The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1147681
AUGUST 2019 THE WOLVERINE 53 beginning the campaign with a 13- game winning streak and not suffer- ing its first setback until April 6 at No. 2 Maryland. In comparison, the 2018 club's longest winning streak was just two straight. The Wolverines managed to post a 6-3 record against ranked foes in 2019, a stark contrast from the 1-6 tally it recorded in 2018. Michigan also broke the school re- cord for goals in a single season (261), while shattering the mark for fewest goals allowed in a campaign (182, while the 202 in 2017 had been the previous low). BEST UPSETS Best Male Team Upset — Baseball over No. 1 UCLA: Michigan found a way to take down No. 1-seeded UCLA (two games to one in the best- of-three series) in the NCAA Super Regional June 7-9, despite being one of the last four teams to even make the NCAA Baseball Tournament. All three contests were played in Los Angeles, and U-M took the up- per hand in the series by claiming a 3-2 victory in game one. A wild 12-in- ning affair resulted in a 5-4 triumph for the Bruins in game two, setting up the winner-take-all showdown with a trip to Omaha and the College World Series on the line. Junior starting pitcher Tommy Henry was incredible for the Maize and Blue in the series finale, tossing seven innings and allowing just two runs in Michigan's 4-2 victory. UCLA actually held a 2-1 lead heading into the fifth inning, but senior second baseman Ako Thomas recorded a two-run single that gave U-M a 3-2 edge, and the club never looked back. The win put Michigan in the Col- lege World Series for just the eighth time in program history, and the first since 1984. UCLA entered the series with a 51-9 record, was ranked No. 1 na- tionally by several polls for the ma- jority of the season and had not lost a weekend series all year. Best Female Team Upset — Soccer over No. 17 Wisconsin: U-M's fe- male soccer club stumbled to a 9-9-1 overall record and a 5-5-1 mark in league play in 2018, but the biggest highlight of its season came Sept. 20 when it took down No. 17-ranked Wisconsin 2-0 in Ann Arbor. The victory was the lone triumph over a ranked foe for the Maize and Blue in 2018, and at the time gave the 7-1-1 Badgers just their second loss of the season. Senior forward Reilly Martin got the Wolverines on the board when she registered a first-half goal, while senior midfielder Ashley Calcagno recorded the first goal of her U-M career when she netted one in the second half on a corner kick in the 68th minute. Sophomore goalkeeper Hillary Beall, meanwhile, accumulated five saves to grab what was at the time just her second career shutout. Though the Wolverines entered the contest with a 5-4 record, it was actually the team's second con- secutive shutout, having blanked Purdue 1-0 four days earlier. Outside of a three-match win- ning streak to open the season, the victory over Wisconsin marked just the second time in 2018 that U-M won back-to-back tilts; they would do so only one more time on the year. BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES Best Male Individual Performance — Baseball pitcher TOMMY HENRY against Florida State: The junior lefty was brilliant in Michigan's 2-0 blank- ing of FSU in the second game of the College World Series, tossing a com- plete game shutout while allowing just three hits and no walks (though two others reached base after being hit). It was only the third U-M complete game shutout in the College World Series, and the first since Steve Howe accomplished the feat against Baylor in 1978. It was also the school's ninth overall complete game ever. Henry made history during the showdown by striking out 10 Semi- nole batters, which at the time gave him 127 on the year and allowed him to pass Oliver Jaskie and Jim Burton (who each had 119) for the most in a season in program history. The lefty allowed just two FSU hit- ters to even reach scoring position throughout the night. The victory allowed the Maize and Blue to start 2-0 in the College World Series for the first time since 1962, and they would go on to make the Finals before falling to Vanderbilt, two games to one. Sophomore attack Caitlin Muir set single-season U-M records for points (59) and assists (21) while helping lead the team to a program-best 16-4 record and its first NCAA Tournament appearance. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY Junior left-handed pitcher Tommy Henry threw just the ninth complete game in pro- gram history on the sport's biggest stage, leading U-M to a 2-0 win over Florida State in game two of the College World Series. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY