SPORTS 11
Thursday, June 27, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OMAHA, Neb — In February,
no one thought
Michigan’s
season would
end on June
26th. No one
thought
it
would get its
first
50-win
season
since
1987 and beat
the No. 1 team
in the country
twice on the
road to go to its first College
World Series since 1984.
And most of all, no one thought
that the feeling of losing in game
three of the College World Series
final against the No. 2 team in the
country would be disappointing.
But it is.
On Wednesday, the Wolverines
watched Vanderbilt storm the
field and celebrate its second
national title in five years,
coming back to win the last two
games in a three-game series for
the championship. They were as
close as it gets.
A team that squeaked into
the NCAA tournament as one
of the “Last Four In”, and that
was discounted in Corvallis, Los
Angeles and Omaha, shocked
college baseball.
Since the walkoff win against
Illinois, Michigan went 12-5
against some of the best teams
in the country. A hit that lit a
flame inside the hearts of the
Wolverines propelled them to
simply be better than all but one
team.
They showed how much they
had improved by crushing Texas
Tech, a team that dominated
them in March. They showed
they
could
bounce
back
from crushing losses against
Creighton and UCLA with win-
or-go-home victories.
Junior
left-hander
Tommy
Henry dominated on the mound
in his last two starts, throwing
a complete game shutout and
a game one win, respectively.
Senior first baseman Jimmy Kerr
turned red hot, launching seven
of his 15 home runs in the NCAA
tournament
while
capturing
the attention of baseball with
the story of his father and
grandfather.
Coach
Erik
Bakich
beat
possibly the most storied coach
of college baseball, Mike Martin,
in his last year, when the world
was on Martin’s side. In the
meantime, Bakich made tough
calls that paid off, such as moving
Jeff Criswell to the bullpen and
dropping closer Willie Weiss.
Over and over, interview after
interview in Omaha, Bakich
was asked what this meant for
Big Ten baseball — for northern
baseball.
“The more we can do this, I
think the more the Big Ten in
baseball can continue to grow
and be perceived as a major sport
on par with some of the other
major conferences in baseball,”
Bakich said.
In disbelief, reporters would
ask how the team got here, how
Michigan beat the teams that
it did. The focus was on how
excited they were, not how good
they were.
Bakich never once said, “We’re
just happy to be here.”
As improbable as it was, the
Wolverines won their way to
Omaha. They were playing better
than every team they faced along
the way.
Michigan made it. It was a
long, uneven road but the eyes
of college baseball might have
finally turned north.
Don’t let the end distract from Michigan’s run
Wolverines national runners-up after being named one of last four teams into the College World Series
KENT
SCHWARTZ
Offense quiet as Michigan falls to Vanderbilt in CWS Finals
OMAHA, Neb. – It was almost
enough.
Deft
management
from
Michigan coach Erik Bakich. A
batting order that had been hot all
postseason.
All of these were almost enough.
But Vanderbilt’s pitchers were
just too talented, too experienced,
and Michigan’s upstart offense
wasn’t
up
to
the
task.
The
Wolverines recorded just 2 runs
on 6 hits in a 8-2 loss to the
Commodores.
“The last two days in the red
zone, I haven’t gotten it done,”
said senior first baseman Jimmy
Kerr. “I’ve been striking out with
runners on base, less than two
outs, when my team needed me. We
haven’t got the two-out RBIs that
we did early on. We didn’t have the
clutch hits that we got early on.”
In the top of the first inning,
it looked as if Michigan’s lineup
would stay hot in the postseason.
Senior
second
baseman
Ako
Thomas, thrust back into the
leadoff role he had occupied
in years past after an injury to
sophomore
designated
hitter
Jordan Nwogu, cracked a single
to left field to kick off the title
game. He advanced to third on
a single from sophomore center
fielder Jesse Franklin and scored
on an RBI single from junior right
fielder Jordan Brewer, putting the
Wolverines on top, 1-0.
But that was all the success
that Michigan’s offense saw for
several innings. A few walks saw
some baserunners, but Vanderbilt’s
pitching retired the lineup each
inning with clinical precision.
The Commodores didn’t allow a
runner past second base for six
straight innings. They struck out
14 Wolverines on the day.
The
Wolverines
didn’t
get
another hit until the eighth inning,
at which point Vanderbilt already
led, 7-1, a chasm that proved too
wide for Michigan to breach. The
Wolverines tacked on another run,
but it was too late. Their bats had
been quiet for too long.
Though they ended up totaling a
respectable six hits on the night –
just three short of Vanderbilt’s nine
– they could not capitalize on the
opportunities they got. Michigan
left eight runners on base. And as
a volatile Commodore lineup beat
up the Wolverines’ pitchers, those
were
opportunities
Michigan
could not afford to lose.
“We just didn’t execute the
way we were supposed to,” senior
second baseman Ako Thomas said.
“We were kind of on our heels the
rest of the game, didn’t maximize
our opportunities. But we fought
our hardest out there.”
ZACHARY GOLDSMITH/Daily
Michigan coach Erik Bakich led the Wolverines to the College World Series final
ZACHARY GOLDSMITH/Daily
Sophomore center fielder Jesse Franklin made the NCAA All-Tournament Team along with four other Wolverines.
ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer