“Offense wins games, but defense wins championships.”

This adage in the sporting world can be applied to numerous championship teams and moments — title-winning interceptions, other-worldly chasedown blocks and clutch pitching performances, to name just a few.

But for the Michigan baseball team to achieve its Big Ten Championship dream, ever-more faint after getting swept by Ohio State, that cliché will have to be flipped.

With their season on the line in Omaha — on the heels of conjuring just 10 total runs against the Buckeyes  — the Wolverines’ hitters will need to raise their game to have any semblance of hope at clinching that automatic NCAA Tournament bid by Sunday afternoon.

And look no further than Michigan’s 2022 Big Ten Tournament Championship run to reinforce that necessity.

“Michigan last year was in a similar position, and clicked and fired on all cylinders at the right time,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said May 13.

While the comparisons are far from identical between this and last season’s squads, they both faced their seasons hanging in the balance with elimination from the Big Ten Tournament.

Yet unlike this year, Michigan began building its momentum at the plate in its final Big Ten regular season series against Rutgers. The Wolverines won the series against the surging Scarlet Knights, scoring nine runs in each of their wins before losing 18-12 in a wild series finale.

They then carried that momentum in the batters’ box from the Atlantic Coast to the banks of the Missouri River.

Finishing the season with a combined 7.00 ERA, Michigan’s pitching staff was not in position to win games solely at the mound. So the gameplan was simple: outscore the opponent.

The Wolverines did just that, scoring at least seven runs in all four of their victories, with 10 runs in three of those games.

However, in their lone loss against Iowa, they mustered just three runs — showing the perils if the lineup could not produce with shaky pitchers behind them.

For this year’s squad to replicate the same celebration dogpile on Memorial Day Sunday, the recipe from a season ago will need to be followed to a tee.

The pitching staff, which maintains a 5.93 combined ERA, is down its second starter for the season in junior right-hander Chase Allen. And Michigan is still searching for multiple other arms deep in its bullpen to get important outs late in games.

“If and when we do damage in the Big Ten Tournament, (other bullpen arms are) going to have to be a big part of that,” Smith said. “Some guys are going to step up and surprise you that maybe haven’t pitched in a month.”

The problem is — none of those arms have proven capable of filling the void.

The search for production from the bullpen carried over into Tuesday’s midweek game against Xavier, which almost served as an audition for many of the Wolverines’ pitchers hoping to get more outings.

But the mass audition turned into a near-catastrophe: a 14-2 blowout loss. Seven of the eight arms that pitched gave up at least one earned run, with promising junior right-hander Ryan Zimmer getting tagged for six earned runs.

Not much went Michigan’s way in the center of the diamond against Ohio State either, as the Wolverines’ staff yielded at least five earned runs to the Buckeyes’ bats in each of the three games in Columbus.

With the instability and limited upside of Michigan’s pitchers to endure an entire tournament run — requiring between four and six games to win it all — the onus falls on the offense to take the burden.

Turning things around at the plate for the Wolverines lineup starts with competitive at-bats. That doesn’t necessarily require getting on base — working pitch counts up, advancing runners, or forcing the opposing defense to make a nice fielding play can also kickstart the offensive play.

Poor strikeouts do not fall under that umbrella. Michigan has been plagued by the strikeout bug at various points all year, striking out 47 more times than its opponents across the season. This phenomenon was magnified on Saturday, as the Wolverines struck out 17 times in the 7-2 loss.

“I was just disappointed with our approach and I think (Saturday), we struck out 17 times, which I can’t remember (the) last time something like that happened,” Smith said May 20. “So it’s unacceptable. It’s not characteristic of this group.”

While 17 strikeouts in a game is extreme, the performance is emblematic of Michigan’s hot-and-cold offense. To get hot again, the Wolverines will have to convert the opportunities that have evaded them with runners on base. They have left an average of 7.71 runners on base per game, correlating with the third-lowest slugging percentage in the Big Ten.

These statistics paint a grim picture of Michigan’s fate in Omaha. But it’s not too late. 

There is a chance for the Wolverines to correct it, if they’re able to stack strong plate appearances on top of each other to lead their potential charge at a Big Ten title.

After all, every team enters the Big Ten Tournament with a blank slate.

“It’s everybody’s new season,” Smith said. “Everybody’s 0-0. So it doesn’t really mean what happened the game before the series or even the entire season before because everybody’s rolling into that tournament 0-0.”

