With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Sunday’s outcome looked promising for the Michigan baseball team. Junior centerfielder Jackson Glines, the Wolverines’ best hitter, was at bat with the bases loaded. Down just 3-1, a lead was in sight.
But Glines grounded into a double play, to end the inning, leaving the Wolverines in disbelief. Sophomore shortstop Travis Maezes stared into the dugout. Sophomore third baseman Jacob Cronenworth squatted, looking down into the turf. Freshman catcher Harrison Wenson had his hand on his hips, staring up in the sky. They all knew the opportunity was there, but nothing came of it.
A day after tallying 11 hits, Michigan couldn’t find enough offense on Sunday, losing to Minnesota, 3-1.
Michigan (4-5 Big Ten, 14-17-1 overall) started the day’s scoring when junior first baseman Kyle Jusick led off the second inning with a double to right-center field and scored on freshman left fielder Carmen Benedetti’s sacrifice fly.
Minnesota (5-4, 17-10) responded in odd fashion. With two outs in the third inning, junior left-hander Trent Szkutnik struck out Dan Motl, but a dropped third strike and a throwing error by Wenson left Motl in scoring position. He scored on the next play.
It appeared that Wenson initially tagged Motl, as he reacted oddly to the umpires’ no call on what appeared to be a routine dropped third strike.
“I didn’t have a great view, but I was just going off of (Wenson’s) reaction,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “I think Harrison probably got him.
“We’ve just got to learn from it. We’ve got to be tough enough to where we can overcome that and not exacerbate the situation and give a two-out hit. It’s just a free run.”
The Golden Gophers took their momentum to the fourth inning, scoring two runs off a ground-rule double and an RBI single.
Aside from Jusick’s double, Michigan couldn’t find any timely hitting. Minnesota forced four 1-2-3 innings and the Wolverines failed to provide any run support.
Szkutnik entered the game 0-3, a meager record at face value. But it certainly isn’t representative of how dominant he has pitched. With eight MLB scouts watching his outing, the junior threw six innings on Sunday, allowing just two earned runs while punching out five.
“(Szkutnik) gave us a chance to win, and we didn’t get it done behind him,” Bakich said.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Szkutnik’s day was not succumbing to the pressure of scouts.
“It used to (make me nervous),” Szkutnik said. “But you’ve got to analyze yourself. Thinking about that — will that help you win? The team win? It doesn’t.”
Minnesota’s strong defense, though, proved to be too much to overcome, despite Szkutnik’s performance. In the fifth inning, senior catcher Cole Martin was thrown out by the right fielder attempting to take third on a Benedetti single.
The Golden Gophers’ outfield stayed consistent, with Motl robbing a Maezes line drive to center in the same inning.
Michigan showed glimpses of being a Big Ten contender this weekend, but it must fix its inconsistencies if it has any hope of making a splash in the conference.
What happened Friday.
Cronenworth allowed three runs in a blown save, including one on a walk in the 11th-inning of the Wolverines’ 9-6 loss to Minnesota.
“We dug ourselves a pretty good hole a couple of times,” Bakich said. “When you have a chance to win the game, you win the game. Otherwise, you let the other team hang around, and then they take advantage of an opportunity to stay in the game and score runs.”
The blame, though, couldn’t solely be pinned on Cronenworth. Senior right-hander Ben Ballantine struggled to find any rhythm, throwing 77 pitches in three innings while allowing four hits and a run.
Michigan got down early, 5-0, but came back firing, eventually evening the game at six to go into extra innings.
But, once again, the bats became anemic, and Minnesota tallied three runs for the win.
What happened Saturday.
Michigan combined hot bats with near-perfect pitching to even the series with Minnesota.
The Wolverines looked to change the weekend’s momentum, and they did just that in an 8-1 win.
Sophomore left-hander Evan Hill was the catalyst behind Michigan’s success, throwing 6.2 scoreless innings in dominant fashion. He finished the game with four strikeouts.
Freshman outfielder Jackson Lamb gave Hill all the run support he needed, hitting a two-run home run to left-center field — the first home run at Ray Fisher Stadium this season.