LIVE: Michigan hockey v. FYS

LISTEN LIVE as Michigan takes on Little Brother at 7:35 at Yost. Michigan looks to get back on track in CCHA play and derail an upstart FYS squad.

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Michael Lewandowski and Andrew Goddeeris on the call.

Forecast: A Lonely Winter

Before I start, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the live blog from Rob. Thanks to him and his Sixers, Kyle Korver got to show why he was one of the most underrated players in the league due to a trade for which the Sixers got... nobody, just a pick. Can't wait to see which athletic player with no jump shot (see Iguodala, Thad Young, Sam Dalembert) they draft next.

(Sorry, Rob. That was for the DET shots in the live blog. By the way, I'm holding you to the Dalembert Hawk thing if the Phils win the Series. No exceptions.)


OK, time to transition now from the pro game to the college game. According to a report off Rivals.com, University of Detroit Mercy landed another transfer played to their roster. The Titans have reportedly recruited Jason Bennett, a 7'3 center out of Tallahassee Community College. Bennett played at Kansas State for one season before transferring to TCC. Played in 27 games at KSU and averaged 2 points, 2 boards and 3 blocks a game. Bennett will join transfer Eli Holman, 6'11 forward from IU who was recently denied reinstatement to IU's basketball program by incoming coach Tom Crean, as part of new coach Ray McCallum's first recruiting class. U of D's front line next year will be 3 players with heights of 6'9, 7'3, and 6'11. And for a mid major, that's plain nasty.


WAIT! Don't stop reading yet....I would not waste 2 minutes of your life on U of D Mercy Athletics for no good reason. I'm just not that cruel. This story has meaning for two reasons: The first was that coming out of high school, Rivals had Michigan listed as Bennett's second choice in 2006. This means that although there was a vested interest in the University, Coach Beilein decided not to go after him because he appears to have a lot of vested confidence in Ben Cronin, the 7'1 incoming freshman. Let's hope this Cronin kid turns into the next Joe Alexander (and not the second coming of Zach Gibson) or else passing on a chance to get a 7'3 Center with Michigan ties could be costly .

The other (and more important) reason this move is terrible for Michigan is that it now could potentially mean that the state of Michigan could send four teams to the NCAA tournament next year, NONE of which would be the Wolverines. U of D now becomes a huge contender in the Horizon League (with Butler being the only big opponent), Oakland University will dress an experienced team that will be the favorite for the Summit League crown (and almost beat MSU and Michigan last year), and Western Michigan (who faltered in the MAC tourney last year) will be the favorite to get the automatic bid from their conference. And, of course, MSU will be among the top teams in the Big Ten despite losing Drew Nietizel. Kalin Lucas went under the radar for most of the year but had a huge NCAA tourney and will continue his progress. Lucas would've started at the point guard spot last year, had Neitzel not lost his mind and forgot how to shoot a basketball at the end of last year.


Having 4 solid programs in the State of Michigan will do great things for the game itself in the State, but it will also magnify Michigan's disappearance as a once proud basketball power. These schools will also be competitive, making it hard for Beilein to recruit big in-state talent (Two of the Top 3 players in Michigan will be headed to Oakland next year). This could make the rebuilding process far longer than anyone could have guessed.

#6 Michigan 11 Michigan State 3 (5 Innings)

East Lansing, MI -- Michigan Softball defeated Michigan State 11-3 in a mercy-rule shortened five inning game for the second day in a row. After both teams went down in order in the first inning, the Wolverines put a nine spot up on the scoreboard in the second. All nine runs scored on homers, highlighted by Samantha Findlay's grand slam. Findlay now has an NCAA-leading 18th round trippers to go with 59 RBI on the season and is on pace to threaten her own single season records of 21 homers and 77 RBIs that she set back in 2005, her freshman season.

It was freshman Dorian Shaw who started the home run parade with a 3-run shot well over the left field fence at Old College Field. Two batters later, junior Teddy Ewing lined her first home run of the season over the left field wall. Findlay's grand slam which came on a first pitch fastball cleared the scoreboard beyond that left field wall and gave Michigan the 9-0 lead.

Freshman Jordan Taylor (23-2) struggled a bit with her command on a cold and windy day, surrendering three earned runs and five hits in five innings of work. The Valencia, CA native walked two Spartans and gave up all three runs after there were two out in the inning. Bianca Mejia provided the big hit for MSU with a 2-run homer 0ver the fence in straightaway centerfield.

