COLUMBUS — Michigan coach Rich Maloney could see it coming.

After a miserable performance by his pitching staff in Michigan's 13-10 loss to Michigan State on May 12th, Maloney admitted he was concerned about his arms, and was unsure where the answers were going to come from on the mound.

And that unease only grew over the next couple weeks, as the Wolverines blew late leads in key games against Northwestern and Penn State and also gave up 14 runs to the Wildcats in what became a miraculous 15-14 comeback win.

After dismantling Iowa and avoiding the issue in the first game of the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan’s relief woes finally came back to haunt it, as the team’s bullpen blew late leads against Minnesota in the semifinal and the Hawkeyes in the final of the loser’s bracket.

“We just couldn’t hold the leads,” Maloney said. “For part of the year, the relievers did really well. I think they just got tired.”

The Wolverines only seemed to have one player they could count on — junior right-hander and closer Tyler Burgoon, who was lights-out from the bullpen after starting early in the season.

But even he struggled as the season neared its end, giving up the winning runs in the 5-4 loss to Minnesota on May 8th and the aforementioned loss to Northwestern on May 15th.

And it was Burgoon who gave up the lead against the Gophers on Saturday, sending Michigan to a crushing extra-innings defeat and to the loser’s bracket at the same time, badly damaging its tournament hopes.

Maloney put some of the blame for his bullpen’s collapse on overwork, as the Wolverines didn’t have starting pitching that went deep enough into games. Senior right-hander Alan Oaks looked to be that ace early in the year with his performances against a tough non-conference slate. But he faded, and the other two spots were mired with inconsistency the entire season.

“Those guys worked really hard,” Maloney said. “They gave a valiant effort, and I think they just got tired … What we didn’t do, which is a little bit disheartening, we didn’t get enough out of the players we thought we would get a little bit more out of.”

Redshirt junior right-hander Matt Gerbe, junior right-handers Kolby Wood and Matt Miller, senior left-hander Eric Katzman and others all showed flashes of brilliance and were at the very least competent for long stretches.

But as Michigan’s two blown leads in its last two tournament games showed, the Wolverines simply ran out of gas on the mound.

A bright future: While the weekend marked the conclusion of Michigan’s season and the end of the line for several players, those who will inherit the program showed plenty to be excited about in future seasons.

Freshman centerfielder Patrick Biondi shined defensively the entire tournament, and while he struggled offensively in the final two games, Minnesota’s players admitted that a key part of their game plan was to keep the speedy Biondi off the basepaths.

Meanwhile, redshirt freshman left-hander Bobby Brosnahan, who was the No. 2 starter a large portion of the year but also struggled at times, dominated Minnesota on Saturday, allowing just one run over 6.2 innings.

Maloney has repeatedly stated that he thinks the left-hander can be something special, and with no other standout candidate, Brosnahan could very well be Michigan’s ace next year.

The coach has equally high hopes for freshman shortstop Derek Dennis, who had six hits over the three tournament games. Maloney firmly believes that he’ll end up as another Wolverine star.

“(Dennis) showed signs of stardom (this season),” Maloney said. “He just wasn’t quite strong enough, wasn’t quite ready yet. But that boy has a great future, so I think we’ll be talking about him a lot.”

Bittersweet accolades: The Wolverines’ only real goal coming into the Big Ten Tournament was a team one — to win the playoff.

But while they failed at that, several individuals were honored in light of their performances.

The following Michigan players were named to the All-Tournament team: Brosnahan, senior first baseman Mike Dufek, redshirt junior second baseman Anthony Toth, sophomore third baseman John Lorenz and junior leftfielder Ryan LaMarre.

With five players represented, the Wolverines placed more on the team than any other school.