Wednesday, June 8, 2022 — 7
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Wolverines come up short against Louisville, end season
DAVID WOELKERS
Daily Sports Writer
On Sunday night, things looked
bleak for the Michigan baseball
team. After winning the first two
games of the Louisville Regional,
the Wolverines were blown out by
Louisville to force a third and final
game between the two teams.
In a back and forth affair on
Monday, Michigan (34-28) came up
just short, losing 11-9 to the Cardinals
(42-19-1) and ending its season.
“If we had a few more innings
there, we could’ve gotten a few more
runs,” graduate center fielder Joe
Stewart said. “Unfortunately the
game is only nine.”
After recording only three hits in
the entirety of Sunday’s game, the
Wolverines needed just 10 pitches
to match that total, hitting back-to-
back-to-back doubles to start the
Regional Final and take a 2-0 lead.
Michigan looked primed to add
another run to the score after a two-
out pickoff attempt went wild, but
a flyout by senior shortstop Riley
Bertram ended the inning.
Just as soon as the momentum
looked to be with the Wolverines, the
Cardinals ripped it right back to their
side.
Despite sitting down two of his
first four batters, sophomore left-
hander
Connor
O’Halloran
fell
apart in the first inning, hitting two
batters and allowing three base hits
— including a double.
As the top of the Louisville lineup
returned to the plate, O’Halloran was
pulled from the game, leaving with
the bases loaded and the Wolverines
staring at a sudden two-run deficit.
The Cardinals weren’t done yet.
Taking advantage of sophomore
right-hander Chase Allen’s premature
entry into the game, Louisville
shortstop Christian Knapcyzk laid
down a surprise bunt on the first
pitch he saw, catching the Michigan
infield by surprise and scoring a run.
Allen then walked in a sixth run
on four straight balls, before allowing
the Cardinals’ seventh and final run
of the first inning on a fielding error.
Despite striking out the next
batter, the damage had already been
done — seven runs, all on two outs.
“We couldn’t really put a stop on
it,” Michigan coach Erik Bakich said.
“It seemed like it was spiraling very
fast, and we just couldn’t get Chase
ready quick enough. It’s a credit to a
really good offense.”
Following
the
first
inning
fireworks, Louisville starter Garrett
Schmeltz made easy work of the
Wolverines’ lineup through his next
two innings of work — striking out
four of seven batters with the only
exception being a solo home run by
graduate third baseman Matt Frey.
As Allen appeared to be settling
into the game, his day was suddenly
cut short by the presence of lightning
in the area, forcing a lengthy weather
delay that ended up requiring both
coaches to go to the bullpen.
While neither team immediately
capitalized on the pitching change,
momentum trickled in Michigan’s
direction after junior outfielder Clark
Elliott smashed a solo home run with
two outs to keep the top of the sixth
alive.
After a pair of singles by graduate
center fielder Joe Stewart and
graduate third baseman Matt Frey,
junior catcher Jimmy Obertop turned
the trickle into a flood, tying the game
at 7-7 on a three-run missile sent over
the right-field wall.
“We regrouped during that break,”
Obertop said. “We’ve scored more
than seven runs before so we knew
if we did it together we’d be able to
come back.”
The comeback bid was completed
in the next inning by junior second
baseman Ted Burton, who blasted
the Wolverines’ fourth home run of
the game to break the tie. A chopper
single by Stewart put the score at 9-7,
putting his team in the driver’s seat
heading into the home stretch.
With the shift in momentum,
Michigan turned to junior right-
hander Cameron Weston to hold the
fragile lead through the final innings.
Weston started to do just that,
retiring eight straight batters to start
his outing.
But after walking the ninth batter
he faced, Weston allowed a base hit
to Jack Payton. Attempting to stretch
it into a double, a play at second base
was ruled safe by the umpire.
Burton and the Michigan infield
called for an immediate review, but
the play stood.
“I haven’t seen the review yet, but
the rule is very clear,” Bakich said.
“It has to be clear and conclusive
evidence, and I’m sure that’s what
was said. Had (the second base
umpire) called him out and Louisville
challenged it, it probably would’ve
stood.”
