power and appears to be getting hot right now. This weekend he hit for a .545 clip with 2 runs and an RBI. Not bad for hitting in the 6/7/8 holes.

The other alternative to Oaks in the DH is to place him in right field, where he is a slight drop in defensive prowess. Moving him here forces Urban either to the bench, such as in Game 3, or to play third base, such as in Game 2. Urban came to Michigan as a second basemen, so he does have infield experience. I’m not sure what to expect of him at third, but it probably couldn’t be too much worse than Lorenz has been there.

Lorenz hasn’t been too poor defensively at third base, but his .895 fielding percentage does leave a little bit to be desired. He’s been our best option there so far, and I don’t think he’s done too poorly at the hot corner. The first few weekends he wasn’t really tested too much and had a couple early season mental mistakes. He’s become pretty solid there over the last 2 weekends, flashing some great leather. His hitting has been his week point, despite his performance in Game 3. From what I can see (read: my opinion), Lorenz has great potential, he just will only show flashes of it this year, and not be very consistent at the plate. He’ll be really good in a year or two.

Final Thoughts on IPFW

IPFW is a good team that will knock off a few good teams this year. They just ran into a more talented team this weekend. They should compete with Centenary and Oral Roberts for the Summit League Championship this year. I at least hope so, as with their current RPI, sweeping them didn’t help us that much with our own RPI. We have moved from 134 as of Tuesday to only 117 on Sunday morning. EMU helped even less as they are currently about 20 spots lower in RPI than IPFW.

Speaking of EMU, it’s just one game left before we start the conference season. We finish the home-and-home with EMU on Wednesday at 3pm. Right now the weather says 51 degrees and a 40% chance of rain. We’ll see if the game isn’t bumped up earlier in the week or if they try to play it then.

Posted under Baseball

Lots of stuff has happened since the previous edition of the recruiting class rankings, so here’s round 2. From now forward, I expect to publish these on a weekly basis. Rivals has released their initial Rivals250, and I believe the Scout 300 either has or will soon be released.

3-8-09 Minnesota gains commitment from Lamonte Edwards.
3-14-09 Michigan gains commitment from DJ Williamson. Michigan gains commitment from Antonio Kinard.

#1 Ohio State – 4 commits
Name	Pos	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Andrew Norwell	OL	****	*****	NR
Jamel Turner	DE	****	*****	NR
JT Moore	DE	****	NR	NR
David Durham	LB	NR	NR	NR

No more commits for OSU. Rivals isn’t quite as high on Norwell or Turner as Scout, and neither site has evaluated Durham yet.

#2 Notre Dame – 3 commits
Name	Pos	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Chris Martin	DE	*****	*****	NR
Christian Lombard	OL	NR	*****	NR
Daniel Smith	WR	NR	****	NR

Martin is the highest-ranked guy in the class. Surprisingly, Lombard isn’t in the Rivals 250.

#3 Michigan – 3 commits
Name	Pos	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Ricardo Miller	WR	****	****	NR
Jerald Robinson	WR	****	NR	NR
Jeremy Jackson	WR	NR	NR	NR
DJ Williamson	WR	NR	NR	NR
Antonio Kinard	LB	NR	NR	NR

Still not a ton of ranked guys for Michigan, though Miller is expected to end up close to a 5-star. Michigan also has an unofficial commitment from QB Devin Gardner, a 4-star to both sites. The Wolverines obviously have a lot of potential to pass the Irish, depending on where their current commits are evaluated.

#4 Penn State – 2 commits
Name	Pos	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Mike Hull	LB	****	****	NR
Paul Jones	QB	****	****	NR

No change for PSU. Consensus on the rankings of their two commits.

#5 Minnesota – 3 commits
Name	Pos	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Jimmy Gjere	OL	****	NR	NR
Antoine Lewis	CB	NR	NR	NR
Konrad Zagzebski	LB	NR	NR	NR
Lamonte Edwards	Ath	NR	NR	NR

Edwards could be a wideout or a linebacker (maybe even a big safety) at the next level.

#6 Michigan State – 1 commit
Name	Pos.	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Max Bullough	LB	****	NR	NR

As expected, Bullough is in the 4-star range.

#7 Illinois – 1 commit
Name	Pos.	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
Corey Cooper	CB	NR	NR	NR

A single in-state commit.

#8 Iowa – 1 commit
Name	Pos.	Rivals	Scout	ESPN
James Morris	LB	NR	NR	NR

I estimate that He’ll be lower-rated than Illinois’s lone commit, but that’s just a wild-ass guess from me.

Indiana, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin – 0 commits.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

Michigan succumbed to the Sooners, but for some reason I’m not mad. It wasn’t our year yet. Our two best players had foul trouble for most of the game, leading to lots of playing time for Walkons, Canadians, and Anthony Wright.

