Statistically, sophomore right-hander Grant Bradley had been phenomenal.
Allowing only one Bowling Green baserunner aboard in each of the first three innings, Bradley helped the Michigan baseball team climb to a comfortable 6-0 advantage. Yet a five-run flurry in the fourth inning put the Falcons within striking distance, and suddenly, the Wolverines needed a fresh arm.
Relief pitching hasn’t been a strong suit for Michigan this season, especially in Tuesday’s chaotic loss to Miami (Ohio). But when Wolverines coach Tracy Smith called on his bullpen to close out the game Wednesday, it delivered.
“You give Grant (or any of our starters) a sense of confidence knowing that the bullpen can do their job at any point, coming in and throwing strikes,” junior right-hander Gavin DeVooght said. “When we throw strikes and get ahead and eliminate the free bases, we do really good as a staff, and that was shown today.”
Almost all of Bowling Green’s offensive production came from a stretch in the fourth inning where Bradley gave up three consecutive hits. After he surrendered a pair of sacrifice flies and a three-run homer, all of his early-inning success threatened to be undone.
When Bradley bowed out for the afternoon, Michigan’s relievers silenced the Falcons’ lineup, yielding just two hits and a single run over the remainder of the game. Key to their success was a tone-setting fifth inning from sophomore right-hander Preston Barr, who came on with one out and struck out two batters to retire the side.
Barr exhibited a versatile arsenal of pitches, switching between overpowering the Falcons with his fastball and carving them up with breaking balls in a one-two-three sixth inning. By the time he exited with a minor injury, he’d done enough for the Wolverines to regain control of the ball game.
“Everybody’s got a job to do,” Smith said. “You got to hold guys’ opposition down in the middle of the game just as much as the leverage stuff at the end. And we feel pretty good with (junior right-hander Gavin DeVooght) at the back end … we got a really good combination of guys.”
With a three-run lead entering the eighth, Michigan had room to breathe but couldn’t afford another defensive breakdown. It turned to DeVooght to be sure of that.
Just hours after he was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year midseason watch list, DeVooght presided over the final two innings to seal the game for the Wolverines. He took a moment to settle in, giving up a leadoff single to Bowling Green third baseman Vinny Salvione and advancing him to second with a walk on a full count. But that was the closest the Falcons would get to scoring another run.
For the rest of the inning, Bowling Green could barely get a piece of DeVooght’s fastball as he painted the zone with heater after heater. He grabbed two punchouts to end the eighth inning and faced the minimum in the ninth, living up to his billing as the Wolverines’ best closer.
“Big by Gavin to come in and take over that game at the end, because he shut the door and gave them no hope,” Smith said. “So I was pleased with that.”
The Falcons had plenty of reason to hope after their explosive fourth inning — but Michigan’s relievers nipped their opponents’ would-be comeback in the bud.