With one last chance, the Cardinals
flipped the script on the Wolverines,
hitting a double, single and ultimately
a two-run home run — scoring four
runs and taking the lead.
Michigan could not find an
equalizer in the top of the ninth,
putting a stop to the Wolverines’
comeback — and with it, an end to a
shot at the Super Regional.
The Michigan baseball team’s season ended in a loss to Louisville in the Regional Final.
SARAH BOEKE/Daily
Ian Payne: Eighth inning call upends Michigan’s momentum
The
Michigan
baseball
team’s
miraculous
postseason
run
is over — and it
ended on a sour
note.
After
a
controversial call
at second base kept
the eighth inning alive, Louisville
reclaimed the lead — and soon after
won the game.
With two outs in the bottom of the
eighth inning, junior right-hander
Cameron Weston stood on the
mound — closely guarding a two run
lead. On the weekend, Weston tossed
seven scoreless innings in relief, a
true clutch factor for the Wolverines.
But the batter at the plate —
Cardinals’ designated hitter Jack
Payton — smacked the ball into left
field and sprinted around the bases.
As he approached second base, the
cutoff throw from senior shortstop
Riley Bertram found the glove of
junior second baseman Ted Burton
and he swiped at Payton as he slid
into the bag head first.
The umpire called him safe on
the bang-bang play, and all of Jim
Patterson Stadium waited with bated
breath as the long review process
played out.
The call stood.
With this new life, the Cardinals
rallied — and after seeing their
momentum hit a brick wall, a deflated
Michigan could only watch. The next
Louisville batter brought Payton and
another baserunner home to tie the
game. Then a game-winning two-run
homer gave Louisville the lead.
“Had he called him out and
Louisville reviewed it the call
probably
would
have
stood,”
Michigan coach Erik Bakich said.
“He called him safe … the rule is very
clear it has to be conclusive evidence
to over turn.”
However what the replay showed
was clear: the runner was out.
While I can understand close calls
being hard to overturn, the video was
a clear case.
Burton’s glove could be clearly
seen bouncing off of Payton’s hand,
catching Payton’s fingers and tipping
them up. His fingers were clearly not
on the bag as the glove made contact.
That’s an out. The inning should
have been over.
That type of blown call is
disruptive at the best of times, but
in the postseason it can be — and in
this instance almost certainly was —
season altering.
The Louisville Regional was a tale
of momentum. In the first two days,
the Wolverines rode their Big Ten
Championship energy to upset wins
over Oregon and the Cardinals. And
on Sunday, Louisville capitalized
on its own win over the Ducks with
a 20-1 evisceration of Michigan —
forcing Monday’s tiebreaker.
And coming out of a weather delay
in Monday’s game, the Wolverines
seized their own momentum. They
overcame a four-run deficit with a
six-run stretch in the fifth and sixth
innings
“We regrouped during that break,”
junior catcher Jimmy Obertop said.
“We knew we would be able to come
back.”
Winning
teams
create
and
capitalize on momentum shifts. It is
how Michigan managed to make it as
far as it did into the postseason.
Louisville certainly capitalized
off of the eighth-inning momentum
shift well, and undoubtedly earned
the win. However, it did not reclaim
the momentum on its own and that
soured the game’s result.
If the call had been properly
overturned then the Wolverines
would have entered the ninth inning
up two runs and with momentum
on their side. Whether or not the
Cardinals could have still found an
energy shift on their own will never
be answered.
“It sucks the way it ended,”
Bakich said. “But congratulations to
Louisville, they’ve got a great team.”
Michigan
had
a
tumultuous
season. It struggled to find its identity
and live up to its potential, but it hit its
stride and found a little magic in the
postseason.
Now, that run’s dissonant final
note — kickstarted in part by a poor
review call — makes that magic a
little harder to appreciate.
A controversial second base call ripped
momentum away from the Michigan
baseball team.
SARAH BOEKE/Daily
BASEBALL
BASEBALL
IAN PAYNE