Senior pitcher Chris Fetter felt his season end before it was actually over.

The Wolverines had just allowed the Wildcats to score six uncontested runs during the fifth and sixth innings. The Wolverines' lead deteriorated into a 10-6 deficit.

Then, after the sixth inning as Michigan (9-15 Big Ten, 30-25 overall) was headed back to the dugout in hopes of a comeback, a voice came over the loudspeaker announcing that Purdue was comfortably leading Illinois 8-1 going into the sixth inning.

Fetter’s heart sank. The dugout went silent. Michigan baseball coach Rich Maloney said nothing. A Boilermaker victory meant there would be no Big Ten Tournament run, no four-peat as conference champions, no trip to Columbus.

And, as Fetter had expected, Purdue went on to beat the Fighting Illini, 12-8.

Still, the Wolverines had to finish Saturday’s doubleheader, ending in 10-6 and 6-5 losses.

Only 24 hours before, these games had meant everything to the Wolverines, but after learning of their postseason fate, they would only serve as examples of Michigan’s disappointing season record.

“It was pretty hard for all of us because we’ve never really played a game where it didn’t mean anything,” Fetter said. “That was hard to sit there and watch that game and know that it didn’t really count towards anything.”

Fetter had done all he could on Thursday night during the first game of the series. After pitching three scoreless innings, Fetter allowed six runs during the fourth inning. But Fetter and freshman Brandon Sinnery were able to keep the Wildcats silent after that as the Wolverines used a nine-run seventh inning to claim the first game of the series, 16-6.

At the plate, junior Mike Dufek led the offensive attack, going 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI. Junior Alan Oaks helped to lighten the load, batting 2-for-4 with three RBI, despite Northwestern’s best efforts to slow the scoring surge with three pitchers in the seventh.

A rainout on Friday turned Saturday’s game into a doubleheader while Purdue dropped their middle game 6-3 to Illinois. The Boilermakers’ loss gave Michigan hope. If Purdue lost again on Saturday and Michigan swept Northwestern (5-17, 14-35), the sixth spot in the Big Ten Tournament would have the Wolverines’ name on it.

But Purdue finished with a win, and Michigan saw their season come to an unfamiliar halt.

For the past three seasons, the Wolverines hoisted the Big Ten Tournament title trophy, but this year they came two wins short of a postseason berth.

Those two wins seemed somewhat hefty for a team that went 1-2 in every Big Ten series except for Iowa.

“It’s hard not to look back on those times and think ‘What if?’ or ‘What could have been?’” Fetter said. “Maybe if we could have won a few of those games, got on a roll, been right there on the top, competing for a Big Ten Championship, our season could have been completely different.”

Senior Kenny Fellows made the most of his last outing in a Michigan uniform, batting 4-for-9 with three RBI. Freshman John Lorenz stepped up in the second game of the doubleheader and went 3-for-4 with one run and two RBI.

But the few bright spots over the weekend did little to override the blemish of Michigan's absence in the Big Ten Tournament.

“I think the weekend in general was kind of representative of the rest of our season,” Fellows said. “We made a lot of mistakes that we’ve been making all season. We didn’t really step up in the moments.”

And on Saturday, Fetter watched from the dugout as the Wolverines two losses seemed to be a reflection on his last season as well.

“Usually we had one or two facets of our game – hitting, pitching or fielding,” Fetter said. “But we just couldn’t put all three together at the same time. That holds true throughout the whole season. We were never able to put everything together.”

Now the Wolverines will head back to work and try to put together all facets of their game for the 2010 campaign. But the offseason will be long and the trophy case lonely without the Big Ten four-peat.

“We will leave no stone unturned and work hard to get back to where we need to be next season,” Maloney said. “I think that this feeling we have as we walk out of here today is something that will drive our returning players.”