Just 13 pitches and three at-bats into the game, the Michigan baseball team made a call to the bullpen, ending freshman left-hander Wyatt Novara’s day before he could record a single out. In less than 10 minutes, pitching coach Brock Huntzinger had seen enough, starting a pitcher-by-committee system that the Wolverines then relied on for nine innings.
And it didn’t work. In fact, it was an abject failure.
Gambling on an abnormal sequence of pitchers, Michigan (9-16 overall) was slaughtered by Michigan State’s (10-12) prolific offense en route to a 16-6 loss.
“Wyatt’s got a good arm,” Wolverines coach Tracy Smith said. “You know, some days when you’re watching him throw you’re like, guys got a chance to be a dude. Our plan going in was hey, maybe this will click and get him to relax. Give him a shot without having to come in (relief). … But we had a quick hook. It was like, if he doesn’t have it, we’re gonna get him out. And that’s exactly what we did.”
Senior right-hander Chase Allen replaced the inexperienced Novara, facing a bases-loaded scenario. Despite the jam, the veteran Allen wasn’t fazed. He forced Michigan State first baseman Nick Williams to pop up for the first out, and followed up with a double play in the next at-bat. With that, Allen worked Michigan out of the jam, holding the game even at zero.
That didn’t last.
Despite Allen’s strong first inning, he took his foot off the gas. The Spartan batters figured out his pitches, scoring one run in the second inning on an RBI double and another run in the third. Allowing several other hits and two walks, the Wolverines made another call to the bullpen, as junior right-hander Ricky Kidd took Allen’s place on the mound.
And against his first batter of the day, Kidd walked catcher Sam Thompson, scoring a runner. After his poor start, Kidd came back out for the fourth inning and loaded the bases. Michigan State’s shortstop Randy Seymour came to the plate with a chance to open up the game.
Roping the ball into the right field corner for a double, Seymour recorded two RBIs to take a 5-3 lead. As a third approached home, a bullet from sophomore right fielder Mitch Voit was cut off by senior first baseman Dylan Stanton, who gunned down the runner at home to end the inning. Regardless, the damage was done. An inning later, Kidd’s poor outing was over, and freshman right-hander Sachem Ramos took over on the bump.
The committee had officially been called in.
Ramos started strong, setting down the Spartans in order for the first time all game in the sixth inning. But he didn’t keep up his strong play, facing seven batters and allowing two runs in the following frame before being replaced.
“Of course you want to win every baseball game, but (we’re) trying to manage the arms, the lack of depth that we have on the mound.” Smith said. “It just makes it tough because if you get to a certain point in a game where you’re not chasing runs then you’re like, okay, maybe (use) the guys doing the bullpens. We’ll use them to try to win this baseball game.”
But as Michigan soon found out, it wasn’t anywhere close to winning the game.
Unable to build any momentum on the mound, the Wolverines used a whopping six pitchers after Ramos, making for 10 total on the day. They allowed another nine runs in the final two innings, massively increasing the insurmountable Michigan State lead as they fell behind 16-3. And while Michigan scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth, it was too little too late to fend off the blowout.
“We’ve got to make sure that our heads are right in a game like that,” Smith said. “Losing is not fun. Losing to your in-state rivals, not fun. But we’ve got to stay focused on the task at hand.”
And simply put, the Wolverines weren’t focused on the bump. Using more arms than innings, none lasting more than 2.2 innings on the mound, Michigan’s pitching-by-committee system fell well short of its intended goal. And like the dreary spring weather the in-state rivals played in, the Wolverine pitchers displayed an uninspiring outing that ultimately sunk their day.