COLUMBUS — Junior right-hander Kurt Barr made his bones last Friday against Michigan State with the contest marking his first Game 1 start of the season. After giving up only a single run throughout his rain-delayed six innings, Barr was again entrusted by the Michigan baseball team with the first pitch of the stormy series against Ohio State.
Throughout the first two innings, Barr looked to his fielders to collect outs. Pounding the strike zone, Barr forced batters to swing, resulting in three fly outs alone in the first inning. He kept attacking in the second inning, curling balls in over the plate and letting his fielders corral the soft contact.
“Kurt Barr has done what Kurt Barr has been doing, which is throwing strikes and competing ahead of the counts,” Wolverines coach Tracy Smith said.
After letting up his first hit of the game — a single to left field — Barr finally recorded his first strikeout in the third inning. With a strike clipping the outside corner, a foul ball and yet another curve ball, Barr left the next batter looking.
Barr’s reliance on his offspeed pitches has not hindered his performance against strong hitters. Even with a fastball that rarely exceeds 92 miles per hour, Barr’s curve and slider have been slicing through batters all season long. And the Buckeyes were no different.
“It’s more of a mindset thing,” Barr said of the rain storm. “When the rain kept coming down in the third, fourth and fifth inning and we got a lead, I was just flipping balls in there. They really weren’t hitting in the first and second inning. And I knew I was throwing strikes.”
As Michigan took a comfortable lead following a 16-run fourth inning, Barr returned to pitch an hour after exiting the mound. Still warm, Barr earned a strikeout to start the bottom of the inning. He continued to pitch to contact, as a pair of groundouts ended the inning.
The fifth inning started just as the fourth ended, with Barr recording his 10th assist of the season as he fielded a ground ball. Even though Ohio State put a runner on second and the downpour worsened, Barr kept his grip on both the game and the ball. Staying with his offspeed pitches, Barr continued to carve up the Buckeyes. A breaking ball on a 2-2 count froze the next batter, leaving him looking. A play later, a ball at the knees and a swing too-high resulted in Barr’s fourth strikeout of the day.
With two innings left before the run-rule would come into effect, Smith opted to pull Barr alongside the rest of the field to give out live reps. Building off of Barr’s work, the combination of right-handers in freshman Josh Kasner, senior Ricky Kidd and freshman Brandon Newland gave up only one run to end the Buckeyes scoring drought.
“(Ohio State) was talking a little bit in the first inning, so it was good to kind of put them in their place there,” Barr said. “And then weather was definitely a factor. I think our pitchers handled it well and the other side didn’t really.”
Through all the chirps, storm clouds and pressure of facing your arch rival, Barr managed to stay afloat. Barr weathered the storm for the second week in a row, proving once again that — if he is not already — he is on his way to becoming the Wolverines’ ace.
