I was in the press box for the baseball team's midweek home game against Xavier, who they lost to on the road, 8-2, earlier this season.
As you guys know, I was there to grab a feature story; however, I'm going to head back to Fish next week as I was not going to put the coaches through that after a loss like that. Not the time nor the place.
Michigan started LHP Jacob Denner, and Xavier went with RHP Lane Flamm.
This game was pretty simple. Xavier's offensive style is to swing it, and that it did, smashing four home runs in the contest, two of which coming from the same guy, leadoff man, catcher Jerry Huntzinger. Yes, I can appreciate a catcher who's not only the leadoff guy but also hits two bombs.
On the other hand, Michigan likes to manufacture and play "team offense," as head coach Erik Bakich calls it. The game was knotted at zero in the second inning when Bakich called for a fake bunt steal with runners on first and third with one out. I love to see coaches manufacture and still mix in variations of new-age small ball coupled with letting your guys hack, but with one out and guys on first-and-third, I'd rather see a straight steal or a hit-and-run on the second or third pitch, depending on the at-bat's flow. However, 2B Ted Burton faked the bunt, SS Riley Bertram was canned at second, and OF Joey Velazquez had nowhere to go at third. Down 0-1 in the count with a guy on third and two outs, Burton struck out, and just like that, the inning ended.
I'm not bashing the call. I understand it. Maybe Bakich saw a groundball guy up and didn't want to see an easy double-play. It's baseball. Not every steal is going to fail or work. This was still a defining moment in the game, given how momentum can swing so quickly in this sport.
Xavier started the party the next half-inning, sending a solo shot off the fieldhouse in right field. Again, in the fourth inning, Xavier would homer to put them up 3-0. Michigan came back with offense in the bottom half and made it 3-2. For a moment, we had a ball game.
The offenses went silent when Michigan brought in right-hander Willie Weiss, who only allowed one hit and one walk before hitting two guys in back-to-back innings. Still, he kept Xavier at bay and exited the game without sacrificing a run.
Michigan went back to a lefty in the 7th. From my observations, Xavier was finding barrels against Denner, the starting left-hander, far more than against the right-hander, Weiss. Pitching coach Steve Merriman probably had this planned out to go back to the lefties, considering Michigan has five games this week (usually 3, 4 max per week), and the rotation has to be fresh for the weekend series at Maryland.
So, Xavier would see two lefties (Angelo Smith and Logan Wood). Oddly enough, Wood walked one guy and got pulled. Before that, Smith gave up three hits, two runs, including a home run, hit a batter, and walked a guy. He didn't make it out of the inning, and neither did Wood. Freshman RHP Avery Goldensoph came in after that, gave up an unearned run, got out of the inning, and minimized what could've been worse.
Unfortunately for him, it got worse. The fourth home run, an overthrow from second base, two walks, and two hits later, and the game was 10-3 with a four-run 8th inning for Xavier to follow up a three-run 7th.
Michigan's three errors and only two extra-base hits tell the story, but bad pitching has been commonplace for this team this season.
The pitching staff averages over ten hits allowed per 9 innings, ranking 236th in the country. They also walk nearly five guys per game, which ranks 186th.
They've allowed eight or more runs in six-straight games and 8 out of their last 10.
They've lost every mid-week game they've played this season. Usually, mid-week games are non-conference games, like Xavier. They've played three non-conference weekend series, sweeping Cal State Fullerton and Dayton but losing two of three to Louisville.
The one-off mid-week games they've lost: Oakland (227th, RPI), Xavier x2 (68th, RPI), Purdue Fort Wayne (262nd)
I get the argument that mid-week games are glorified scrimmages sometimes, but they're not when you get to the nitty-gritty of *having* to wing games to have any hope at an NCAA bid.
Michigan's pitching woes are to blame because its offense is *actually* good. They're top 100 in runs scored, slugging percentage, and doubles. But it's hard to win ball games when your staff's ERA is 6.32 (207th) and WHIP is 1.72 (225th).
There's a chance Michigan doesn't make the Big Ten Tournament. It needs to finish right around 14-13 in conference to get in, and at 10-8 with seven games left, including six against the No. 1 and 2 teams in the Big Ten, it won't be easy.
U-M travels to Maryland this weekend, who it beat in a non-conference game at a preseason tournament (meh) earlier this season. Maryland is 14-4 in the conference and 39-9 overall, ranking them No. 14 on the NCAA's RPI rankings. Then the Wolverines get Michigan State at home, who they swept on the road. And they end it next weekend at home against second-place Rutgers (15-6, Big Ten), who's No. 45 in the RPI.
Michigan will need to win three or four of those seven games or get close to that and hope for some losses from teams near them in the standings (Penn State, Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, Iowa) or the Wolverines won't be at the Big Ten Tournament.
As the season winds down, I plan to head back and get the feature story done and cover this team closely. @Brock Heilig has you guys covered for softball.