That “new season” provides Michigan its final chance to redeem itself, once and for all. And that starts from the top with its biggest hitters — who still have the memories of last year’s magical run fresh in their minds — bringing a contagious energy to the talented underclassmen.

The walls outside the Wolverines’ home locker room at Ray Fisher Stadium feature signage that reads, “You’ll never get hot if you don’t know the cold.”

The 2023 Michigan baseball team has seen nearly every degree imaginable: head-scratching losses, comeback victories, heartbreaking injuries and memorable career performances.

On the precipice of their season ending as early as Wednesday night in the double-elimination bracket, the Wolverines will have to emerge from the depths of their worst week of the season with by far their best — finally putting the puzzle pieces together to extract their winning formula.

And just like last year, that equation will rely on the bats getting hotter than ever before.

The post Joshua Brown: To make Big Ten title run, Michigan has to wake up ‘unacceptable’ hitting appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

Looming in a week for the Michigan baseball team: the Big Ten Tournament — the Wolverines’ lone hope to make their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

And the postseason is the ultimate endurance test.

To win it all, Michigan would need to play between four and six games within less than a week span in Omaha, providing little rest for its pitching staff.

While none of the top-end pitchers were highlighted in Tuesday’s loss against Xavier, many of the Wolverines’ utility relievers — some of which are likely to feature in critical junctures throughout the tournament run — pitched in short stints.

But seven of Michigan’s eight pitchers utilized in the blowout defeat allowed at least one earned run, with one lone exception: surging junior right-hander Ahmad Harajli throwing a scoreless ninth inning after the game was already done and dusted.

“Tough day all the way around,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said. “And if we’re going to do this thing, once we get into the tournament … of the guys that threw today, somebody’s got to step up.”

As Smith alluded to, no one truly stepped up Tuesday for the Wolverines on the mound. And much of that resulted from the inability to close out innings.

The Musketeers batted 9-17 with two outs, scoring 10 of their jarring 14 runs through those at-bats. Six of those came in the seventh inning, where junior right-hander Ryan Zimmer and freshman right-hander Brandon Mann could not get out of the inning before letting Xavier balloon the final tally.

Yet Zimmer, whose ERA skyrocketed from 5.40 to 10.45 after allowing six earned runs, was tabbed by Smith multiple weeks ago as one of those guys that could “step up” and play that envisioned role in the Big Ten Tournament. But his performance, along with the rest of Tuesday’s arms, caused a pause in evaluating how to curate the arms against Ohio State next weekend and the subsequent Big Ten Tournament.

“(Today) certainly was not a level that gives us much of a chance to win, but that has to obviously get better moving forward,” Smith said.

The level will likely have to improve, and then some, as the batting lineups Michigan is due to face in Omaha are much stronger and deeper than the Musketeers’ midweek squad.

However, the Wolverines can temporarily sideline some of these deficiencies, still jostling for seeding that can put them anywhere in the eight-team double-elimination bracket. They remain confident in their starters and top relievers, though, planning to throw out their top pitchers over the weekend in their final Big Ten series against Ohio State.

And that plan starts with ace junior left-hander Connor O’Halloran leading off from the middle of the diamond on Thursday night against the Buckeyes.

“Get a quality start from Connor,” Smith said. “… Our focus will be on Thursday night, but taking that thing one game at a time because we still mathematically have a chance to win the outright title, regular season, which would be awesome.”

Taking everything “one game at a time” has been at the core of Michigan’s season, which has been “all-hands-on-deck” from the first pitch of the season.

But for that approach to come full circle for a Big Ten Tournament Championship, its backend pitching will likely have to show through the grueling week in Omaha.

Unlike Tuesday’s midweek debacle against Xavier.

The post Michigan’s poor pitching against Xavier reveals bad sign approaching postseason appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

There’s never an ideal time for the injury bug to strike a locker room.

But the home stretch of the regular season — jockeying for position in the conference — is one of the least-opportune times for any team to go down one of its best statistical hitters and number two starting pitcher.

With freshman center fielder Jonathan Kim day-to-day after colliding with the wall against Minnesota and junior right-hander Chase Allen likely out for the season, the Michigan baseball team, yet again, required a sift through its roster to find production in its critical series against Northwestern.

