Salter brothers’ final face off

For as different as the Michigan and 
Michigan State baseball teams are, on 
Wednesday they both had one thing 
in common: a Salter brother squatting 
behind home plate donning the num-
ber 11 on the back of his jersey.
In the non-conference rivalry con-
test, the younger brother Harrison 
and his fellow Wolverines prevailed, as 
Michigan (14-3 Big Ten, 31-14 overall) 
trounced Michigan State (8-9, 17-26) 
10-2.
It’s fitting that a rivalry depicted 
as the squabbling between siblings 
has now featured a legitimate battle 
between brothers.
It was clear that this game would be 
special for the Salter family from the 
beginning. During the second inning, 
Will Salter stepped up to the plate 
where his younger brother Harrison 
was waiting for him.
Sitting a mere inches from his broth-
er, Harrison anxiously awaited to see 
how his brother would perform under 
the unique circumstances. Not want-
ing to disappoint, the senior knocked 
a single to left field to load the bases. 
After a forceout and strikeout ended 
the inning, it was the redshirt fresh-
man’s turn.
Not to be outdone, Harrison 
knocked an RBI single also to left field 
to match his brother hit-for-hit and 
give the Wolverines the lead.
But the fraternal competition would 
not stop there.
In the bottom half of that same 
inning, Will would get another chance 
to show his brother who was boss.
Will then legged out an infield single 
which was hit to third base for his sec-
ond hit of the day.
After the Wolverines regained the 
lead in the fourth inning, Harrison and 

co. entered the fifth wanting to extend 
that lead and show his brother up. The 
younger Salter would do just that, clob-
bering his first career home run deep 
over the right field fence again with his 
brother within spitting distance.
“I haven’t hit a homerun since I was 
12 years old,” Salter said, “but the past 
couple weeks I’ve been working with 
the coaching staff on getting balls to 
drive and stuff like that. Luckily I got 
that pitch to drive. It was kinda a blur 
for me walking around the bases, but it 
was a really cool experience.
“I’ll probably hold on to that forever.”
Wanting to add further to his career 
day, Salter then slapped another RBI 
single up the middle extending Michi-
gan’s lead even further to 6-2.
This would mark the end of the 
Salter family’s fruitful day at the plate. 
Ending with a combined five hits and 
a lot of brotherly love, this contest will 
surely be one the boys will remember.
“It was a little weird at first because 
he’s always been my best friend, always 
been on my side,” the younger Salter 
said. “He’s definitely my role model, my 
older brothers are my role models, so 
it’s definitely a cool experience to defi-
nitely compete with him, but I got over 
it now and it’s a great feeling.”
Besides sharing a field together, the 
brothers also share a number — 11.
The number was worn by their 
grandfather, legendary catcher Bill 
Freehan and is even retired at Ray 
Fisher stadium in Ann Arbor. Harri-
son was granted special permission to 
wear the number in honor of his grand-
father.
“When you can assign deeper pur-
pose and deeper meaning to wearing 
a number and playing for a school, 
that’s how you get some magical per-
formances,” said Michigan coach Erik 
Bakich. “And for he and his brother 
Will and his brother Blaze, they have 

been so strongly influenced by one of 
the legends of the game in their grand-
father Bill Freehan, so it means an 
awful lot to wear number 11 for him… 
so he’s a totally selfless kid and it just 
means so much for him to play for 
Michigan and wear the block-M and 
to be at a school that his grandfather 
played at and coached at.
“There’s not a person on the field or 
in the stands that isn’t happy for those 
types of moments.”
Also contributing to the Wolverines’ 
big day was freshman left fielder Jor-
dan Nwogu.
The first-year had two momentous 
plays that added crucial insurance runs 
deep into the game.
The first came from an extremely 
rare inside-the-park home run off a 
ball clobbered to center field. After 
flying out to center field earlier in the 
game, Nwogu found better luck in the 
seventh inning, as he turned on the jets 
and rapidly slid into home plate.
“At first, I thought it was a line drive 
to center field because at my first at-bat 
I hit a very similar hit and he caught it, 
so I was discouraged a bit because I saw 
it went right to him, but then I saw him 
dive for it and immediately I turned on 
the burners,” Nwogu said. “It was just 
exhilarating. I ran as fast as I could, and 
it just felt like little league.”
Then, to follow up with the astound-
ing play, Nwogu cranked an absolute 
moonshot over the left field wall for 
perhaps the team’s farthest home run 
of the year. The solo shot marked the 
team’s 10th run and the last of Michi-
gan’s dominant performance.
For a game between conference 
opponents but without conference 
standings consequences, the dramat-
ics surely were not lacking. Despite 
the outcome, this was a game that 
both programs — and brothers — will 
remember forever.

