Senior right-hander Will Rogers hasn’t started on the mound for the Michigan baseball team in a midweek competition all season, instead usually serving as a dependable reliever for the Wolverines. But against Bowling Green, Rogers was called on to control the mound and lead the Michigan baseball team for six innings.
Captaining a Tuesday matchup against a non-conference opponent isn’t where Rogers would likely expect to get his first start in weeks. But Michigan coach Tracy Smith turned to him on Tuesday because the Wolverines needed a win.
Michigan (24-17) entered Tuesday’s competition coming off of its first three-game series sweep to Iowa. After the series loss the Wolverines were intent on righting the course, so instead of putting in alternate starters as Smith has in previous midweek games, he looked to his dependable guys — and it paid dividends. Against the Falcons (25-14), Michigan locked down each portion of the field with a steady starter to secure a 9-2 win.
In the outfield, junior centerfielder Greg Pace Jr. controlled the majority of the green space. Winged by two freshmen, right fielder Brayden Jeffries and left fielder Tyler Inge to start the matchup, Pace’s leadership was key. The first two innings saw the Falcons’ batters implement a small ball approach with no hits leaving the diamond through two innings. But as soon as they did, Pace was there to secure outs for Michigan, bounding across the warning track and not giving Bowling Green an inch of breathing room.
Pace’s impact wasn’t restricted to his defensive work, though. Despite slotting in at the nine hole, Pace continues to be a threat and Tuesday was no different. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Pace went yard over the center field wall and brought home the Wolverines third and fourth runs of the competition. Pace ended the matchup going two for three, consistently serving as an offensive weapon.
Michigan scored early in the first inning off of a sacrifice fly from senior third baseman Cole Caruso, but its power hitting didn’t start until the third. Pace’s home run wasn’t the first of the competition, instead a forceful swing from junior second baseman Mitch Voit smashed the ball out of the ballpark.
Like Pace, Voit’s athleticism spanned the offense and defense Tuesday as he continued to provide a dependable presence in the infield. As the Falcons offense hit choppers throughout the game, it was Voit who locked down the infield and secured outs from behind first base all the way over to the left of the second base bag.
While each of these starters played an important role in the Wolverines win, none was more impactful than Rogers. Throwing just 14 pitches through the first two innings, Rogers tactfully induced soft contact from Bowling Green batters, resulting in the first three innings of the competition flying by. Tuesday was the third straight game in which Rogers appeared on the mound, and his presence continues to prove impactful for Michigan.
At the end of the game, the Wolverines who were in the field when they secured the win weren’t the same group who started it. By the sixth inning, Smith began to rotate in some of the more familiar midweek faces with freshman right hander Preston Barr coming in to relieve Rogers and a brief appearance from sophomore pinch runner AJ Garcia.
But Smith was only able to do this after his starters set the tone. And while it’s plausible that the group that rounded out the competition could have secured the win on their own, Smith wasn’t willing to take that chance. Because for Michigan, Tuesday’s competition was more than a regular midweek matchup — it was a chance for the Wolverines to get back to the baseball they’re used to.