And in a season where depth is a point of concern, the Wolverines pitching combination of senior right-hander Noah Rennard and freshman right-hander Mitch Voit stepped up on Saturday to fill Allen’s shoes. While the pitchers kept their squad in the game, hitting also floundered against the Wildcats’ pitchers with runners in scoring position.

As Rennard and Voit led the way from the center of the diamond, Voit then took matters into his own hands at the plate with a game-winning three-run home run that propelled Michigan (25-22 overall, 12-8 Big Ten) to a crucial 5-2 victory over Northwestern (8-37, 3-17), putting itself squarely into the Big Ten Tournament picture.

“Earlier in the game, it was going rough,” Voit said. “But just kept wanting the opportunity to do better and (the) opportunity presented itself and it was just perfect timing.”

Voit was only presented with that opportunity to give his squad the lead thanks to the strong combined outings of himself and Rennard, who started the game.

Leading the way early, Rennard recorded 1-2-3 innings in three of his first four innings, totaling six strikeouts in 6.2 innings.

“Another quality start,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said. “ … For us to get through the weekend, we need the quality start but (Rennard’s) been doing it pretty much all year in whatever role you ask him to do. And he accepted the challenge and delivered again for his team.”

Rennard’s competitiveness from the mound gave the Wolverine hitters a chance to take advantage. Despite being 0-8 with runners in scoring position before Voit’s at-bat in the eighth, Michigan tacked on two runs early off two big swings.

A first inning solo home run by senior second baseman Ted Burton put the Wolverines up early, 1-0, and an RBI triple by senior right fielder Joey Velazquez quickly regained the lead for Michigan in the third inning after the Wildcats tied the game in the second inning with a sacrifice fly by left fielder Kevin Ferrer.

Beyond these two initial bursts, the bats could not fully break through the Northwestern defense, led by left-hander Sam Garewal, who struck out 10 Wolverines in 5.1 innings pitched.

The inability to build out the lead momentarily set Michigan back, as Rennard relinquished the lead in the top of the seventh off an RBI single by Ferrer to knot the game at two runs apiece.

But after Voit stepped onto the mound in relief of Rennard, he cleaned up Rennard’s seventh-inning jam, throwing a shutout in the eighth inning.

And with runners on first and second, but two outs, Voit supported his own cause. Breaking his team’s failure to hit with runners in scoring position, in a resounding fashion, he put the game out of the Wildcats’ reach with the go-ahead home run.

“We put him up on the mound, he got very important outs,” Smith said. “But then to stay dialed in, it takes that one at-bat after the two not-so-good at-bats, and delivers the knockout punch.”

Voit then backed up the “knockout punch” with a scoreless ninth, punctuated by an acrobatic line drive catch by Burton that turned into a game-ending double play.

Taking that next-man-up approach is never easy, especially when attempting to replace Allen’s remarkable production throughout his Michigan career. But Rennard and Voit — the anchors in the middle of the diamond, with Voit also leading from the batter’s box — filled the void on Saturday, and then some.

And because of their efforts, the Wolverines can continue to dream of more Omaha magic.

The post Noah Rennard and Mitch Voit anchor Michigan’s 5-2 win over Northwestern appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

There’s a saying that expectations can only set you up for disappointment.

And heading into the final stretch of the regular season sitting at third in the Big Ten with the three remaining series against the bottom of the conference, the Michigan baseball team did not shy away from its aspirations.

“The emphasis for us is win the conference (and) try to position ourselves to do something that hasn’t been done for a long time,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said May 3.

Fifteen years since the program’s last Big Ten regular season championship, Smith has referenced the goal of ending that drought on numerous occasions — and his aspirations seemed realistic. The hopes of recreating last year’s magical run in Omaha were also coming into view.

But the Wolverines — while not mathematically eliminated — saw those regular season goals go by the wayside Saturday as sophomore pinch hitter Joe Longo grounded into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded, punctuating the frustrating series loss to Minnesota.

“(Saturday’s) game was kind of a gut check — it’s a tough one to lose,” senior left-hander Jacob Denner said. “And we understand where we are. Our backs are somewhat against the wall.”

Michigan was not expecting to have its back against the wall after this past weekend’s series, entering the matchup eyeing a historic achievement in Smith’s first season with the program. 

But now, the Wolverines find themselves staring down that small but growing possibility of missing the Big Ten Tournament altogether.

Michigan, 10-8 in the Big Ten, is in a four-way tie for fifth place in the conference with ninth-place Illinois on the outside looking in at 11-10.

