The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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APRIL 2023 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 15 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS FIVE YEARS AGO, 2018: Michigan softball's Madison Uden doubled home the winning runs on April 29, 2018, in the Wol- verines' nine-inning, 2-0 win at Indiana. The victory kept the league-leading U-M squad atop the Big Ten standings. The two teams battled for eight scoreless innings, prior to Uden's breakthrough two-bagger. Michigan left-hander Meghan Beaubien (29-3) earned the victory in relief, striking out the final two Hoosiers after the home team got a runner on in the bottom of the ninth. Beaubien, a freshman, pitched the final 3 2 ⁄3 innings of a shutout begun by starter Tera Blanco. The win allowed the Wolverines to capture two victories in the three-game series at Indiana, and head coach Carol Hutchins' squad was on its way to a Big Ten championship. "Tough one today," noted Indiana head coach Shonda Stanton, who expressed pride over her squad playing competitively all weekend against the Big Ten's best team. "The margin of winning and losing is so small sometimes, but the feeling is great. We competed hard all weekend long and fought. … It was an awesome weekend for the fans to be able to come out and see competitive softball played at a high level." 10 YEARS AGO, 2013: Michigan's basketball team advanced to the national championship game with gritty defense in a 61-56 NCAA semifinal win over Syracuse on April 6, 2013. The Wolverines made their leap to the title game before 75,350 onlookers in Atlanta's Georgia Dome. Tim Hardaway Jr. led the way with 13 points, while Mitch McGary added 10 with 12 re- bounds and Glenn Robinson III scored 10 as well. C.J. Fair scored 22 for the Orange, but the rest of the roster posted a combined 34. Michigan limited Syracuse to only 23 field goals, including a 3-for-14 effort from three-point range. The Wolverines went 8-for-24 from long range, including 3 Hardaway triples. McGary and Hardaway recorded 6 and 5 assists, respectively. James Southerland's three-pointer with 41 seconds cut the Michigan lead to only one, 57-56. Trey Burke and Jon Horford each made a free throw to help close it out, while Jordan Morgan took a key charge and slammed home an exclamation point dunk. "At the end of the day, it wasn't offense," Burke cautioned. "It was defense that allowed us to advance." 25 YEARS AGO, 1998: Red Berenson's hockey team knocked off Boston College in overtime, 3-2, capturing the national cham- pionship on April 4, 1998. The Wolverines sealed their No. 1 status at Boston's FleetCenter, recording an NCAA-record ninth national championship. Fresh- man Mark Kosick scored a pair of goals, and senior goalie Marty Turco turned away 28 shots in the championship contest. Everything still hung in the balance, though, prior to freshman Josh Langfeld's title-clinching goal with 2:09 remaining in the first overtime period. U-M thwarted a 2-on-1 chance for Boston College just prior to the game-winning goal. The Wolverines cleared the puck, Lang- feld took a pass along the boards and connected on a short-side wrist shot to send his team into wild celebration. "We shouldn't have been here," Berenson said afterward. "We shouldn't have won. I didn't think we could do it, but they sur- prised me. "I can't tell you we were the best team here. The best team doesn't always win, but this team played the best and did what they had to do." — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY Tim Hardaway Jr. led Michigan with 13 points in its Final Four matchup versus Syracuse for a 61-56 win on April 6, 2013. The Wolverines came up short against Louisville, 82-76, in the champion- ship game two days later. PHOTO BY ADAM GLANZMAN