Congrats.  We swept the second worst D1 Baseball team in the state of Michigan.  Final score today was 6-0.  Three game winnings streak! Haven’t had one of those since we swept IPFW (4 games including the EMU game before it).

Brandon Sinnery got the start in the game and he made the most of it. He lasted 6 innings giving up only 4 hits while striking out 2 (yes, that’s 0 walks). I’ll take that start any midweek.

Sinnery was also aided by some early run support. Michigan scored 5 runs in the first inning. Nick Urban had a RBI single, followed by a 2 RBI single by Chris Berset and a 2 RBI double by Alan Oaks. That kind of support offensively makes pitching much easier. I will note that Urban left the game in this inning. It was right after stealing second base. I missed the broadcast call, but I would imagine its either a leg or hand injury. If anyone has any news, drop a comment.

Matt Miller, Kolby Wood, and Tyler Burgoon combined to finish the game.  Burgoon sounded to be pitching well.  He struck out the first hitters of the 9th on 6 pitches.

After the 1st inning, the offense went into hibernation.  We did get picked off twice, but one sounded to be a clear balk.  The pitcher from WMU stepped toward the plate then submarined the throw to first.  The step toward the plate is a balk.  It didn’t get called and Berset was left confused and out to dry.  Coach Maloney gave the umpire a piece of his mind, but it didn’t change anything.

So that’s all well and good, but it does nothing for us making it to the BTT.

BigTen Tournament Bid

Team	W	L	Pct
Illinois	14	4	.778
Minnesota	13	4	.765
Ohio State	13	5	.722
Indiana	11	6	.647
Michigan State	11	7	.611
Purdue	7	10	.412
Michigan	7	11	.389
Penn State	5	13	.278
Northwestern	3	13	.188
Iowa	3	14	.176

As you can see, Michigan is just half a game back of the now coveted 6-spot, the final team to make the BigTen Tournament.  Our “magic number” is technically 7.  We need a combination of 7 Michigan wins or Purdue losses in order to lock up the tournament bid.  The problem is we only have 6 games left.  The other problem is we play Minnesota this weekend.  Minnesota is a very good team, and we’ll get to that preview in the next few days.

The good news is we finish with Northwestern in Evanston, a team that just isn’t good.  The other good news is Purdue has a very tough schedule down the stretch, facing off with Michigan State in East Lansing where they are as good as anyone else in the conference, and then, they face Illinois who will be looking to clinch a top seed in the tournament.  I don’t see Purdue winning more than 2 games in that stretch, so Michigan has a chance to make up ground.

Going into this weekend’s games, I think Michigan takes the 6th spot with a 4-3 record down the stretch while Purdue goes 3-3, missing the post season by half a game.

Rooting interests this weekend:

• Michigan over Minnesota.  Obviously.  We need this series.
• Michigan State over Purdue.  Yet again, obviously.  I don’t think they sweep, but they need to take at least two of three.
• Iowa not to get swept in Iowa City vs Penn State.  Penn State has an outside shot at taking the 6th spot, but would take some major upsets.
• Good Weather.  We’re already behind in the loss column.  We can’t afford to not win.  While losing may be worse, not playing could be just as bad down the stretch.  There is already rain in the forecast for this Saturday (game 2 vs Minnesota) and next Thursday (game 1 @NU).

Minnesota comes to town Friday at 6:35pm.  More on them soon.

Posted under Baseball

With the 2009 football season looming a mere 4+ months away, it’s as good a time as any to take a first look at Michigan’s upcoming schedule, and determine whether the teams the Wolverines will face this year should get better or worse (or remain the same) from last year to this. I also reserve the right to be completely wrong.

Western Michigan
2008 Record: 9-4 (6-2 MAC)
Key losses: S Louis Delmas, LB Austin Pritchard, WR Jamarko Simmons
Key returning players: QB Tim Hiller, RB Brandon West
Projection: Same. Sure, teams lose players to the NFL every year, but it’s not fair to the Broncos (nor would it be to basically any MAC team) to assume they’ll be able to replace a second-round pick in the secondary. However, the offense should really continue trucking behind the QB play of Tim Hiller. The Broncos should be about the same as they were last year, though they’ll rely even more heavily on a high-flying offense to make up for a much weaker defense.

Notre Dame
2008 Record: 7-6 (0-1 Syracuse)
Key losses: WR David Grimes, S David Bruton
Key returning players: QB Jimmy Clausen, RB Armando Allen, WR Golden Tate
Projection: Up. Based on roster composition alone, the Irish should be pretty rockin’ this year. One impoortant caveat: you could say that about the last two years as well, and they were somewhere between terrible and mediocre over each of the previous two seasons. Is Charlie Weis just one big, fat FAIL, or will he start to get the talent he has assembled to perform? There’s no excuse (lol book title/disingenuous motto) for the Irish to not beat up on most of their schedule this year.

Eastern Michigan
2008 Record: 3-9 (2-6 MAC)
Key losses: RB Terrence Blevins, WR Tyler Jones, LB Daniel Holtzclaw, S Jacob Wyatt
Key returning players: QB Andy Schmitt, WR Jacory Stone, LB Andre Hatchett
Projection: Up. The Eagles return some key pieces, though they also lose some important ones, the upgrade at the head coaching position appears to be a substantial one. Eastern was terrible last year, save the upset of Central Michigan in their final game of the year, and even anything approaching competency would be a leap in the right direction.

Indiana
2008 Record: 3-9 (1-7 Big Ten)
Key losses: RB Marcus Thigpen
Key returning players: QB Ben Chappell, QB/WR/? Kellen Lewis, WR/CB Ray Fisher
Projection: Same. You can tell the Indiana coaching staff is really grasping at straws in an effort to not get fired at the end of this year. They’re moving key players around (2nd-leading receiver Ray Fisher to corner, best offensive weapon Kellen Lewis all over the field, etc.), and completely revamping their schemes (reports say they’ve almost exclusively worked out of the pistol this spring). If it doesn’t work, Bill Lynch and co. are probably going to get the axe.

Michigan State
2008 Record: 9-4 (6-2 Big Ten)
Key losses: QB Brian Hoyer, RB Javon Ringer, S Otis Wiley
Key returning players: LB Greg Jones, WR Mark Dell
Projection: Down. The Spartans were beneficiaries of a bad Big Ten and some good luck last year. They were more like a 7-6 team than the 9-4 that they actually went. Take away 3 of their 4 most important players (the fourth is Jones), and they should be worse. Take away that luck, and they’re just a team. Adam Rittenberg will still predict that they win the National Championship.

Iowa
2008 Record: 9-4 (5-3 Big Ten)
Key losses: RB Shonn Greene, DTs Mitch King and Matt Kroul,
Key returning players: WR Andy Brodell, LBs Pat Angerer and Jeremiha Hunter, QB Ricky Stanzi
Projection: Same. The Hawkeyes lose arguably their three most important players in Greene (no, Rittenberg, you can’t just baselessly say “I think Jewel Hampton will be at least as good as they guy who won the Doak Walker Award”) and the defensive tackles. However, they upgrade slightly at almost every other position, and assuming they can stay healthier than they have in the past couple years, they should be about as good as they were in ’08. Of course last year, they were something of an anti-MSU, and lost a couple games they shouldn’t have. The Hawkeyes will be about the same quality of team, but the record may improve.

Delaware State
2008 Record: 5-6 (5-3 MEAC)
Key losses: QB Vashon Winton, RBs Chris Strother and Kareem Jones, LB Kevin Conner
Key returning players: DB Avery Grant, WR Laronne Moore
Projection: Down, down down. For a team that wasn’t even good to begin with, losing 3 of your top 5 tacklers, your 4-year starter at QB, and your top 3 running backs can be little other than a recipe for disaster. Delaware State is a true 1-AA cupcake, and will be even worse this year than they were in 2008.