Michigan will be back in action tomorrow afternoon in a matchup between the two teams atop the Big 10 Standings as #12 Northwestern comes to town. The Big 10 Network will televise both games of the doubleheader starting at 12:00. WCBN will have the games as well on the stream.

Here is the highlight mix from Michigan's series sweep of Michigan State

#6 Michigan 10 Michigan State 0

Michigan needed only 1:15 to blow past Michigan State 10-0 in a mercy-rule shortened five innings at Alumni Field. Sophomore, Nikki Nemitz (20-2) led the way pitching five shutout innings, lowering her ERA to 0.65 and picking up her 20th win of the season. Nemitz has won 20 games in each of her first two seasons as a Wolverines.

With the win, the Nemitz/Jordan Taylor duo became the fastest Wolverine tandem to reach the 20 win mark in a season as it took the pair just 46 games to do so. The previous record was set last season when Lorilyn Wilson and Nemitz each won their 20th in the 50th game of the season.

Sam Findlay started off the scoring for Michigan in the third inning as she parked a solo shot in the Spartan bullpen in left. Findlay is 2nd in the country now with 17 home runs. The Wolverines would add four more in the fourth, highlighted by Allie Giampaolo's double off the top of the wall in right-center.

Nemitz's success didn't end in the circle as she would help her own cause in a big way, going 2-3 with 5 RBI. Nemitz ended the game in the fifth inning blasting her 2nd home run of the season and her first ever grand slam over the foul pole in right. The celebration was delayed however, as the fans (and broadcasters) had to wait and see whether the ball would be called fair or foul.

Michigan will wrap up the home-and-home series against their cross-state rivals tomorrow at noon in East Lansing. The nation's ERA leader, Jordan Taylor (22-2, 0.53) will get the start for Michigan. The Wolverines then return home on Sunday for an important double-header with #12 Northwestern. First game starts at noon and it should be a great day of softball between the two teams tied atop the Big 10 Conference Standings. We'll have both games for you on WCBN.

Wow! Michigan Baseball Wins 27-6

Michigan took it to little brother, destroying Michigan State by a score of 27-6. The 27 run output ties a Michigan record for runs. They last scored 27 in 1995 at Georgia Tech. Previously to that, Michigan scored 27 in a game back in 1895.

Everybody hit for Michigan today as they pounded out 28 basehits on the afternoon. Ironically enough, this was a come from behind win as the Wolverines found themselves down 2-0 going into the bottom of the 2nd Inning. That's when the onslaught began as Michigan would cross the plate eight times in the second. Jason Christian's two-run triple was the big hit in that inning and the first of many big hits on the day. Christian would find himself just a double shy of the cycle by the time the fifth inning rolled around.

Michigan would score five more in the third thanks mostly to a Nate Recknagel 3-run blast to right, his 16th of the year and 3rd of the series.

Derek Vanbuskirk earned himself WCBN Player of the Game honors for his career day at the plate. Vanbuskirk went 4-5 with 4 runs scored, 9 RBI, and 3 home runs. Vanbuskirk hit a solo shot in the 5th, a tower grandslam over the brick monster in the 6th, and to cap it off, a three-run jack to dead center in the 7th.

Everyone got into the act as Michigan used 18 players in the game. Eric Katzman who came on to pitch in the 8th even drove a basehit into left in his first career collegiate at bat. Katzman just missed a homer on the previous pitch knocking it just a few feet to the foul side of the monster in left.

Michigan will be back in action next week as they travel to Indiana for a four-game series. Michigan now sits at 28-8 overall, 15-1 in Big 10 Place which gives them a three-game lead over second place Purdue.

and now back to finals...

WCBN Highlights:
Jason Christian Triple
Vanbuskirk Homer #1
Nate Recknagel Three-Run Homer
Vanbuskirk Grand Slam
Leif Mahler Home Run
Vanbuskirk Homer #3

Game Highlight Set to Music

Little Brother Grounded

News from over the weekend over at Michigan State isn't good. Apparently police had to break up a party which ended in a riot with 52 arrests. Michigan State students used facebook to organize the party but surprise, surprise it got a little out of hand. When the police stepped in to restore order, the students decided to pelt them with beer bottles. Way to go, Sparty. The Detroit News has the full article.

ok, now i'm really going to class