Closer to the cut-line of the Big Ten than that top seed, the Wolverines are reframing their goals coming out of their disappointing weekend.

“Every win at this point is crucial to get that Big Ten Tournament,” Smith said May 7.

Amid multiple disappointing moments across the season, Michigan has often found resilience and the ability to pick itself up off the mat.

Following a nasty seven-game skid at the tail end of non-conference play, culminating in an “embarrassing” midweek loss to Oakland, the Wolverines responded by winning 11 of their next 14 games — including their first five in Big Ten play.

And on Sunday, Michigan salvaged a game from the weekend despite back-to-back missed opportunities Friday and Saturday. 

After leaving a combined 15 runners on base in the first two games, a three-run home run by senior right fielder Joey Velazquez in the first inning gave the Wolverines a much-needed early jolt to finally cash in with runners on. This early lead was consolidated with a complete game by Denner, his best career outing coming when his team desperately needed it.

“As a team, we embrace that (challenge),” Denner said. “And the coaching staff has done a great job putting us in positions before the season that allows us to feel confident when we’re in tougher situations.”

Standing tall amid adversity has been a theme of the season for Michigan. But unlike their “terrible job,” as Smith put it, against Minnesota in towering over weaker opponents, the Wolverines will have to flex their muscles over Northwestern and Ohio State to clinch a spot and a solid seed in the double-elimination Big Ten Tournament.

Michigan’s first expectation — winning the conference regular season — is now nothing more than a pipe dream; however, those Omaha ambitions can still be achieved.

But for those visions to become reality, the Wolverines will likely have to flip that mental switch for good.

The post After ‘gut check’ weekend series loss, Michigan finds itself resetting expectations appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

With a win almost certainly in hand as the Michigan baseball team led Penn State 13-3 in the eighth inning of its Big Ten opener on March 24, Connor O’Halloran was beginning to wear down on the mound.

So when Wolverines coach Tracy Smith came out to take the ball from the junior left-hander after letting a run score and putting runners on first and second, the end of O’Halloran’s day seemed imminent.

But it wasn’t.

O’Halloran wouldn’t let it be.

“He was like, ‘I want to keep the game because those are my runs out there,’ ” Smith said March 24.

And O’Halloran’s unwillingness to give up the ball worked, as Smith let his ace remain in the game.

After allowing one more run to come in, O’Halloran got two Nittany Lions to fly out to finish off the eighth — demonstrating the competitive spirit that was fostered from a young age.

***

Connor O’Halloran was born into a quintessential tight-knit sports family in the Toronto suburbs. Normal dinner times for the O’Halloran family were 9:30 or 10:00 at night, after long evenings of bouncing around between sports practices.

Connor’s father, Greg, played collegiate baseball at Orange Coast College before scouting and coaching in the World Baseball Classic for Team Canada in 2006 and 2009. Both of Connor’s older siblings, Ryan and Maggie, also grew up actively playing sports.

But even though his father held the baseball lineage of the family, Connor’s mother, Sheryl, actually introduced Connor and Ryan to baseball.

“It was every day, when I came home, they were playing some baseball game in the court,” Greg told The Michigan Daily. “And we had probably 10 or 11 kids who were all the same age of the 10 houses over there. (Connor and Ryan) were teaching everybody how to play and Sheryl would play catch with them every day.”

After those first mini-games on the concrete cul de sac, Greg took over the coaching reins for Connor and Ryan’s early baseball teams. Although he lightheartedly characterized coaching those early tee-ball teams as “one of the most painful things ever,” his children became fully immersed in the sport.

Connor then seized that love and made it his own. He started as the bat boy for Ryan’s games, and when he was finally old enough to be on the field, he played up an age group due to his rapidly-advancing level of play.

“I said, ‘Those guys over there, that’s your age group,’ ” Greg said. “He’s like ‘I’m not playing there, I’m going to play with these guys.’ ”

And despite being younger than all of his teammates, Connor would insist on playing with the older guys — and it paid off. As his game developed, Connor adopted the full baseball persona — eye black, wristbands and sleeping with his glove under his bed — to a point of near-insanity.

At one of Ryan’s youth baseball games, Connor was playing catch with other kids while watching the contest. Standing near left field, a pop fly in Ryan’s game went awry, smashing Connor right in the face and breaking his nose. Still, Connor’s mind immediately went to baseball.

