EAST LANSING – After winning all five of its previous Big Ten series, the Michigan baseball team’s run came to an end against Michigan State as the Spartans took home victories on both Friday and Saturday. But every conference game matters as the schedule pushes toward postseason play. 

For the Wolverines, Sunday’s game wasn’t just to avoid being swept on the season by their in-state rivals, a bid to Omaha for the Big Ten Tournament is in the peripherals.

In a crucial matchup for both squads, Michigan (25-23 overall, 11-8 Big Ten) had the last blow in an offensive shootout against Michigan State (21-23, 10-8), as the Wolverines beat its in-state rival, 10-8.

“Mathematically, you don’t want to get swept with only six games to go,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said. 

Just like the previous two games, the Spartans circled the bases early and often, scoring in each of their first three innings, amassing four runs to the Wolverines’ one. In a crucial game, they seemed to be out of steam.

But in the fourth inning, Michigan’s offense began to play to the level of the stakes. A walk and a single brought the hot-hitting graduate second baseman Mack Timbrook to the plate, who launched a no-doubt three-run homer into the trees beyond the towering right-field wall. Just two batters later, sophomore center fielder Jonathan Kim smashed his second home run in as many days to give the Wolverines a 5-4 lead.

Entering Sunday’s matchup, Michigan sat at 10-7 in the Big Ten, good for sixth place in a crowded top half of the conference. Falling to Michigan State, who sat in seventh place at 9-8 would swap the two squads, putting the Wolverines at risk to be on the bubble for the eight-team Big Ten Tournament.

“I told the guys, ‘You won’t realize how important that game is until the end of the season shakes out,’ ” Smith said. “So, again, I cannot overemphasize how important that game was.”

And in perhaps his highest-pressure appearance of the year, sophomore right-hander Kurt Barr turned in his shakiest performance. The uncharacteristic outing from Barr forced Smith to call on fifth-year left-hander Jacob Denner for the 10th time in 12 games.

But the Spartans got to Denner, too, collecting two runs off of him early. With Michigan State lighting up the Wolverines’ most consistent pitchers, the onus was on the offense to keep up.

And they did, with Timbrook leading Michigan on that front. After his home run in the fourth inning, he struck a double off of the wall in the fifth. Sophomore first baseman Mitch Voit joined in on the fun in the sixth inning, too, hitting a solo shot to left to keep the deficit at one, 8-7. 

Smith let Denner ride, though. Because in a game of this importance, trusting a shallow bullpen is a risk most aren’t willing to take. And Denner settled in, blanking the Spartans for the first time in the game in the sixth, and did the same in the seventh and eighth frames, proving one more time just why Smith can’t leave him out of games.

After a break in the previously constant offensive production, Michigan broke through in the top of the ninth inning as Kim hit into a double-play but it brought home a run, knotting the game at eight apiece. 

Heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, Smith once again placed his trust in Denner to force the game into an extra frame. And Denner once again delivered, setting the Michigan State batters down in order in both the ninth and tenth innings.

The twelfth inning began at the top of the Wolverines order, but it wasn’t the head of the lineup that brought in the runs. Instead, Michigan’s unsung middle of the lineup broke the deadlock.

Junior third baseman Cole Caruso singled, scoring one Wolverine. And an infield knock from junior pinch-hitter Joe Longo scored another, putting Michigan on top, 10-8.

“Everybody chipped in,” Smith said. “(Caruso) getting the big two-out hit, and (Longo) sitting the bench for four hours and 20 minutes and getting a pinch hit … that just takes the pressure off.”

The Wolverines held on in the bottom of the inning with junior right-hander Ricky Kidd collecting the win in a high-leverage scenario. Michigan successfully avoiding being swept both in the series and on the season. But more importantly for the Wolverines’ postseason aspirations, they came through in a crucial game and collected another much-needed conference win.