The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2024 ❱ THE WOLVERINE 15 ❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS FIVE YEARS AGO, 2019: Michigan softball captured the Big Ten Tournament title with a 3-2 thriller against Minnesota in Bloomington, Ind., on May 11, 2019, marking the 10th con- ference tourney title in the sport for U-M. The Wolverines built a 3-0 lead behind starter and win- ner Meghan Beaubien (28-4), then held on through the later innings. The Gophers crept within a single run before Alex Storako came on to record the save. U-M opened the scoring in the fourth on an RBI double by Madison Uden, then pushed the margin to 3-0 in the fifth on an RBI double by pinch hitter Lou Allan, followed by an RBI ground out from Natalie Peters. Minnesota rallied in the sixth on a solo home run by Hope Brandner and a sacrifice fly from Allie Arneson, scoring the second run. That brought on Storako, who pitched no-hit ball to close out the game and the championship. Beaubien, mean- while, earned Big Ten Tournament MVP honors. "She is dominating," noted outfielder Lexie Blair, who made the game-ending catch on the warning track. "I'm really glad when she's on the mound. I have no doubt she's going to get the job done." 10 YEARS AGO, 2014: Michigan softball rallied in both the NCAA Regional and its championship game on May 18, 2014, coming from behind to knock off host Arizona State, 5-4. Outfielder Lyndsay Doyle plucked a fly ball off the bat of Ar- izona State's Amber Freeman from beyond the outfield fence, bringing it back for the final out of the contest. The Wolverines had already knocked off the Wildcats earlier in the day, 4-3, to force a game for the right to move on in the tournament. The championship contest saw the Wolverines down 4-3 with only two outs remaining. That's when Sierra Lawrence and Taylor Hasselbach smashed solo home runs on back- to-back pitches, lifting Michigan into the lead. U-M pitcher Haylie Wagner made the slim margin stand up, with a different kind of save from Doyle to close it out. Arizona State built a 4-2 lead on home runs of its own earlier in the contest. But Wagner (24-4) hung in throughout the day, the late rally helping her to her second victory of the day in the pitching circle. Arizona State coach Craig Nicholson agonized over the game-ending catch. "I think it was out, and their center fielder made a great play," Nicholson said. "If the ball's six inches higher, we're having a different conversation." 25 YEARS AGO, 1999: On a wild Sunday featuring 46 runs scored, Michigan baseball won the Big Ten Tournament championship by out-slugging Minnesota, 12-11, in Colum- bus, Ohio, on May 23, 1999. The Wolverines lost to the Gophers earlier, 13-10, forcing a winner-take-all second contest on the same day. In the title game, Michigan built leads of 4-0 and 11-6, but Minnesota stormed back to claw within one at the end. Michigan senior Ja- son Alcaraz singled with the bases loaded — marking his fifth hit of the game — to drive in the winning run. J.J. Putz pitched the final two innings to pick up his second win of the tournament. Bryan Besco homered for the Wolverines, capping a 9-for-18 Big Ten Tournament with 4 doubles, a triple, 2 home runs and 8 RBI. He posted a slugging percentage of 1.167. Michigan, meanwhile, earned its first NCAA Tournament appearance in a decade. "I've said all season long that Michigan is a good team," Minnesota coach John Anderson said. "They have a lot of abil- ity and they applied it this weekend." — John Borton THIS MONTH IN MICHIGAN ATHLETICS HISTORY Sophomore pitcher Meghan Beaubien led the U-M program to its 10th Big Ten Tournament title in 2019, earning tournament MVP honors with a 3-0 record, a 1.34 ERA and 16 strikeouts through 15.2 innings. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY