The Michigan baseball team finally got a little taste of conference play. But just a little.
- Paul Wong
- Michigan is playing non-conference teams again, as the Wolverines travel to play Bowling Green today. <br><br>ALYSSA WOOD/Daily
A four-game series with Iowa was shortened to a one-game showdown due to cold weather. It wasn”t even on a Big Ten field, since the games were moved to DeKalb, Illinois (home of Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference) to avoid the snow of Iowa City.
So the transition for Michigan back into its nonconference schedule should be smooth the Wolverines have another one-game stint at a MAC field as they take on Bowling Green today. Michigan will then hurry back to Ann Arbor to host a doubleheader against Oakland University of the Mid-Continent Conference.
In March, many other Midwestern teams can”t be as lucky with Mother Nature as Michigan was in its home opener against St. Joseph”s last Wednesday. Gino Lollio enjoyed the surprisingly nice homecoming Michigan had this year.
“We”ve been playing everywhere in the country, it feels like,” he said after the win over the Pumas. “Everyone wanted to get back. We were wishing for some nice weather. It”s beautiful today.”
Those aren”t words Lollio could repeat recently. Now that the false sense of security of warm weather is gone, the Wolverines might be better off back in Florida if they want to continue their schedule.
Escaping the reign of terror that is winter can be tough for teams in this part of the country. Between Michigan and its two upcoming opponents, a total of nine games have been cancelled.
The Falcons finished up an 11-9 win over Eastern Michigan on Sunday which was resumed from a game suspended due to darkness on Saturday.
But then Bowling Green had to give up on the scheduled game for Sunday as well as the fourth and final game of the series because of inclement weather.
The Golden Grizzlies had doubleheaders with Detroit postponed on back-to-back days because of the same inclement winter.
Assuming Michigan does get to play its games, its concern lies in hitting. Although the Wolverines are capable of offensive outbursts they already have wins of 10-4 and 11-1 this year Michigan is hitting just .264 while Bowling Green is batting .336.
Against Oakland, Michigan should not worry as much. The Golden Grizzlies are batting just .213. They do not have the pitching staff to help themselves either, with a team ERA of 13.01.