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Wednesday, July 3, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
The one out that doomed Michigan’s championship dream
The
selection
show
was
projected on a screen for all
gathered around to see. Upon
seeing their school name put into a
bracket slot, the Michigan baseball
players erupted in a cheer.
Some jumped to their feet in
joy while others looked around
for recipients to their high-fives,
because the Wolverines were one of
the last four teams into the NCAA
Tournament after a turbulent end
to their season jeopardized their
spot. Though a long shot, it was a
chance for a shot at the title, and a
chance was all they needed.
Twelve games later, one of the
last teams in was poised to be the
“last one out.”
But that title eluded them after
a meltdown in game three of the
College World Series finals. And
it all originated from the game-
changing third inning. That’s not
to say Michigan would have won
if it had given up zero runs at the
bottom of the third, but with a 1-1
game at that point, the team was
one out from keeping it that way.
In a game where the Wolverines
could only muster two runs, the
third inning collapse defined the
game. By the end of it, all of the
smiles and jubilance from the
Wolverines’ dugout were traded
for grim looks and sighs.
“I just think that Vanderbilt
got
5
two-out
RBIs
tonight,”
said
Michigan
coach Erik Bakich.
“We’ve been doing
that all postseason
and they did that
tonight.”
Karl Kauffman
had pitched two
innings.
Despite
allowing a home
run in the second
inning, the junior right-hander
looked steady on the mound. He
started the third as he had finished
the second — with a strikeout. A
groundout to third base all but
reaffirmed that Kauffman had
recollected himself after allowing
the dinger.
Then it came — the breakdown.
Three pitches outside, one pitch
too low; Kauffman dealt a 4-0 walk.
A single down the middle off an
0-2 count escalated the situation.
A strike would have ended it,
shutting down the threat. Instead,
the Wolverines put a runner in
scoring position, prolonging the
chance for the Commodores to
take the lead. And
after
two
more
walks, they did.
“We
issued
a
couple too many
free
passes,”
Bakich
said,
“especially
with
two outs, and then
they
capitalized
and got the big two
out hit.”
Kauffman
walked Vanderbilt’s Philip Clarke
to load the bases, sparking three
teammates to trot down the
warning track. It was time to
heat up the bullpen. A second
walk ended the stalemate. The
Commodores were in control and
now led, 2-1, only for the very next
pitch thrown to be hit down the
middle and widen the gap, 4-1.
A prompt visit from sophomore
catcher Joe Donovan and a popout
in the next at-bat stopped the
bleeding. But the damage was
done.
It boiled down to one out. They
were one out from ending the
third inning threat, one out from
keeping Vanderbilt from taking
the lead, one out from potentially
being the last one out — the College
World Series champions.
“They just played better than us
tonight,” Bakich said. “That’s why
they’re the champs.”
TIEN LE
Daily Sports Editor
Looking back at the historic wins that shaped the Wolverines’ run
Behind every deep tournament
run are the wins that shaped the
team. It was no different for the
Michigan baseball team’s historic
– and, at times, improbable – run.
They don’t tell this team’s whole
story. Nothing could. But they’re a
good place to start. The Daily takes
a look back of some of this season’s
defining wins.
March 8 – Michigan 7, No. 2
UCLA 5
There’s a lot of talk in sports
about “statement wins.” That’s
what this was.
In a tough road environment
against then-No. 2 UCLA, which
spent most of the season as the
best team in the country, junior
left-hander Tommy Henry struck
out ten over six innings of two-run
baseball. Michigan scored four
runs in the first inning, tacking on
two in the third and one more in
the eighth for insurance.
This was the win that showed
a flash of what this team could
become, what they would become:
a national contender. In the face
and on the home turf of arguably
the
toughest
competition
the
Wolverines
faced
all
season,
Michigan dominated the game.
They never trailed.
It wasn’t the last time the two
teams met this season either.
May 23 – Michigan 5, Illinois 4
One strike away.
Team 153 was one strike away
from an early end to its season,
one strike away from not making
a postseason appearance at all, one
strike away from this magical run.
Luckily, sophomore designated
hitter Jordan Nwogu had other
ideas.
Michigan was down, 4-3, to
Illinois in the bottom of the ninth
inning. A loss to Ohio State the
day before meant that falling to
the Fighting Illini would send the
Wolverines home for good.
Nwogu stepped up to the plate
with two on and two out. With
Michigan’s season on the line, he
launched a two-run double to left
center, and the Wolverines walked
off with a 5-4 victory.
It was exactly the catalyst
they needed. Since that win, the
Wolverines have been hot. But
it’s more than that. That was the
win that introduced them to what
Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin
called their “playing personality”:
free and loose, having fun, and
playing to win – not just playing
not to lose.
“We saw the end of our season
right in front of us,” said senior
first baseman Jimmy Kerr during
the College World Series. “That
kind of made the whole team
appreciate every single game that
we’ve had together since then. And
that’s kind of the bigger picture.
It’s not that we’re playing in a
Regional, Super Regional, College
World Series championship; it’s
just that we get another game with
each other.”
June 9 – Michigan 4, No. 1
UCLA 2
UCLA’s lineup was the best in
the country. No one had been able
to stop them all season. Michigan
had as good as lost the game
already.
Instead, the Wolverines pulled
out a 4-2 victory to head to the
College World Series.
Henry, sick with the flu and
pneumonia, and still recovering
from the biceps tendonitis that
rendered
him
inconsistent
throughout much of the second
half of the season, pitched seven
innings
of
two
run-baseball
— containing a Bruins batting
order
that
seemed
practically
unstoppable.
Sound familiar?
The first time Michigan played
UCLA, it was just a flash of the
team they could be. Three months
later, they had gone even further.
June 15 – Michigan 5, Texas
Tech 3
The first time Michigan and
Texas Tech met, it was proof of
how far the Wolverines still had to
go to be an Omaha contender. They
were swept and outscored 29-10
over three games.
Three
months
later,
the
Wolverines
were
an
entirely
different team — their bats hot,
their pitchers cool and their
defense firing on all cylinders.
The Red Raiders provided the
perfect litmus test: had Michigan
really learned from its mistakes,
and could it really compete at the
highest stage in collegiate baseball?
The answer to both questions
was
an
emphatic
yes.
The
Wolverines got off to a quick start
as a sacrifice fly from junior right
fielder
Jordan
Brewer
scored
Nwogu in the top of the first.
They tacked on three more in the
third as Kerr launched a two-RBI
triple down the right field line and
scored on a single from senior third
baseman Blake Nelson.
Texas Tech made it close,
scoring two runs in the bottom of
the third and adding another in the
bottom of the sixth, but Michigan
was unshaken. They added a run
in the top of the seventh when
sophomore center fielder Jesse
Franklin scored on an error for
insurance, then cruised to a 5-3
victory on the backs of solid
pitching from junior right-hander
Karl Kauffmann (7 innings, 8
hits, 3 runs) and sophomore right-
hander Jeff Criswell (two solid
innings of one-hit relief).
The Wolverines had made a
statement: they were more than
just a Cinderella team, and their
run amounted to more than just
luck.
Michigan, at long last, was a
national contender again.
ABBY SNYDER
Daily Sports Writer
We issued a
couple too
many free
passes ...
ZACHARY GOLDSMITH/Daily
Junior right-hander Karl Kauffmann started game three of the CWS championship