In the top of the fourth, the Michigan baseball team held a six-run lead when its outfield misplayed two fly balls. With the bases loaded, sophomore right-hander Grant Bradley couldn’t regain control of the inning, surrendering a hit-by-pitch, a sacrifice fly and a three-run home run. In the blink of an eye, Bowling Green trimmed the deficit to one.
Despite the fourth-inning slipup and chronically leaving runners on base, the Wolverines (25-16) outlasted the Falcons (15-24), 9-6. Bowling Green’s pitching staff handed out free passes, and although Michigan stranded 15 runners, the Wolverines capitalized just enough on Bowling Green’s mistakes to secure the win.
Following a narrow midweek loss in a slugfest against Quadrant 1 opponent Miami (Ohio), Michigan looked to bounce back with a Quadrant 4 win over a lower-caliber opponent in the Falcons.
Both teams showed signs of shakiness in the first inning. The Wolverines opened with a hit-by-pitch and an infield error, while the Falcons threw a wild pitch. Neither team made the other pay for their lapses, but the flawed start foreshadowed what was to come.
“(The hit by pitch), that’s just lack of focus, lack of concentration, lack of execution,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said. “We did a little bit of that yesterday, and that happened a couple of times tonight. I know their guy did it too … That’s just what we talked to our guys about today, don’t take one pitch off.”
Michigan struck first in the second inning. A miscommunication in Bowling Green’s infield allowed redshirt sophomore center fielder Evan Haeger to reach, before a single and a walk loaded the bases. The Wolverines sacrificed two at-bats to plate runs and take a 2-0 lead. They tacked more on in the third, stringing together two walks, two singles, and a three-run RBI double to lengthen the lead to 6-0.
The Falcons, however, answered in the fourth, exploiting Michigan’s sloppiness and cutting the deficit to 6-5 with a three-run homer.
“Baseball is a funny game,” Smith said. “You go back to that (fourth) inning, they got five runs. Grant pitched well, but they eventually pop one out of the park, and you’re in a one-run baseball game. You just can’t take pitches off. We’ve got to eliminate that sloppiness and that lack of concentration.”
But Bowling Green couldn’t rein in their erratic pitching. The Wolverines loaded the bases again on a single, a hit-by-pitch and a walk, but came away empty — continuing a bothersome trend.
The fifth inning followed a familiar script. Two more hit batters and a fielding error loaded the bases for Michigan. The Falcons’ pitcher walked a run in to make it 7-5, but the Wolverines again failed to leverage the moment, leaving the bases loaded.
“We try to do too much when the bases are loaded,” Smith said. “Our worst at-bats in the game will come when it’s bases loaded, or second and third, and that’s partly being immature. Maturely, you want to have the same approach, same at bat, be relaxed and the result will be what it is.”
Michigan’s inability to make the most of its opportunities kept the game within reach. They weren’t flawless on defense either, allowing two more runners to advance on wild pitches and walking another in the seventh. Bowling Green took advantage, earning one run back.
However, the Falcons continued to sabotage their own effort. A hit-by-pitch opened the bottom of the seventh, and the Wolverines followed with two singles to manage another run. Yet again, they failed to maximize their benefits, leaving two on base.
To add insult to injury for Bowling Green, redshirt junior right fielder Greg Pace Jr. was struck by yet another stray throw in the eighth, scoring on a Turner single and lengthening the margin to three — a cushion the Falcons couldn’t erase in the ninth.
Michigan went one-for-four on loaded bases, leaving runners on base in every inning. Meanwhile, Bowling Green tallied five hit-by-pitches, six walks and two errors over the course of the game, giving the Wolverines enough opportunities to prevail despite their struggles to take advantage.