As you guys know, I was there to grab a feature story; however, I'm going to head back to Fish next week as I was not going to put the coaches through that after a loss like that. Not the time nor the place.
Michigan started LHP Jacob Denner, and Xavier went with RHP Lane Flamm.
This game was pretty simple. Xavier's offensive style is to swing it, and that it did, smashing four home runs in the contest, two of which coming from the same guy, leadoff man, catcher Jerry Huntzinger. Yes, I can appreciate a catcher who's not only the leadoff guy but also hits two bombs.
On the other hand, Michigan likes to manufacture and play "team offense," as head coach Erik Bakich calls it. The game was knotted at zero in the second inning when Bakich called for a fake bunt steal with runners on first and third with one out. I love to see coaches manufacture and still mix in variations of new-age small ball coupled with letting your guys hack, but with one out and guys on first-and-third, I'd rather see a straight steal or a hit-and-run on the second or third pitch, depending on the at-bat's flow. However, 2B Ted Burton faked the bunt, SS Riley Bertram was canned at second, and OF Joey Velazquez had nowhere to go at third. Down 0-1 in the count with a guy on third and two outs, Burton struck out, and just like that, the inning ended.
I'm not bashing the call. I understand it. Maybe Bakich saw a groundball guy up and didn't want to see an easy double-play. It's baseball. Not every steal is going to fail or work. This was still a defining moment in the game, given how momentum can swing so quickly in this sport.
Xavier started the party the next half-inning, sending a solo shot off the fieldhouse in right field. Again, in the fourth inning, Xavier would homer to put them up 3-0. Michigan came back with offense in the bottom half and made it 3-2. For a moment, we had a ball game.
The offenses went silent when Michigan brought in right-hander Willie Weiss, who only allowed one hit and one walk before hitting two guys in back-to-back innings. Still, he kept Xavier at bay and exited the game without sacrificing a run.
Michigan went back to a lefty in the 7th. From my observations, Xavier was finding barrels against Denner, the starting left-hander, far more than against the right-hander, Weiss. Pitching coach Steve Merriman probably had this planned out to go back to the lefties, considering Michigan has five games this week (usually 3, 4 max per week), and the rotation has to be fresh for the weekend series at Maryland.
So, Xavier would see two lefties (Angelo Smith and Logan Wood). Oddly enough, Wood walked one guy and got pulled. Before that, Smith gave up three hits, two runs, including a home run, hit a batter, and walked a guy. He didn't make it out of the inning, and neither did Wood. Freshman RHP Avery Goldensoph came in after that, gave up an unearned run, got out of the inning, and minimized what could've been worse.
Unfortunately for him, it got worse. The fourth home run, an overthrow from second base, two walks, and two hits later, and the game was 10-3 with a four-run 8th inning for Xavier to follow up a three-run 7th.
Michigan's three errors and only two extra-base hits tell the story, but bad pitching has been commonplace for this team this season.
The pitching staff averages over ten hits allowed per 9 innings, ranking 236th in the country. They also walk nearly five guys per game, which ranks 186th.
They've allowed eight or more runs in six-straight games and 8 out of their last 10.
They've lost every mid-week game they've played this season. Usually, mid-week games are non-conference games, like Xavier. They've played three non-conference weekend series, sweeping Cal State Fullerton and Dayton but losing two of three to Louisville.
The one-off mid-week games they've lost: Oakland (227th, RPI), Xavier x2 (68th, RPI), Purdue Fort Wayne (262nd)
I get the argument that mid-week games are glorified scrimmages sometimes, but they're not when you get to the nitty-gritty of *having* to wing games to have any hope at an NCAA bid.
Michigan's pitching woes are to blame because its offense is *actually* good. They're top 100 in runs scored, slugging percentage, and doubles. But it's hard to win ball games when your staff's ERA is 6.32 (207th) and WHIP is 1.72 (225th).
There's a chance Michigan doesn't make the Big Ten Tournament. It needs to finish right around 14-13 in conference to get in, and at 10-8 with seven games left, including six against the No. 1 and 2 teams in the Big Ten, it won't be easy.
U-M travels to Maryland this weekend, who it beat in a non-conference game at a preseason tournament (meh) earlier this season. Maryland is 14-4 in the conference and 39-9 overall, ranking them No. 14 on the NCAA's RPI rankings. Then the Wolverines get Michigan State at home, who they swept on the road. And they end it next weekend at home against second-place Rutgers (15-6, Big Ten), who's No. 45 in the RPI.
Michigan will need to win three or four of those seven games or get close to that and hope for some losses from teams near them in the standings (Penn State, Indiana, Illinois, Purdue, Iowa) or the Wolverines won't be at the Big Ten Tournament.
As the season winds down, I plan to head back and get the feature story done and cover this team closely. @Brock Heilig has you guys covered for softball.