“It breaks his nose, everything,” Maggie said. “And there’s blood, and then the ambulance has to come and he’s crying. My mom was like ‘Oh my gosh, don’t worry, you’ll be okay.’ He was like, ‘I don’t know if I can pitch next week!’ ”

Even in the scariest moments, Connor remained focused on baseball, which made it an easy choice for him to pursue club baseball teams over hockey and volleyball — the other sports he played growing up.

While it came naturally for Connor, the decision to pursue something other than hockey was shocking to others in Canada. Many of his friends were hockey-oriented, but Connor remained focused on chasing his baseball dreams.

“When Connor and Ryan both switched to baseball, everyone was like, ‘What are you doing?’ ” Maggie said. 

That commitment to baseball slowly but surely paid off. With limited organized high school sports in Canada, club teams are the primary way of getting meaningful competition and broader recruitment exposure.

As a result, Connor joined Terriers Baseball around age 15, led by coach Rick Johnston. The Terriers play in a domestic travel league and also take summer trips to the United States to mix up the competition. When Johnston first met Connor, he remembers the teenager having a big smile on his face, a sign of his “happy-go-lucky” attitude.

In the middle of the diamond, Johnston oversaw the development of Connor’s game as he faced increasingly strong competition each year. He recognized how Connor’s innate competitive fire and level-headedness helped him flourish and continue developing as a pitcher.

“You could see every day, a layer got peeled off and maturity came out of every layer,” Johnston told The Daily. “And good, bad or indifferent, when he pitched, he would battle like no tomorrow. His compete level was off the charts. I think that goes hand-in-hand with his maturing really young.” 

These attributes drew interest from Greg Hamilton, Director of National Teams and head coach of the Junior National Team in Canada. Connor was selected for the Canada U-18 National Team in 2018, presenting him the opportunity to represent his country in competitions like the U-18 World Cup Qualifiers in Panama and the U-18 World Cup in South Korea.

“It was probably some of the most fun baseball I’ve ever played in my life,” Connor said. “We got to travel everywhere. We got to play pro players. … You get to judge yourself against other top-tier players within your country that you almost didn’t even know existed before.”

With each outing, Connor increasingly gleaned information about the game of baseball and how he could improve his game.

But no outing was more humbling for him than a start against a New York Yankees minor league affiliate team at age 16. Connor learned the hard way that you cannot throw the ball down the middle of the plate to experienced batters, as he let up back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs.

Through the struggles, however, outsiders saw positives in Connor’s performance that day.

“A scout said, ‘That’s one of the best games I saw Connor play,’ ” Sheryl said. “I was like ‘you sure about that?’ (Connor) learned real quick.”

These teachable moments began to serve Connor well as he attended various events in the U.S. to gain recruitment exposure. The O’Halloran family traveled nine hours to Indianapolis for an invite-only Prep Baseball Report (PBR) event, where Connor pitched for Team Ontario against Team Michigan.

After pitching the first three innings, Connor immediately drew the eye of former Michigan pitching coach Chris Fetter. While Fetter was originally there to scout out the Michiganders, he couldn’t help but be impressed with the Canadian’s outing and invited him on a recruiting visit.

And Connor quickly seized the opportunity.

“When I heard that (Fetter) wanted to talk, I just jumped at the chance just because U-M is pretty close to Canada,” Connor said. “You hear a lot about the football and basketball, so that excited me.”

However, the ensuing visit was not Connor’s first time on Michigan’s campus. As a sophomore in high school, Connor played a baseball tournament at Pioneer High School, a mere block from Michigan Stadium. During the trip, Greg asked the team’s bus driver to pass by the campus so Connor and his teammates could see Yost Ice Arena and Ray Fisher Stadium.

“I said, ‘This is one of the greatest universities in the United States,’ ” Greg said. “And I said, there’s the baseball field right over there. Maybe someday, one of you might be able to be on that team, and Connor told me, ‘That’s gonna be me.’ ”

So when offered a scholarship by former Wolverines coach Erik Bakich in 2018, Connor immediately canceled all of his other visits.

After convincing Connor that he should play for him at Michigan, Bakich then turned the tables and asked Connor why he should be accepted into the university. Connor replied with an impassioned, heartwarming answer, emphasizing his intangibles in being a good teammate and his desire to win for the Wolverines.

“We were all very emotional,” Sheryl said.

As Connor eagerly accepted Bakich’s offer and embarked on his freshman year, COVID-19 combined with his mother’s breast cancer diagnosis threw a wrench into his plans.

“Dealing with (Sheryl’s breast cancer diagnosis) and then going to college at the same time was definitely a lot,” Connor said. “… It was the time that you wanted to be with her because she’s going through that. But she also understood that I had started this chapter in going to school.”

Amid these compounding factors, Bakich gave Connor alternative options to play baseball elsewhere for the year. However, Connor chose to prioritize starting that chapter of his career by playing college baseball at Michigan — while keeping close tabs on his mother’s health. Sheryl is now cancer-free.

With the Wolverines, Connor has blossomed, even with the coaching change after last season. He never contemplated transferring. After pitching just 6.2 total innings his entire freshman season, Connor’s individual starts this season now frequently last longer than that — sporting a Big Ten-leading 2.85 ERA as of May 4. On April 22 against Michigan State, Connor notched his first career complete game, once again showcasing his development on the mound.

“When he was younger, he wasn’t the hardest thrower,” Hamilton said. “I think today, he’s still probably not the hardest thrower, but he really knows how to pitch and really understands how to get hitters out. It’s obviously an attribute or skill set that will serve you well, especially from the left side.”

Even as the results and accolades pile up — highlighted by a recent ranking as the ninth-best college left-handed pitcher for the 2023 MLB Draft by Perfect Game — Connor remains a quiet leader in the locker room, more often choosing to lead by example.

“I just hope that people remember me personally as a good teammate and a guy that they love playing with, (and) have good memories with on and off the field,” Connor said.

***

A 10-run game in late March may seem rather unimportant for a starting pitcher remaining in the game. But it was for Connor O’Halloran.

“I wanted to shut this down myself,” O’Halloran said of his mindset in that Penn State game. “I want to get out of his own jam that I created for myself.”

This season for Michigan, O’Halloran has been the shut-down starter of the Big Ten, rarely having to work through jams while rising up draft boards.

His casual 10th-grade declaration of one day leading the Michigan baseball team has come to fruition, leading the charge as the Wolverines chase the Big Ten crown — thanks to his competitive spirit and passion for the game.

“That’s gonna be me” has truly come full circle.

The post ‘That’s gonna be me’: How Connor O’Halloran morphed into Michigan’s ace appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

Veteran senior left fielder Tito Flores has seen a lot of pitches in the batter’s box throughout his four years on the Michigan baseball team.

So as his batting average tumbled below the dreaded .200 Mendoza Line during a nasty hitting slump earlier this season, Flores maintained his approach in every at-bat to get himself out of the rut.

And because of that consistency at the plate, he helped engineer the go-ahead runs for the Wolverines in Wednesday’s midweek game against Kent State. Facing a 2-2 count with two outs in a tie ballgame and his teammate senior designated hitter Jimmy Obertop on second, Flores connected on a pitch for a two-run homer to give his side the lead for good.

While the breathing room for either team was never large until late, the two-run long ball by Flores proved to be pivotal in Michigan’s (22-20 overall) 7-5 victory over the Golden Flashes (31-13), where the Wolverines’ bats resiliently fought back immediately after falling into multiple deficits.

“We’ve shown resiliency in the entire year, and I think it was pretty much sticking with that,” Smith said. “Just continue to have good at-bats no matter what the score is, and give yourself a chance to grind out at-bats and we did a really good job of that today.”

Senior right-hander Noah Rennard started the game for Michigan, throwing two innings after giving up one run off an RBI double in the first inning by Kent State shortstop Michael McNamara. But Rennard was able to get out of the jam without further damage, leaving the bases loaded and showing the necessary qualities of a strong pitcher.

“Bad innings are going to happen,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said. “… And I think that’s just maturity and having confidence in himself, so that was good for him to (leave the bases loaded). That was key today because they could have blown that thing open early and he didn’t let it happen.”

Within striking distance after Rennard escaped the inning, the Wolverines’ hitters responded in the following two innings to momentarily regain the lead — with an RBI single by the red-hot Obertop in the bottom of the first and a balk by Flashes right-hander Ciaran Caughey in the second that scored Flores.

But the Wolverines could not immediately sustain their thin advantage. Junior right-hander Chase Allen, still searching to have a positive outing after three consecutive rough starts, gave up a two-run home run in the fourth inning to designated hitter Kolton Schaller, on a ball that just snuck over the left-field wall. Nonetheless, Smith was encouraged by what he saw in Allen.

