{"id":4648,"date":"2026-03-25T03:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/25\/michigan-cant-overcome-slow-start-in-7-6-defeat-to-oakland\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T03:49:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:49:20","slug":"michigan-cant-overcome-slow-start-in-7-6-defeat-to-oakland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/03\/25\/michigan-cant-overcome-slow-start-in-7-6-defeat-to-oakland\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan can\u2019t overcome slow start in 7-6 defeat\u00a0to Oakland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Erik Puodziunas couldn\u2019t let the game get away from him.<\/p>\n<p>Powered by serious accuracy issues from the Michigan baseball team\u2019s 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On that occasion, Puodziunas delivered. But it took Michigan another six innings to make up the difference\u00a0 \u2014 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.<\/p>\n<p>The Wolverines\u2019 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 \u2014 who bats just a .146 \u2014 got a free pass to drive in Oakland\u2019s first score of the day, it capped a period where Michigan beat itself more than its opponents were excelled at the plate.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re struggling offensively a little bit too,\u201d Wolverines coach Tracy Smith said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re facing an opponent that\u2019s struggling offensively, what do you do? You throw strikes and make them beat you with the bat. And we didn\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Michigan\u2019s batters couldn\u2019t get anything going, tallying just two hits through the first three innings. Even when the Grizzlies\u2019 mound slipped up with wild pitches and walks, the Wolverines couldn\u2019t capitalize on their free trips to base.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019 first run of the game.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Michigan appeared to shake off its slow start and take control of the momentum \u2014 but its earlier struggles began to creep back up, preventing it from fully reclaiming the game from the Grizzlies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>In the fifth, another Oakland runner strolled home on a walk. Facing a one-run deficit, Michigan couldn\u2019t afford to sit tight \u2014 the impetus was on the Wolverines to pick up the pace.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019Hearn scored to tie the game.<\/p>\n<p>Oakland promptly put a fresh arm on the mound \u2014 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI go back to the ninth inning, game on the line,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe don\u2019t 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Facing one last chance to stop the game from getting away, the Wolverines\u2019 lineup started to ramp up steam. But with only the final half-inning left, it couldn\u2019t afford the luxury of time, and a sudden lineout into a double play ended the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Michigan may have overcome its slow start, but it wasn\u2019t prepared for Oakland\u2019s fast finish. Puodziunas\u2019 clutch putout offered it a lifeline out of a demoralizing upset \u2014 and the Wolverines couldn\u2019t find a way to deliver.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Erik Puodziunas couldn\u2019t let the game get away from him. Powered by serious accuracy issues from the Michigan baseball team\u2019s 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[4350,222,1094,4349,392,2516],"class_list":{"0":"post-4648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-defeatto","9":"tag-michigan","10":"tag-oakland","11":"tag-overcome","12":"tag-slow","13":"tag-start"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4648"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4650,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4648\/revisions\/4650"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}