Heading into this weekend’s series against Minnesota, the Michigan baseball team had several questions surrounding its pitching staff.

The most basic of those questions was who would step up alongside freshman left-hander Evan Hill in the weekend rotation. Hill leads the team in ERA (2.06), wins (four) and innings pitched (43.2).

Fortunately for Michigan coach Erik Bakich, he received some much-needed answers from junior left-hander Logan McAnallen and sophomore left-hander Trent Szkutnik, who both earned the starting job for the Minnesota series.

Bakich said he went with an all left-handed rotation to counter Minnesota’s several left-handed batters and in an attempt to control the Gophers’ running game. And it worked out in his favor, as McAnallen allowed only one earned run off four hits and fanned six batters in 5.1 innings.

Szkutnik also flashed glimpses of why he should stay in the rotation, allowing just two earned runs after scattering nine hits in 6.2 innings. Despite Szkutnik’s best start of the year, Bakich mentioned that only McAnallen will be a sure bet to stay alongside Hill in the rotation next weekend.

But McAnallen securing that second spot is a step forward in solving Michigan’s lasting pitching dilemma.

(ALMOST) SLIPPING OUT OF A FUNK: Coming into the Minnesota series, the Wolverines had scored a paltry 22 runs in seven games. But in the opening game of Saturday’s doubleheader, Michigan exploded for 11 runs to seemingly mark the end of a two-week-long offensive rut. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, that wasn’t the case, as they managed to touch home plate just once in the latter half of the doubleheader.

Michigan’s 11-run, 16-hit performance matched a season high in both offensive categories, and showcased a preview of what the offense is capable of when firing on all cylinders. The Wolverines scored in every inning from the third on, mixing in an impressive display of fighting off pitches for opposite-field singles along with plenty of extra-base hits.

Friday's game was reminiscent of the previous seven games that saw the offense struggle, but to be fair not many teams could hit the stuff that Minnesota’s starter, left-hander Tom Windle, was featuring. He threw a complete game, allowing just one earned run off four hits as he struck out 13 Wolverines along the way.

On Saturday, the Wolverines simply couldn’t carry over the offensive success from game one to game two, as they failed to advance runners in scoring position several times. The last game of this weekend’s series ended eerily similar to the previous weekend’s finale.

With a runner on third and two outs, sophomore left-fielder Zach Zott failed to get the tying run across the plate, just as junior right-fielder Michael O’Neill wasn’t able to do so last weekend against Western Illinois.

A bit more consistency at the plate, along with clutch hitting, will be the recipe for finally digging out of the offensive slump that has plagued the Wolverines lately.

BIONDI’S IMPROVEMENT: Senior center fielder Patrick Biondi has been out of the lineup with a left thumb injury for the past three weeks, but Bakich has used him sparingly as a pinch runner. Against Minnesota, Biondi made his first appearance on defense since March 10 at San Diego, and he failed to disappoint.

Just as he replaced sophomore Kyle Jusick at center field in the eighth inning, Biondi made a running catch to record the second out. It’s pretty routine for Biondi to run down incoming fly balls, but this time Biondi wasn’t wearing his glove on his left hand like he usually does. Due to the injury, he wore his glove on his right hand to avoid further harming his left thumb, but that change hardly affected Michigan’s captain.

While the timetable is still uncertain for Biondi’s return to the lineup, an outstanding catch with his off-hand in his first defensive appearance in weeks has the Wolverines hopeful.

“As soon as the good Lord will allow it to happen, he’s gonna be in there,” Bakich said. “We certainly need him back in there, that’s for sure.”