Omaha, NEB. — In the final weekend of conference play, the Michigan baseball team was utterly trounced by archrival Ohio State, who dropped a total of 28 runs in Ann Arbor. Entering the bright lights of postseason play, the Wolverines fared far better.
Locking down defensively against the Buckeyes (30-25 overall, 18-12 Big Ten), Michigan (34-23, 17-13) gave up no room for offensive firepower. Stamping down the Ohio State hitters that once plagued them, the Wolverines worked to their strengths to secure a 3-0 shutout win over the Buckeyes on the back of a masterclass mound performance.
The final showdown between the two teams began intensely defensive-minded. How the teams went about defense was very different though, as freshman left-hander Shane Brinham ironed in on the zone from the very beginning. Accruing four strikeouts in the first two innings, he ensured that Ohio State was in trouble when trying to reach.
While the Buckeyes matched Michigan’s outs with their pitching-to-contact approach, recording two groundouts and flyouts apiece in the first two innings, the Wolverines eventually exposed a gap in this in the third. After giving up two walks and drilling another Michigan batter with a pitch, redshirt catcher Noah Miller launched a single off Ohio State to send two Wolverine runners back to home plate, bringing them up 2-0.
After this burst, both teams barred up even more. Brinham kept on pounding the zone, and out in the field, he was backed up by redshirt sophomore center-fielder Evan Haeger, who caught four flyouts by the sixth inning. Michigan stayed on top of the blasted-out balls far better than its first three games against the Buckeyes, keeping their run-count much lower in turn.
Ohio State slugging was kept at bay, as the power bats of the Buckeye order were lackluster against the Wolverines. The two best Ohio State hitters, shortstop Henry Kaczmar and first baseman Dane Harvey, both finished hitless at a combined seven at-bats.
Mirroring Brinham’s gem was Buckeye right-hander Gavin Kuzniewski, who bowed out in the top of the eighth after giving up one hit in 122 pitches. And while Kuzniewski relinquished one hit to Miller, his replacement gave up Michigan’s second hit to Miller instantly as well. Miller stepped into the batters box as soon as Ohio State turned to the bullpen, and instantly billowed an RBI single right through right field, batting in a runner to notch the Wolverines up to 3-0.
While Michigan’s offense scored in blips, Brinham remained ironclad. He ended the game with 11 strikeouts, pitching a complete-game shutout for the Wolverines to finalize that 3-0 score.
Over the series against the Buckeyes, Michigan didn’t even come close to victory. But the postseason pressure sharpened Brinham into a diamond on the mound, spinning the gem the Wolverines needed to advance.