Speaking of whom, dude killed it tonight. Even if he reverts to Anthony Wright 2007-08 next year, I still don’t think I can make fun of him again, because he was a stone cold sniper in a tournament game. For Michigan. Anthony Wright. Seriously.

It’s a small miracle Michigan got to this point, much less gave a #2 seed one hell of a game. However, there’s a reason Blake Griffin is basically the consensus player of the year. He’s a damn good ball player. There’s also a reason opposing fans hate him, on top of the “beating the hell out of their team” thing. He acts like a bitch, is one of the cockiest players to ever not draw a taunting technical, is ginger, etc.

Getting to the NIT was a lofty goal for this team at the beginning of the season. Making the tournament was absolute gravy, despite what many people expected after wins over UCLA and Duke. Getting to the second round was just short of unbelievable, and we ran into a decent team with the best player in the country. So be it. Michigan in the tournament is crazy enough.

A more comprehensive basketball season wrapup is coming later next week, then you may return to your regularly-scheduled footballcentric programming.

A los barcos, hemos quemado.

Posted under Basketball

Didn’t get the preview out this weekend due to being a bit busy. I’ll throw this up here as a reactions post for comments, etc. I’ll have a full recap on Monday.  Don’t forget (as if you could) about the OU game tonight at 5:50pm.  Tim’s preview can be found here.

Game 1

The home opener was a close game. Chris Fetter didn’t have his A game, but his B game was enough to keep IPFW at bay. His control wasn’t at peak form in the game as he had a pretty high ball to strike ratio. I don’t have the specific numbers as I spent the first half of the game trying to get my stat software set up. Fetter does address this in the video below though.

On offense, Dufek has really started to light it up. He went 2-4 this game with a big 2 RBI double. Alan Oaks also broke his cold streak with a home run to just past the Blue Monster in right. We only left 7 runners on base, which is still a shade higher than I’d like to see (I consider <= 5 to be a pretty good day). The unfortunate part was stranding runners at 2nd and 3rd in both the 4th and 6th innings. The 4th hurt a little worse as we had it with only one out, but still couldn’t muster a run.

One minor note, we have our new radio announcers for the home schedule.  The guys had a rough go around on the first try, but they sounded much better after the second game.  They totally redeemed themselves with this though: Video Highlights from mgoblue.com.  This is the first time I can say I’ve noticed these being put up, which excites me plenty.  I’d embed it, but I’m having some problems with that.  Either way, thanks to the announcers for references to the site.  We appreciate your work as well.

Game 2

The best news is a win is a win. Even in this game that was fairly uneventful to the average fan, there were a couple points worth noting.

Katzman struggled pretty bad for striking out 10 batters. It wasn’t that he wasn’t making good pitches, but he just wasn’t being “economical” with his pitch count. Eric threw at least 5 pitches to 13 of the 23 batters he faced. His breaking balls just weren’t getting close enough to the zone. I do like the idea of being “effectively wild” to keep batters off balance, but I also think there is a limit on how many extra pitches can be afforded. This balance is what has plagued Katzman on his off days. He tends to walk or hit more batters, causing bigger problems. So while we see the benefits of the wildness today, keep in mind that its high risk/high reward. Despite the final line from Katzman, I’d just call this a really good game, but not a great one.

Matt Miller on the other hand did a better job of getting ahead of hitters and putting them away. His 5 strikeouts, as described by the radio broadcasters, were the product of painting both sides of the plate and general changing of location. Batters were left guessing which side of the plate the ball would be coming, and then flailed wildly at the hard sliders. Great job by Matt.

The offense managed to score three runs in the first from a LaMarre sacrifice fly and Mike Dufek two run homerun. Alan Oaks also generated offense in the second inning. After singling, he stole second, but with a throwing error on the catcher, was able to advance to third. Toth then suicide squeezed him in with a bunt down the first baseline. The pitcher Herrold had no choice but to go to first base.

After that, the offense managed to shoot itself in the foot inning after inning. Each inning from the third to the eighth, Michigan managed only three batters each inning. In the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th, the Wolverines managed to get a base runner on; each inning that runner was put out. Alan Oaks grounded into two inning ending double plays. Jake McLouth lined back to the pitcher which caught Ryan LaMarre off guard at first leading to him being double up. In the 6th, Kenny Fellows was caught leaning on a pick off play. It was pretty ugly.

The IPFW pitcher Herrold was both effective and lucky. Every inning he found an out, allowing him to stay in the game. He ended with 8 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs (3 earned), 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts. All-in-all, a really good outing against us.

