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Thursday, June 3, 2021
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
SPORTS
Pitching and defense.
Those were the themes for
both teams throughout the series
as the Michigan baseball team
(27-17 Big Ten) went 1-2 to close
the regular season at Nebraska
(31-12).
In
game
one,
redshirt
sophomore left-hander Steven
Hajjar took the hill for the
Wolverines.
Hajjar
tossed
a
complete game, giving up just one
run on four hits. Hajjar picked
up five strikeouts in the contest,
dominating for much of the game.
“Steve was really good. He was
throwing hard, he had all of his
pitches working, he was using
his change-up a lot,” Sophomore
right-hander Cameron Weston
said. He was using his changeup
to get a lot of early outs and used
our defense. He usually is a high
strikeout guy but he was able to
get early outs on Friday, which
made him go deep into the game.”
But
the
Michigan
offense
did not fare much better than
Nebraska’s.
The
Wolverines
picked up four hits as well but
were unable to push across a
run and fell, 1-0. Sophomore
outfielder Tito Flores led the
way with two hits, but was
thrown out trying to stretch a
double into a triple, rendering
graduate transfer catcher Griffin
Mazur’s ensuing single useless.
Sophomore
outfielder
Clark
Elliott also reached twice in the
game.
In game two, the Wolverines
picked up a win in another
close-fought, low scoring affair.
Weston was electric, allowing
just four hits over seven scoreless
innings.
“(Hajjar and Weston) came to
play,” Flores said. “You can see
it in their eyes, they kept their
composure. They just full-out
played Michigan baseball, all the
way, just competed all the way
through and played for the eight
letters across their chest.”
The
defense
was
on
full
display as well. Graduate transfer
infielder Benjamin Sems made
a spectacular spinning play in
the first to record an out, while
graduate
transfer
infielder
Christian Molfetta also made
several nice plays. Meanwhile,
the
Huskers
made
several
diving catches in the outfield
and the third baseman made
several diving stops to rob the
Wolverines of multiple hits in
each of the three games.
“I was just getting a lot of
strikes,” Weston said. “Getting
a lot of ground balls and just
letting my defense work for me.”
Matt Frey: No regrets
Inside the Michigan baseball
program, it’s customary for a
senior to make a short speech to
his teammates before each series.
Before the Wolverines’ season-
opening series against Iowa, fifth-
year infielder Matt Frey took his
turn.
In the speech, he told his
teammates that they won’t know
when they’ve played their last game,
so they should always play and act in
a way that will leave them with no
regrets when that time comes. Frey
considered the topic to be a little
ironic, because he was about to enter
his fifth season of college baseball
and will likely play a sixth. But he’s
also an expert on the subject.
In the fall of 2020, Frey was
preparing for his best season yet.
He had improved steadily and
significantly during his four years
at
Davidson,
progressing
from
a light-hitting bench piece as an
underclassman
to
an
everyday
player as a junior to a five-tool
standout as a senior, when he slashed
.327/.507/.551 with five stolen bases
in a shortened season. Then he used
the spring and summer to get even
better.
“Over quarantine, I decided to try
to swing the bat harder,” Frey said.
“And then balls that I was hitting
that were outs when I was not
swinging as hard started to fall or go
over the fence.”
When the NCAA announced an
extra year of eligibility for Division
1 baseball players in response to
COVID-19,
Frey
committed
to
Michigan. Davidson coach Rucker
Taylor played under Michigan coach
Erik Bakich at Vanderbilt, and sung
Bakich’s praises to Frey.
“The culture that (Bakich) has
built around here, the winning
mentality that he’s built around
here, the team performance, coupled
with the academic side …. It was a
no-brainer,” Frey said of his decision
to commit to Michigan.
When he arrived in Ann Arbor,
Frey continued to improve with the
help of Michigan’s coaching staff
and other program resources. He
established himself as Michigan’s
best hitter “by a landslide” during
fall practices, according to Bakich,
and was the frontrunner to be the
team’s starting third baseman.
Then disaster struck.
Frey was fielding a bunt during
the last official fall practice when
his cleat got stuck in the turf,
making him fall and twist his knee
awkwardly. He was able to get up
and walk, and didn’t think the injury
was very severe. But an MRI taken
shortly after revealed that he had
torn his ACL, ruling Frey out for the
entire 2021 season.
Frey had played his last baseball
of the near future. So when he told
his teammates that they’ll never
know when time’s up, he knew what
he was talking about.
Even though he can’t play, he’s
found ways to contribute that are
just as important. Frey has managed
to become an indispensable part of
Team 155 and has made the most of
his time at Michigan.
Becca Mahon/Daily. Buy this
photo.
***
Michigan
takes
its
pitching
machine with it on road trips. The
machine is big and awkwardly
shaped, and it always makes a
loud crashing noise when it exits
the luggage chute for the baggage
carousel at the airport.
Other passengers, waiting for
their bags, furrow their brows
as they try to make sense of the
situation. Frey and his teammates
find this hilarious.
Little moments like that, he said,
are what he has enjoyed most about
this season.
JACK WHITTEN
Daily Sports Writer
Michigan’s offense falls short as Wolverines drop close-fought series
to Nebraska
STEEL HURLEY
Daily Sports Writer
KATE HUA/Daily
Michigan couldn’t overcome a sluggish offense and dropped a series to Nebraska, 2-1.
BECCA MAHON/Daily
An injury knocked Matt Frey out for the season. But he’s still found a way to be an
important part of the team.
Read more at michigandaily.com
Read more at michigandaily.com