Penn State
2008 Record: 11-2 (7-1 Big Ten)
Key losses: WRs Derrick Williams, Deon Butler, and Jordan Norwood, 3 offensive linemen
Key returning players: QB Daryll Clark, RBs Evan Royster and Stephfon Green, LB Sean Lee
Projection: Down. The Spread HD worked in 2008 because Clark was on-point all year, and the Lions had the skill position talent on the outside to force defenses to spread the whole field. With Clark tailing off in the last few games (albeit due to injury, perhaps), and the OL and wideouts gone, PSU won’t be the offensive force that they were last year. Defensively, the return of Sean Lee should help in the middle. However, the top 3 defensive ends left, and #4 is out for the season with a torn ACL.

Illinois
2008 Record: 5-7 (3-5 Big Ten)
Key losses: LB Brit Miller, CB Vontae Davis, WR Will Judson
Key returning players: QB Juice Williams, WR Arrelious Benn, LB Martez Wilson
Projection: Same. Like Iowa, the record might improve, but the team will be about as good in 2009. The offense should really click with a senior Juice Williams and junior Arrelious Benn, though you could have said the same last year (and the Illini were awesome at times, just horrifically inconsistent). The defense should take major steps back with its best two players, LB Brit Miller and Vontae Davis, gone and the third best player, LB Martez Wilson, doing things like getting stabbed in a bar during the offseason.

Purdue
2008 Record: 4-8 (2-6 Big Ten)
Key losses: QBs Curtis Painter and Justin Siller, RB Kory Sheets, WRs Greg Orton and Desmond Tardy, LB Anthony Heygood, S Torri Williams
Key returning players: S Joe Holland, QB Joey Elliott
Projection: Down. Purdue sucked last year, and nearly all of their best players are leaving town because their eligibility has expired (everyone but Siller) or because they cheat on exams (Siller). Couple all that with a transition to a new offensive scheme and a plan to rely on several true freshmen despite their lack of guru approval, and Danny Hope’s first year in West Lafayette may be a difficult one. There could be a coaching upgrade as Wilford Brimley had been mailing it in the past couple years, but there is basically no talent for the Boilers to work with.

Wisconsin
2008 Record: 7-6 (3-5 Big Ten)
Key losses: RB PJ Hill, TEs Garrett Graham and Travis Beckum, LB DeAndre Levy, LB Jonathan Casillas
Key returning players: QB Dustin Sherer, WRs David Gilreath and Nick Toon, LB Jaevery McFadden
Projection: Up. The Badgers were a team that lost plenty of games they shouldn’t have, and the important question for tham is whether that was bad luck or the horrifically bad coaching ability of Bret Bielema. The early appearances are a bit of both, so the Badgers should be a bit better, but not by leaps and bounds. Hill wasn’t even Wisconsin’s best RB for much of the year, and Sherer was the better QB, despite Allan Evridge starting the year under center. Simply getting the right pieces the ball more often should help. I think Bielema has a definite ceiling, especially with players he has recruited and coached for four year.

Ohio State
2008 Record: 10-3 (7-1 Big Ten)
Key losses: RB Beanie Wells, LBs James Laurinaitis and Marcus Freeman, CB Malcolm Jenkins, WRs Brian Robiskie and Brian Hartline
Key returning players: QB Terrelle Pryor, RB Dan Herron, CB Chimdi Chekwa
Projection: Down. The Buckeyes really should have been awesome last year, and might have been if Terrelle Pryor had started the whole year, and not been a true freshman. Alas, this was the case, and OSU’s last best chance at a national title for the next couple years leaves town with Beanie Wells and James Laurinaitis. Regardless, the Buckeyes are never going to fall completely off the map as long as Jim Tressel is the coach, so there’s a definite floor for their team. either way, they’ll take a significant step back in 2009.

Posted under Analysis, Football

The Great Lakes Lacrosse Classic didn’t go off quite as expected, as the weather in Birmingham didn’t quite cooperate. However, the teams were not to be dissuaded from playing, and managed to squeeze in the game between a number of rain delays.