NATSUME ONO / DAILY

Wolverines victorious 
over Central Michigan

Whether it wanted to or not, the 
Michigan baseball team has faced its 
last non-conference opponent.
On Tuesday, the Wolverines (14-3 
Big Ten, 30-14 overall) trounced 
Central 
Michigan 
(12-9 
Mid-
American, 20-26-1) 9-2 in the kind 
of play that one expects from a 
program gearing up for its conference 
tournament on the horizon.
While it eagerly awaits its shot at 
glory in the remainder of conference 
play, Michigan has had a love-hate 
relationship with its non-conference 
schedule, officially ending it with 
a 
non-conference 
game 
against 
Michigan State on Wednesday.
Perhaps legendary rock group Led 
Zeppelin best characterizes the testy 
relationship in its smash-hit, “Good 
Times Bad Times.”
Good times bad times you know I 
had my share
Throughout 
the 
long 
season, 
the Wolverines suffered crushing 
defeats, been on the wrong side of 
walk-off hits and were dealt blistering 
losing streaks while also surging to 
walk-off wins, glorious victories and 
uplifting win streaks all against non-
conference opponents.
In the days of my youth, I was told 
what it means to be a man
And now I’ve reached that age, I’ve 
tried to do all those things the best I can
No matter how I try, I find my way 
into the same old jam
Starting 
the 
season 
with 
a 
demoralizing 4-11 record, Michigan 
was crushed by non-conference foes. 
No matter how incessantly Michigan 
coach Erik Bakich reminded his 
players of the fundamentals of 
Wolverine baseball, nothing seemed 
to be working. Michigan knew what it 
meant to be a man but couldn’t escape 
the pangs of rebuilding.
Then, after returning from a 
bruising west coast road trip, the 
Wolverines turned it around and 
began their famed 20-game win 
streak against yet another non-
conference opponent: Bowling Green.
Then, sixteen, I fell in love with a girl 
as sweet as could be
Since then, it’s been nothing but 
blue skies against non-conference 
combatants, as Michigan failed to lose 
a game against them. The Wolverines 
fell in love with winning and couldn’t 
seem to quit it.
The driving factor behind their 

success can largely be attributed to 
mentality. In its successes this season, 
Michigan has consistently stayed on 
the offensive, letting the bats fly early 
and often while being buttressed by 
stout pitching and solid defense.
These positives were on full display 
against the Chippewas as three 
different Wolverines notched three-
hit games and on seven separate 
occasions, Michigan put its leadoff 
hitter on base.
“That’s the most leadoff hitters 
that we’ve had reach base that I can 
certainly remember this season and 
in quite some time,” Bakich said. “It’s 
something you strive to do. We have 
a goal to always try to hit the leadoff 
hitter on most innings, but it was an 
advantage today. We were able to get 
guys in motion and keep pressure on 
‘em and score in multiple innings, so 
just a good job by the offense of being 
locked-in and ready to go.”
In a separate demonstration of 
the team’s locked-in mental state, 
the Wolverines suffocated Central 
Michigan with a three run ninth 
inning while already being up 6-1.
“They understand how valuable 
those runs are and how fresh in 
everybody’s mind was the beginning 
we gave up at Rutgers on Friday,” 
Bakich said. “So a 6-1 lead is a good 
lead, but it’s not enough. Credit to the 
guys for wanting to expand that lead 
and put that pressure on ‘em and keep 
competing in the box and not throw 
any at-bats away.”
One player who surely did not 
squander 
any 
opportunity 
on 
Tuesday was junior second baseman 
Ako Thomas. Thomas went three-
for-five from the plate after missing 
the previous weekend’s contests due 
to injury.
Thomas 
and 
his 
teammates 
completed the dominant win despite 
not playing at home — the final 
piece of Michigan’s non-conference 
success.
I sure do wish I was at home
Over the season, the Wolverines 
are an astounding 17-1 at home and 
undefeated against non-Big Ten foes 
at Ray Fisher stadium.
Therefore, it’s fitting that Led 
Zeppelin’s ballad concludes with a 
touching sentiment that can also be 
applied to Michigan’s affinity for the 
turf field in Ann Arbor.
You can feel the beat within my heart
Realise, sweet babe, we ain’t ever 
gonna be apart.

JACOB KOPNICK
Summer Managing Sports Editor

JACOB KOPNICK
Summer Managing Sports Editor

BASEBALL

11

Thursday, May 10, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com SPORTS

