By the time freshman right-hander Dylan Vigue had recorded five outs, he had thrown over 50 pitches. But perhaps more disheartening for the Michigan baseball team were the six runs that Minnesota had already accumulated.
In the back-half of a double header, the Wolverines (16-20 overall, 7-4 Big Ten) couldn’t overcome their early-inning woes and dropped game two against the Golden Gophers (14-15, 3-5, 8-3), 8-3.
Control issues have plagued Vigue all year, but his overwhelming potential and flashes of domination have kept him as a hope-inducing mainstay in Michigan’s weekend rotation. Once more, however, Vigue’s vice subtly overpowered any promise he showed.
“He’s young, he’s talented, and the good part for him is he’s battle tested at this point,” Wolverines coach Tracy Smith said. “But at some point, it’s gotta click.”
In his two innings of work, Vigue gave up three free bases — two walks and a hit batter. But the free passes weren’t where he got hurt. Instead, Vigue consistently got behind in at-bats, giving hitters favorable counts. In these types of situations, the pitcher is forced to throw pitches over the heart of the plate in an attempt to regain control of the battle. And the Gophers took advantage of Vigue’s mistakes.
Vigue’s control issues showed early, starting off the second inning with a walk and a hit batter. With two runners on base and only one out, he was throwing in a high-stress scenario. And it was a situation he didn’t navigate out of, as three straight singles put Minnesota up 3-0.
But the devastating blow came only one batter later as Gophers third baseman Jake Perry launched a homerun over the center field wall, pushing the score to 6-0. Vigue walked another batter before recording the final two outs of the inning, yet the damage was done and Michigan had dug itself a hole.
Guised behind an offensive outburst from Minnesota, Vigue’s struggles to stay ahead in counts hurt his outing. One of the singles and the homerun came with the count at 2-1, while another single came with the count at 2-2. It’s subtle, but two-ball counts are stressful for pitchers, and hitters know that. So, the hitters knew they could pounce.
“You want to throw ahead in the count, because (if you don’t) you make yourself uber predictable,” Smith said. “And that’s the next step for Dylan, it’s learning to command.”
Vigue took the field to start the third inning, but on the first pitch he threw, Gophers right fielder Kris Hokenson punched the ball over the wall in left, ending Vigue’s day. Freshman right-hander Sachem Ramos came on in relief, allowing one more run before the innings’ conclusion, raising the score to 8-0.
The Wolverines formulated a response in the bottom half of the third, albeit much more docile than their Minnesota counterparts. After a single and a walk, sophomore right fielder Mitch Voit singled to left, plating two.
Both offenses went dormant after the third, but the remnants of the scoring outburst remained. Minnesota was playing to protect its lead, and Michigan was desperately trying to claw its way back into the ballgame.
Michigan broke the games’ scoring drought in the bottom of the seventh inning, but the score remained 8-3 in favor of Minnesota, and one run was a mere drop in the bucket for any potential comeback.
Although Michigan’s pitching staff shut out the Gophers after the big third inning, an eight run deficit is far too deep of a hole to expect to climb out of. The second inning, with the big “6” underneath it on the scoreboard, was both the outlier and the determining factor in the game. And even within that inning, the Wolverines had their chances that they simply didn’t seize.
“The next step for (Vigue) is getting ahead in counts and pitching ahead and being able to execute put-away pitches,” Smith said. “Because even when he gets to two-strike counts, we’re not putting people away, too.”
So, as Michigan looked up at the scoreboard in the second inning, the possibility of a double-header sweep began to slip through its fingers. And when the Wolverines glanced again in the middle of the third inning and found themselves down eight, their opportunity was all but gone.