Michigan State
Official recap – Photo gallery
Michigan prevailed over the “home team” Spartans at the neutral-site venue of Birmingham Seaholm High School. After a lightning delay pushed the start of the game back until about 8:15, the Wolverines came out rusty, and looked out of sorts for the first few minutes, allowing Michigan State to get on the board first. However, that would be the closest State got to tasting victory against the in-state rivals.

Trevor Yealy started taking over, as he so often does, and completed a hat trick with over 3 minutes left to play in the first quarter. The second was perhaps the most impressive, as it was a diving effort from the left side of the net, as he was taking a big hit from a Spartan defender. Clark McIntyre, David Rogers, and Peter Vasher also scored for the Wolverines, before the game was delayed yet again after a particularly loud thunderclap.

The delay lasted from about 9pm until about 10:30, and Michigan again came out of the locker room needing to shake off a little rust. Though Peter Vasher re-opened the scoring, the Spartans added back-to-back goals to bring the game within 4 goals at 7-3. However, Michigan started to roll after that, scoring goal after goal, with few interruptions by the Spartans. By the end of the third, they held a 14-6 lead.

The Wolverines added 7 more goals in the final quarter of play, and finished the game on the winning end of a 21-9 margin. Yealy finished with 8 goals, and goalie Mark Stone made a career-high 18 saves. Fellow goalie Andrew Fowler made a brief appearance while recovering from a stress fracture in his foot, as Stone left the game for 50 seconds due to a minor injury of his own.

Lacrosse updates, now serving video! A healthy tip of the hat to MFlowBlue and Wes McGowan for bringing it to my attention and creating it in the first place, respectively.

Michigan Men’s Lacrosse vs. Michigan State from Wes McGowan on Vimeo.

Up Next
The CCLA conference tournament tees of in Saline this weekend. The Wolverines have a first-round bye, and will face the winner of Friday’s Pitt/Central Michigan game on Saturday at 4pm. The Wolverines did not face Pitt this year, but bested the Chippewas 21-4 in their only meeting this year. For the complete bracket, check out the CCLA website.

Posted under Other Sports

There is a lot of not good in game 1 and 2, but game 3 went well.

Game 1

Box Score																R	H	E
Michigan	0	0	4		0	0	0		0	1	0		2	0		7	10	3
MSU	0	0	2		0	1	0		0	0	2		2	1		8	11	1

W – Wonderlich (4-4) L – Eric Katzman (5-3) Sv – None

Michigan jumped ahead in this one with a big 3rd inning, but the defense kept creating new ways to let State get back into the game. In the third, Lorenz made a throwing error trying to get a runner at the plate. That would have been out number two and the ensuing fly ball would be the end of the inning. Instead a run scored, and the fly ball was a sacrifice fly to bring in another.

In the fifth, Fetter made his only mistake of the game, a lead off homerun on the first pitch of the inning. In the 9th, with the lead, Tyler Burgoon fielded a sacrifice bunt and went to first, overthrowing Kevin Cislo. The ball went into the outfield. Two runs would score unearned.

In the 10th, the bullpen fell apart. Burgoon let two runners on, Miller faced one batter (a walk), and Katzman gave up a bases loaded walk and sac fly. Two runs would score and we’d blow our second save of the game. In the 11th, the winning run would reach on a Anthony Toth error. It was awful.

Offense looked good though. The bottom of the order produced very well and we were getting the timely hits. We only stranded 6 runners the whole game. Unfortunately, it takes more than just scoring runs to win ball games – you’ve got to play defense.

Notable Stars

• Chris Fetter – 8 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 8 H, 3 BB, 6 K, ND
• Mike Dufek – 1/4 3 RBI, R, HR, SACF
• Anthony Toth – 3/5 R, RBI
• Chris Berset – 2/5 R, 2B

Notable Goats

• Defense – Toth/Lorenz/Burgoon. Errors lead to 5(!) unearned runs. Burgoon’s blew a save, Toth’s lead to the final MSU run
• Bullpen – Along with Burgoon’s error, he had two earned runs (Miller/Katzman inherited them and couldn’t finish the inning). Miller faced one batter and walked him.

