The Michigan baseball team lives by the small-ball mantra. And Sunday, a deeper deficit than they’d been in for the entire Washington series dug the Wolverines’ coffin — a deficit no amount of bunts, sacrifice flies, or singles could scale.
With 30 homers on the season so far — dead last in the Big Ten — Michigan isn’t armed to walk it off. But following back-to-back walk-off wins, the Wolverines tried to keep the streak alive.
Trailing by three on Friday and two Saturday, some expert pinch hitting found the rosters strengths being utilized. The powerful bat of junior designated hitter Joonsung Park was primed for popping balls, but the support he has isn’t built to run up the score. Three walks in the bottom of the ninth Sunday loaded the bases, one of which was to Michigan’s best slugger, junior second baseman Colby Turner. After this, Park was given the pressure to bat them into a win, as one of three hitters with a slugging percentage above .500.
And while previously he iced doubles to clear the bases, he was unable to reproduce a series-sweeping hit. Missing out on the slim slugging production in the lineup due to walks was disastrous, especially because of the two-out situation Park produced after grounding out into a double play. With a runner in scoring position, the bottom of the Wolverines’lineup failed to get the ball rolling for another walkoff.
“Our nemesis has been a little bit of the second, third, loaded or runner on third with less than two outs,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said.
When hits got hot for the Huskies, yielded by their 0.778 lead-off batting average, they were able generate more offensive potential than the Wolverines because of Washington’s ability to bat people home. In the top of the third, a homer to right field brought two runners home to give a one-run lead, extended by another the next inning to make it a two-run lead.
While the Huskies don’t exactly lead the Big Ten in slugging — being tied for first in triples only in the Big Ten — their extra-base hits far exceed Michigan’s. Being defeated by four runs is far from a blowout, but the Wolverines played a game that doesn’t lend itself to digging out of such a hole. While they escaped with a series win with this kind of play, the lineup wasn’t able to pull it out a third time, narrowly missing a series sweep.
“(It was) the seventh inning when they got three (on), honestly,” Smith said.” There were a couple balls in the infield that we didn’t get an out on.”
Homers are certainly the most stylish way to play baseball, but it’s not the way every team plays. To play to their strengths, the Wolverines needed to keep Washington at bay through the whole game — and when they didn’t, theatrics in the bottom of the ninth couldn’t help them out.
