A home run by senior catcher Chris Berset in the bottom of the ninth sent the Michigan baseball team into extra innings against Northwestern. And a home run by co-captain Mike Dufek sealed the 15-14 win in the bottom of the tenth.
The game began with a gloomy start as the Michigan pitchers walked in the first four runs of the game, allowing the Wildcats to consecutively load up the bases. Northwestern’s third baseman Chris Lashmet finally took advantage of the setup, launching a home run and tallying four RBI.
The Wildcats went up by eight early and continued to extend their lead in the top of the third inning with a six-run rally. But Michigan answered with six runs of their own, including a home run by junior left fielder Ryan LaMarre. And that proved to be the name of the game for the Wolverines.
Michigan continued to cut into the Wildcat lead throughout the afternoon, as junior right-hander Matt Miller took control of the mound. Miller pitched seven strikeouts while allowing zero runs and only two hits in over five innings pitched.
In fact, Northwestern didn’t score a run in the last seven innings of the game and just tallied two hits. The Wolverines took advantage of the lagging Wildcat offense. Down by two in the bottom of the ninth, Berset sent a home run over the centerfield fence and brought in freshman Patrick Biondi to tie up the score.
After Miller pitched another solid inning, Dufek lead off Michigan in the bottom of the tenth with the game winning homer.
With only one weekend left of Big Ten conference play, the standings are becoming separated by single games. The Wolverines will take on Penn State next weekend in Happy Valley to determine their final position in the conference.