Other Notes

• Lansing State Journal – Extra special win for Spartans

Game 2

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

W – Achter (2-3) L – Alan Oaks (0-2) Sv – Wolff(4)

See: Why We Lost MSU Game 2. I think that touches nearly all the bad I wanted to touch upon.

As for the good, Alan Oaks pitched the game of his college career. Maloney said he earned the start and did he ever make the most of it. It is sickening he took the loss in this game. Alan only gave up 3 runs in the start, one from a balk with two outs and a runner on third (ouch); the other came from a one out walk followed by 3 2-out hits. Oaksie gave up 5 hits, walked 5 and hit a batter, but he managed his base runners well, working his way out of trouble. He even recorded four strikeouts, 2 coming in an inning where he had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out.

Notable Stars

• Alan Oaks – 7.2 IP, 3 ER, 5 BB, 1 HBP, 4 K, 1 Balk, 121 Pitches, 65 Strikes
• Chris Berset – 2/4 RBI
• Jim Abbott – Retired his #31 jersey, signed autographs for nearly an hour and a half
• Attendance – Officially 3453. Highest of the season.

Notable Goats

• See that Why We Lost Post. I don’t want to get into it again.

Other Notes

• My one regret: Chris Berset was on deck to end the game.
• The Ann Arbor News – Frustrating.

“Timely hitting … you can’t teach it. It just has to happen,” Maloney said. “… Right now for our team, things haven’t been going real well.

• Michigan Today – John U. Bacon recaps Jim Abbott’s career.
• The Ann Arbor News – Abbott Blessed to have number retired.

Game 3

Box Score													R	H	E
Michigan	0	0	2		0	4	0		0	1	2		9	12	0
MSU	0	0	0		0	0	2		0	0	0		2	7	0

W – Eric Katzman (6-3) L – Corcoran (0-4) Sv – Miller (3).

Thank god we won one to avert the first series sweep in at least 8 years. This game is everything I expected from the Michigan team this year. I expected us to hit well. I expected the pitching to be a little shaky but pull through. I expected us to take care of lesser opponents. Finally, for the first time all season, I saw Michigan baseball.

Eric Katzman, who apparently wants to earn a decision as often as possible, started this game and did fairly well. He wasn’t outstanding, but he was “good Katzman.” He didn’t have the best control, but he got outs. He just ran out of gas after 120 pitches, leading to the two runs scored. Matt Miller on the other hand was lights out for the 3+ innings of work.

Everything was clicking on offense. The top of the lineup was on base every inning and the middle of the lineup got the timely hitting to knock them in. Even John Lorenz had a great game knocking in 3 runs.

This game has me excited.

Notable Stars

• Mike Dufek – 2/4 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B
• Kenny Fellows – 3/5 2 R, SB
• John Lorenz – 2/4 3 RBI
• Kevin Cislo – 2/5 2 R
• Matt Miller – 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, Save

Notable Goats

• I got nothing. This was good Michigan baseball.
• McLane Stadium Press Box for not having audio capabilities installed yet.

Other Notes

• No news stories yet.

Wrap Up

This weekend was a bunch of gray clouds with a silver lining. We lost two of three to lowly Michigan State, a team who ranks in the 260s of 288 in team hitting. We lost to an in state rival, who we haven’t lost a series to since I don’t even know when – at least 8 years. We beat ourselves so badly in the first two games. We’ve dropped into 8th place in the Big10. We’re in jeopardy of missing the BigTen Tournament for the first time since 2002.

And then Sunday happened. While Game 3 was Michigan Baseball like I expected all season. Game 3 offers hope. Perhaps, just maybe, we finally had that “turning point” so many people have talked about the last 4 weeks. Perhaps Michigan has finally hit stride and will begin to compete. Perhaps I’m being to optimistic. Perhaps not. This game has me excited for the rest of the BigTen season.

Speaking about the rest of the season, it’s the midway point of the conference season, so I’ll be breaking down what happened so far and what we can expect to come in a post due out either later today or tomorrow. As for the week ahead, we’ve got a home-and-home with Notre Dame on Tuesday/Wednesday. Tuesday is here at the Fish. The weekend sees the Indiana Hoosiers and probable BigTen Player of the Year Josh Phegley come to Ann Arbor. More updates on those as the week progresses.

