Erik Puodziunas couldn’t let the game get away from him.
Powered by serious accuracy issues from the Michigan baseball team’s mound, Oakland opened the scoring with three runs in the top of the second inning. With a full count and runners on second and third, the Wolverines were in desperate need of damage control from the redshirt-freshman right-hander.
On that occasion, Puodziunas delivered. But it took Michigan another six innings to make up the difference — and despite retaking the lead late, the Wolverines (11-12) fell short against the Golden Grizzlies (5-17), 7-6. Trailing for the majority of the contest, Michigan never let the game drift out of reach. But when early-game issues resurfaced in the final stretch, its efforts ultimately proved insufficient.
The Wolverines’ poor start began at the mound. In a 15-pitch stretch at the top of the second inning, freshman left-hander Shane Brinham threw 14 balls and only one strike, resulting in three straight walks to load the bases. When Grizzlies third baseman Boston Halloran — who bats just a .146 — got a free pass to drive in Oakland’s first score of the day, it capped a period where Michigan beat itself more than its opponents were excelled at the plate.
“They’re struggling offensively a little bit too,” Wolverines coach Tracy Smith said. “When you’re facing an opponent that’s struggling offensively, what do you do? You throw strikes and make them beat you with the bat. And we didn’t do that.”
Meanwhile, Michigan’s batters couldn’t get anything going, tallying just two hits through the first three innings. Even when the Grizzlies’ mound slipped up with wild pitches and walks, the Wolverines couldn’t capitalize on their free trips to base.
But after Oakland right-hander Blake Sehlke stepped onto the mound at the bottom of the fourth, Michigan found its rhythm. It blasted off three straight singles, with redshirt junior center fielder Greg Pace Jr. sent junior catcher Noah Miller home for the Wolverines’ first run of the game.
Their batters continued to heat up as junior shortstop Drew Culbertson brought another runner home. A groundout soon after facilitated a Pace run that tied the game at three.
Michigan appeared to shake off its slow start and take control of the momentum — but its earlier struggles began to creep back up, preventing it from fully reclaiming the game from the Grizzlies.
In the fifth, another Oakland runner strolled home on a walk. Facing a one-run deficit, Michigan couldn’t afford to sit tight — the impetus was on the Wolverines to pick up the pace.
Michigan understood the urgency, and began to trade outs for bases. In the bottom of the eighth, the Grizzlies committed a throwing error on a sacrifice hit, and the Wolverines seized their chance. With a Culbertson bunt, junior pinch runner Keegan O’Hearn scored to tie the game.
Oakland promptly put a fresh arm on the mound — but sophomore third baseman Brayden Jefferis got the better of the closer, hitting a two-RBI double to give Michigan its first lead of the game, 6-4.
All the Wolverines needed to do to hold on was maintain their grip on the mound at the top of the ninth. Yet just like its starter had at the beginning, Michigan’s bullpen loosened. It allowed four hits and two walks at the top of the ninth, allowing the Grizzlies to plate three runs and retake the lead.
“I go back to the ninth inning, game on the line,” Smith said. “We don’t execute the skill game and it caught us again. So it comes down to us as a unit, collectively, making the plays, making the pitches, playing the game the right way, and in no way, shape or form did we do that tonight.”
Facing one last chance to stop the game from getting away, the Wolverines’ lineup started to ramp up steam. But with only the final half-inning left, it couldn’t afford the luxury of time, and a sudden lineout into a double play ended the game.
Michigan may have overcome its slow start, but it wasn’t prepared for Oakland’s fast finish. Puodziunas’ clutch putout offered it a lifeline out of a demoralizing upset — and the Wolverines couldn’t find a way to deliver.