After two close games, I really think IPFW is just having tough luck with the RPI. Their team is at least as good as any of the BigEast teams we’ve played this year, and I fully expect them to make some headlines with some Mid Week games later in the season. They’ll knock off a couple more Big10 teams here and there.

Game 3

The first home series wraps up tomorrow at 1:05pm. Make it out to see Mike Wilson (supposedly) make his first start of the year. Pray he throws like Mike Wilson circa 2007.

Posted under Baseball

Or: Tim’s foray into tempo-free statistics.

Michigan takes on the Sooners of Oklahoma at 5:50 PM tonight on CBS in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The game takes place in Kansas City, Missouri at the Sprint Center.

Tempo-Free and efficiency comparison (if you need an explanation of what any of these things mean, head to KenPom’s website):

Michigan v. Oklahoma: National Ranks
Category	Michigan	Oklahoma	Advantage
Mich eFG% v. Oklahoma eFG% D	115	42	O
Mich eFG% D v. Oklahoma eFG%	151	7	OO
Mich TO% v. Oklahoma Def TO%	19	313	MMM
Mich Def TO% v. Oklahoma TO%	133	119	O
Mich OReb% v. Oklahoma DReb%	290	122	OO
Mich DReb% v. Oklahoma OReb%	219	52	OO
Mich FTR v. MSU Oklahoma FTR	329	26	OOOO
Mich Opp FTR v. Oklahoma FTR	25	5	O
Mich AdjO v. Oklahoma AdjD	47	52	–
Mich AdjD v. Oklahoma AdjO	64	11	O

Differences of more than 100 places in the rankings garner two-letter advantages, differences of more than 200 get a third.

Oklahoma is going to be a big favorite in this game, as should be expected of a 2-seed going up against a 10-seed. The Sooners are better than Michigan in nearly every facet of the game. In fact, the only area in which Michigan is expected to be better is not turning the ball over themselves. This means the Wolverines absolutely must hold onto the rock (and they did a decent job against Clemson), and hit the shots that they have open. Of course, the paint is going to be a very troublesome area for Michigan, as even Clemson’s non-all-everything players were able to get theirs and more from the lane. Oklahoma’s advantage in rebounding is surprisingly small to me, especially following the dismal performance on the defensive glass against Clemson. KenPom predicts a 73-67 Clemson win in a 65-possession game.

EEK! Blake Griffin! Who is the last guy that this Michigan team, what with their small size and inability to match up well in the paint wants? Why, a center who happens to be the leading candidate for most Player of the Year Awards! DeShawn Sims and Zack Gibson’s ability to defend Griffin without fouling too much is of paramount importance in this game. Because of that, I expect to see a lot of 2-3 zone. The only other Sooners I know off the top of my head are Griffin’s “big” brother Taylor, and that point guard with the hideous hair decisions on both head and chin.

Yeah, so this is a really, really bad matchup for Michigan. I want to delude myself into thinking Michigan can win, but there’s no way I can convince the rational side of me. The success of the 2-3 zone is encouraging, and Oklahoma’s smaller rotation (only 7 players get significant playing time) certainly helps. Considering Griffin has been beat up of late, suffering a concussion against Texas toward the end of the regular season, and getting flagrantly fouled Thursday against Morgan State, the Sooners may wish they had spent more of the year developing depth. However, I’d rather predict a Michigan loss and be pleasantly surprised when they win than predict a win (foolishly) and be disappointed and wrong if they lose. So yeah, Michigan might be able to make this one close, but I really see this as a matchup of doom.

Posted under Analysis, Basketball

The 2010 Recruiting Board lives here.

Removed:
FL OL Leon Orr. Committed to Florida.
VA OL Marquis Wallace. Committed to West Virginia.

THE MOST IMPORTANT RECRUIT IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD HAS SURFACED! A Louisiana QB named – I shit you not – Munchie Legaux has apparently been offered by Michigan. Landing him alone would likely make up for missing out on at least Pearlie Grave and DeQuinta Jones, though Barkevious Mingo will require more make-up work. LeGaux has been added to the recruiting board, in addition to our collective hearts.

Offered GA RB Mack Brown has released his first top 4, and the Wolverines are nowhere to be found on it: the list consists of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Oklahoma.

Bobby Petrino has risked turning off some of the top recruits in Arkansas, including very highly-rated running back Michael Dyer, by offering very few in-state prospects:

“We’re just wondering what’s wrong with the in-state kids, because obviously they do a good job on the out of state kids,” [Dyer] said. “It’s the people who live in Arkansas who are actually having a hard time getting recruited by Arkansas.”

Michigan is interested in Dyer, and though he was considered a lock to Arkansas early in the process, Petrino may end up losing out be cause of a perceived disrespect toward top Arkansas prospects.