Posted under Baseball

Between an exam, a research paper, and 6 games umpired this week, I’m a bit behind schedule for the Michigan State series.  I’ll touch quickly then leave it to the team to figure out.  First pitch is only an hour away (now 10 minutes as I finish) as I type this (starts 3:05).

@/vs./@ Michigan State

from msu.edu

3:05pm Friday, 1:05pm Saturday, 1:05pm Sunday
McLane Stadium/Ray Fisher Stadium/McLane Stadium
East Lansing, MI/Ann Arbor, MI/East Lansing, MI

Media Game 1: Live Stats
Probable Starters Game 1:  Chris Fetter (5-1) vs. Nolan Moody (4-4)
Media Game 2: Live Stats and Audio (WBCN)
Probable Starters Game 2:   Achter (1-3) vs Eric Katzman (5-2)
Media Game 3: Live Stats and Audio (MGoBlue)
Probable Starters Game 3: TBA vs TBA
Series: Michigan leads 188-95-2
Last Meeting: Michigan UM swept all 4 last season
Last Michigan Loss: Recap – 6-7, (April 2006 @ UM), last series loss (1-3) was 2002 (tied in ’04 at 2-2)

Overview

The Spartans enter the intrastate matchup with a record of 12-21, 3-6 in the BigTen (8th place).  They are, however, 9-0 at their new stadium this year.  As a team, the wins they have are due to great pitching, and not much to do with hitting at all.  As a team, Michigan State ranks 265 out of 288 teams in team batting average at just .265 (as of Tuesday). The Spartans only fall in the top 200 of three offensive categories tracked by the NCAA, stolen bases per game(116), stolen bases (108), and sacrifice flies (15).

Johnny Lee is their leading hitter at .315 average.  To contrast how low that is, Michigan’s leading hitter is batting .385, and we have 5 batters with a higher average than .320.  Lee also is the team leader in strikeouts with 28, but as a team, they don’t strikeout nearly as much as Michigan.

Eli Boike is the Spartans leading slugger at .522, but he only has 6 home runs and 6 doubles on the season, which isn’t all that great.  Boike is also a threat on the bases with 8 steals so far on the season.  Jeff Holm is their current stolen base leader (11 for 12).

Their team ERA however is good for 105th at 5.03, just .02 behind Michigan.  They are lead by Friday starter Nolan Moody, who has thrown 2 complete games (one shutout).  Moody has made 8 appearances this year, winning 4 of them (4-4 record…lack of run support).  His 3.25 ERA is tops among Spartan starters.  The number two in the Spartans rotation also has a pretty nice ERA at 3.49, but also has a 1-3 record in 8 starts.  Tough luck for those guys.

The good news for Michigan is that the Spartans don’t strike many batters out or force many double plays.  The 5.4 strikeouts per nine innings is one of the lowest we’ve seen this year, and State only turns about as many double plays as we do (.84 a game).  They walk plenty, too – 4.6 per game.

The Weather

Weather looks good today and tomorrow, but it may be questionable on Sunday for the finale.  Otherwise, absolutely gorgeous the for the first two games.

Winds aren’t a factor today, but tomorrow they’ll be blowing in.

Promotions

Its Alumni day and the retirement of Jim Abbott’s #31 jersey on Saturday.

For the full list of promotions, go here.

Outlook

I think Michigan can win two games out of this fairly easily, but the two games I’m thinking we win are games 2 and 3.  I’m not as confident about game 3, but I think it’s winnable.  Game one should be a hell of a pitchers’ duel, facing off two of the best in the BigTen.  Game one will depend on which Michigan team shows up at the plate.  MSU isn’t a very good hitting team, so this game could come down to a 2-1 or lower score.  That said, I jokingly expect it to be some 15-13 score just because I said it would be low.

I’m hoping we see some solid pitching now that Berset is back and a slightly improved offense.  Go Blue!

Posted under Baseball