Coley Crank home run gives Michigan baseball a 2-1 win over Notre Dame
The Michigan baseball team has played through losing streaks, through blowouts and extra-inning losses, all season.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, junior Coley Crank changed that for one night. His solo home run gave Michigan’s pitchers the late-inning support they needed Tuesday in a 2-1 win over Notre Dame, snapping a three-game losing streak.
“I wasn’t sure (if it was out), because the wall out there is kind of like a triangle,” Crank said. “I wasn’t sure if it was going to hit that or go out.”
Michigan sophomore starter Matt Broder allowed one run on four hits through 6 1/3 innings during a 2-1 win over Notre Dame on Tuesday night.
Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com
It went out, allowing relief pitcher Tyler Mills — who has alternated between the rotation and the bullpen this year due to injuries on the staff — to pick up his second win of the year.
It also gave Michigan (14-28) a small burst of confidence in a season it needs it. Five times this year, Michigan has had losing streaks of three games or longer, including a seven-game skid to start the season.
So winning Tuesday against Notre Dame (16-22-1), another team struggling this year, was big for the Wolverines' psyche.
“Yeah, it just felt good,” sophomore centerfielder Patrick Biondi said. “After this weekend, losing a couple heartbreakers in extras and obviously losing to Ohio State isn’t anything that we’re used to here or expect to happen, we were disappointed.
“It was upsetting to lose those games, so it was nice to get a win.”
Of course, with the season Michigan has had, even a win comes with issues.
Michigan coach Rich Maloney said after the game fifth-year senior second baseman Anthony Toth, the team captain, will be out for the year with a stress fracture in his leg. His replacement in the lineup, redshirt freshman John DiLaura, went 3-for-4.
After the game, Maloney grabbed onto that performance -- along with the combined five-hit, nine-strikeout performance from starter Matt Broder and Mills -- as positives.
“For us,” Maloney said. "(Today) was huge.”
Michael Rothstein covers Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by email at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.