SC QB Cornelius Jones won’t announce his decision until Signing Day, and (from the same article) SC DE Brandon Willis, a HS teammate of RB Marcus Lattimore, received a Michigan offer, and he plans to enroll early at the school of his choosing. Speaking of Lattimore, this article has a bit of good information on him. The highlight:

“I grew up a [South] Carolina and Florida State fan, but I don’t really think it will make an impact on my decision,” he said. “But I mainly pulled for Florida State when they had Chris Weinke and Peter Warrick.”

While his childhood preferences may not be a factor in his decision, Lattimore says there are three things that he will be very interested in looking at when evaluating each of his potential schools.

“First will be if the school has my major, which is sports administration or sports management, but probably the second one would be how comfortable I feel there with the players, coaches, and in that environment. Third would probably be the facilities,” said Lattimore.

Michigan’s Division of Kinesiology is among the best nationally for those majors. Lattimore also intends to trim his list of choices to 8 by summer. Considering he’s said Michigan is a lock to receive an official visit, I’d be surprised if they weren’t in the final 8.

FL OL Brent Benedict has received a Michigan offer.

MI DT Tremondae Branch is starting to see his recruitment pick up. Cliff notes:

“I just got home from Michigan’s Junior Day,” Branch stated. “I was really impressed. I had been there before because my older brother played football there, but it seemed like it was at another level. I know they changed the offense since then, but they didn’t change the tradition. It is a great program for anyone…

“But that’s why I’d rather play football in the South,” Branch continued. “Even though the northern schools have a lot of competition with big guys, I just think by playing in the South I’d have to work harder which would make me a better player and it would bring my game to a whole different level…

“Right now I‘m still wide-open to anyone because I do not have any offers yet,” Branch concluded. “I just want to play college football somewhere.”

I haven’t been able to figure out who his brother is. Captain Obvious would say “Alan Branch, obviously,” but I don’t think that’s the case, because Alan is from New Mexico. Does anybody know who Tremondae’s older brother is? Also: Durr idiotic SEC crowing.

Michigan offered MI DE CJ Olaniyan, and that (predictably) made them move up on his mental list of schools. He was at Junior Day last weekend. Following that, a pretty good fluff piece from Sam Webb in the Detroit News.

OH DE Marcus Rush wasn’t able to make it to Junior Day last weekend, but that didn’t stop the Wolverines from offering him (info in header) when he came later in the weekend to take in a spring practice.

AL DE Martaze Jackson was the MVP (“winner”) of the National Underclassmen Combine.

This is either the worst tease for an article ever, or Michigan HASN’T offered IL DE Louis Trinca-Pasat. I’m thinking it is indeed the worst tease ever, and he’s been offered. I won’t note it on the board yet, because I’m relying a little heavily on context clues here.

A little recruiting fluff on FL LB Jeff Luc:

Luc says no school is ahead of any other at this point. Academics and graduation rate are important factors to him, and he said he likely will wait until the fall to make his decision. He plans to major in accounting or engineering.

Michigan is obviously very strong in both of those fields (if they’ll let him major in what he wants, of course).

IL LB Rickey Simpson is hearing from Michigan.

And your “WTF?” news of the day: Toledo fans seem to think Devin Gardner was going to commit to their school before the coaching staff there was changed following 2008. Like, no. Dude, no. I would be surprised if the Rockets have ever landed a 4-star or 5-star prospect at all.

Posted under Football, Recruiting

…because I’m pseudo/fully lazy.

Important games today:

• Michigan baseball home opener 3:05 EDT at Ray Fisher Stadium. The Wolverines take on IPFW. Paul and I will be in the house, so stop by and say hey.
• Michigan hockey in the CCHA semifinals against Alaska. Yost Built has 10 Things to Know about the Nanooks.
• Michigan lacrosse against Eastern Michigan in their CCLA conference opener. 8PM at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse. Come support an awesome club varsity team. $3/6 for students/non.

Hockey Sophomore Louie Caporusso has been named a finalist for the Hobey Baker award. Great honor for the young player, though his torrid goal pace from the beginning of the year didn’t hold up.

Michigan Sports Center has your first glimpse at the 2009 student football shirt. For the record, I don’t mind the slogan on the back, more as a reminder to those who wear them than as decoration for other people to see.

Saturday’s basketball game against Oklahoma will take place at 5:50 PM EDT. Don’t forget to check out last night’s victory post, and I’ll have your preview of the Sooners coming tomorrow.

Speaking of posting previews on the weekend and such, I know the semi-regular schedule around here has gravitated toward “hectic and random” of late, but it’s a fairly busy time, what with the basketball team in the Tournament and all. Once they bow out, the football-centric Varsity Blue you know and love should return.

Recruiting Update coming this afternoon.

Posted under Baseball, Basketball, Blog News, Hockey