OMAHA, Neb. — On Thursday night, the No. 7 seed Michigan baseball team’s Big Ten Tournament hung on by a thread. A hammering at the hands of No. 11 seed Washington put the Wolverines one loss away from elimination, and a loser-goes-home matchup with No. 6 seed Ohio State loomed on the horizon.
Redshirt sophomore catcher Noah Miller wasn’t fazed.
“We just didn’t get the hit when we needed to,” Miller said Wednesday after the loss to Washington. “… Yesterday, we got it. Today, we didn’t. Tomorrow, we’re gonna get it.”
When the do-or-die ballgame against the Buckeyes rolled around, Miller proved himself right. He accounted for both of the Wolverines’ hits and all three of their RBIs in a 3-0 win, putting Michigan’s offense on his back when it needed him the most.
“Told you,” Miller said Thursday.
Miller is no stranger to producing in the Big Ten Tournament, going 4-for-8 with two doubles and a homer in two postseason appearances last year. He began this year’s tournament on a similar tear, with a home run in Tuesday’s win over Rutgers along with a pair of hits and a run in Wednesday’s loss.
As a pitcher’s duel held both teams scoreless over the first two innings Thursday, it was only fitting that Miller became the one to break the deadlock. Ohio State right-hander Gavin Kuzniewski wavered with two walks and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases, and Miller made no mistake, sending two runners home for the Wolverines with a well-placed single up the middle.
“He calmed down and relaxed there, and put a good swing on it,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said Thursday. “And that’s been our formula, where it’s just that good at-bat when you need it. (Miller) is such a team guy, he works hard, nobody cares more than him. And to just shorten that stroke and get what the team needed, as opposed to trying to hit a grand slam or something like that … that’s what we needed, and it worked out for us.”
A shutout gem from freshman left-hander Shane Brinham meant that the Wolverines still carried a 2-0 lead heading into the eighth inning. But Kuzniewski had also pitched four scoreless frames, keeping the Buckeyes just a few hits away from taking charge of the ballgame.
But Miller stepped up once again. Junior second baseman Colby Turner reached on a fielding error in the eighth, and Miller promptly batted him in with another single. It was the second and final hit of the game for Michigan — but it was enough to see the Wolverines through.
For a player as team-oriented as Miller, the added stakes of an elimination game against an archrival didn’t make it more difficult to play his best. It only helped him get closer with his teammates.
“Our coaches just told us to have fun,” Miller said. “If you were in our tunnel during (batting practice), we were playing music, and they told us, ‘Hey, you guys do what you need to do to get ready.’ It wasn’t any pressure.”
Miller has thrived under the spotlight, playing some of his best ball in Omaha. He’ll bring his A-game no matter what foe Michigan is facing,
“Honestly, I wouldn’t want any other way,” Miller said about facing the Cornhuskers. “We’re in (Charles Schwab Field Omaha), let’s experience it, let’s do it, let’s go. … We know Nebraska’s gonna be ready to go, they’re gonna have their guys, they’re gonna have their whole state of Nebraska there. That’s how we want it to be and we’re ready to go.”
Bringing down Nebraska won’t be an easy feat for the Wolverines. But Noah Miller isn’t one to back down from a challenge — and the last time he said Michigan would pull through, he was right.