“On the home run, the wind was blowing out to left pretty good, he made a nice pitch,” Smith said. “It’s a short porch on a normal day, that’s a routine fly ball that blew out. So I thought he pitched pretty well and had some unlucky circumstances that led to the two runs. That’s baseball.”

Even following this perceived bad luck, Michigan maintained its approach to the first inning hole it faced, refusing to let the deficit marinate.

The Wolverines roared back to a 5-3 lead after a pair of home runs in the fourth and fifth innings off Kent State right-hander Richie Dell, as freshman third baseman Mitch Voit and Flores both took Dell yard.

“It was one of those we want to stay in it and keep it close,” Smith said. “But I thought our guys did a really good job, certainly, Mitch and then Tito.”

Yet the game tightened once again, as Kent State refused to succumb to Michigan’s long-ball hitting. With senior left-hander Jacob Denner replacing Allen, a triple by Kent State left fielder Josh Johnson cut the advantage to just a single run.

From then, the Wolverines’ relievers shut the door, nursing a lead for their hitters to expand in the bottom of the eighth. Denner and Voit shut the door on the Flashes’ bats, allowing for Michigan to pad two insurance runs off a bloop double to shallow left by freshman center fielder Jonathan Kim, even as Voit yielded a late solo homer in the top of the ninth.

Entering the contest on a three-game losing streak, the rapid responses by the Wolverines’ hitters to snatch back momentum propelled them to a much-needed bounce-back win.

The post Quick responses fuel Michigan’s 7-5 win over Kent State appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

The Michigan baseball team’s weekend series have been akin to a familiar rhythm throughout its unpredictable season:

“Steady Eddie” junior left-hander Connor O’Halloran anchoring Friday with dominance, junior right-hander Chase Allen with a gritty Saturday outing and then a spotty bullpen performance on Sunday which typically leads to a blowout loss.

Michigan’s inability to close out series with wins has been well-documented across its Big Ten series.

But now, those Saturday starts are uncertain as well, due to traditional Saturday starter junior right-hander Chase Allen enduring a rough stretch. And Allen’s struggle continued after getting shelled in relief of junior right-hander Noah Rennard in Sunday’s 8-5 loss to Oklahoma State.

Allen’s performance provided no regression from the mean of his last two outings. Against Rutgers and Michigan State, he gave up 11 earned runs in 5.1 combined innings.

To shake things up, Michigan coach Tracy Smith moved Allen into a relief role for Sunday’s game against the Cowboys — opting to start Rennard instead.

“Chase has been struggling a little bit lately,” Smith said. “We just thought it was good and important to get off to a good start. … It’s more just changing it up a little bit because Chase has been struggling a little bit in the last couple starts.”

But even in his new relief role, Allen’s nightmarish stretch continued. 

Taking the ball from Rennard with the Wolverines facing a 2-0 deficit, Allen allowed six earned runs to permit Oklahoma State’s insurmountable lead.

After allowing a run in the top of the third, Allen seemed to settle in with a 1-2-3 fourth inning. But that efficiency was short-lived.

Cowboys center fielder Zach Ehrhard took the second pitch Allen threw in the fifth inning over the left field wall, and then Allen loaded the bases with just one out. And even after a mound visit by Smith, Allen remained in the game.

“I like to allow (guys like Allen) to work out and grow through their own ‘mess’ that they’ve created,” Smith said. “And that happened to be one of those situations. Chase kind of pitched himself into it, but I think Chase is a good pitcher. He’s going to help us as we complete the season, (and) I wanted him to have the opportunity to pitch himself out of it.”

Despite the decision, Allen could not get out of the jam.

On a full count, Oklahoma State third baseman Tyler Wulfert hit a two-RBI double to remove Allen from the game, ending his campaign early. Michigan junior right-hander Ryan Zimmer then let in both of the baserunners Allen allowed to put Michigan in an 8-1 hole.

While a weak showing in a non-conference series against ranked opponents may not seem like a grave concern, this string of bad starts is becoming a pattern for Allen. And without Allen’s success on the mound, the Wolverines could face even more danger in their remaining Big Ten series.

His current 7.38 ERA is nearly twice as high as last year, especially considering it was 4.01 a year ago and over a point lower than O’Halloran’s 5.44 ERA. If Allen cannot figure out his command issues, Michigan’s weekend aspirations will be more dependent on Rennard, senior left-hander Jacob Denner and other relievers that may have to pitch in key situations for the first time.

Given all these unknowns, the importance of Allen returning to dominance looms large for Michigan heading into its last three conference series.

And if that doesn’t change, those Saturdays and Sundays will be an even greater question.

The post Chase Allen’s mound struggles pose danger to Michigan’s Big Ten hopes appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

It’s no secret, senior left fielder Tito Flores has not had the year he was imagining.

Entering the 2023 season as one of the Michigan baseball team’s best returning hitters, Flores batted .325 and .276 in 2021 and 2022, respectively, with over a .500 slugging percentage in both seasons.

However, this year Flores has not compared statistically. Aiming to simply stay in the lineup, Flores entered the Wolverines’ series against Michigan State batting below the dreaded .200 Mendoza Line.

And with the return of senior designated hitter Jimmy Obertop, it was plausible for Michigan coach Tracy Smith to make Flores the odd man out for the rivalry weekend series.

But he refrained. In fact, the in-state rivalry element significantly contributed to his insertion into the lineup.

“He struggled,” Smith said April 21. “He struggled statistically, but it doesn’t impact how he goes about the process and getting better every day. … I would say a little bit of (the rivalry) went into my decision to play him today because he’s been important to this program.”

The decision was bold, as Flores started over senior outfielders Joey Velazquez and Joe Longo, both of whom are currently batting over .260.

But it paid off.

After a fly out to center in his first attempt, Flores reached base the next three times he stepped up to the plate — two of which were singles and the other on a hit-by-pitch. This performance gave the coaching staff credence to then place him in Saturday’s lineup.

On Saturday, the first pitch thrown toward Flores hit him directly on the shoulder. A veteran of the rivalry — hitting two home runs against the Spartans last year — Flores made a gesture and spared no words at the Michigan State dugout as he trotted over to first base.

“It goes back to the rivalry of its Michigan versus Michigan State, and what team’s the best in Michigan,” Flores said April 23. “And growing up within that, it’s like these games just meet more.”

That feeling was palpable as graduate first baseman Jack Van Remortel followed up the theatrics of Flores’s hit-by-pitch with a two-RBI single to give the Wolverines a 4-0 lead in the first inning on Saturday to chase the Spartans’ starter, right-hander Harrison Cook.

Flores then ripped a double in his next at bat, before hitting another double on Sunday to elevate his batting average to .215 on the season. His performance over the weekend contributed to a crucial Big Ten series victory and an important improvement in Flores’s season trajectory.

“It’s been hard for me because that kid does everything right,” Smith said. “He works, works, works to have modest success this year. So for him to come out in a big series and really set the tone and play well, happy for him and happy for us.”

Evident from Smith’s sentiment, Flores’s weekend against Michigan State was a sight for his teammates’ sore eyes. Due to his leadership in the locker room and steadfast approach, he overcame his well-documented struggles thus far.

“You do the right things every day, you handle your business and then success will then come off that,” Flores said. “But you don’t change anything, you stay with your routine and it kind of goes off from there.”

Flores’ leadership has guided the Wolverines through their roller coaster of a season.

Now, his play is starting to catch up once again.

The post Michigan’s Tito Flores returns to form against Michigan State appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

No stranger to the intensity of the in-state rivalry, senior left fielder Tito Flores stepped up to the plate for his first at-bat of Saturday’s game with his squad already up 2-0. Before even getting a chance to hit anything, he took a ball thrown by Michigan State right-hander Harrison Cook right to the shoulder. As Flores was making his way to first, he made a gesture and had some words for the Spartans dugout — his frustration from the hit clearly on display.

From there, the emotions and vigor of the rivalry matchup kicked up a notch.

Immediately following the hit-by-pitch, graduate first baseman Jack Van Remortel turned the first pitch he saw into a two-RBI single. Those runs extended the Michigan baseball team’s early lead to 4-0, chasing Cook out of the game with only one out recorded.

Although the game tightened — the margin shrank to just one run in the fifth inning — the Wolverines (21-17 overall, 9-5 Big Ten) stretched their lead for good with three runs in the sixth to pull away from Michigan State (23-13, 6-5), securing an 8-3 victory and rivalry weekend series win.

Michigan’s hitting right out of the gate provided junior left-hander Connor O’Halloran with a comfortable early cushion, as a two-RBI single by senior right fielder Joey Velazquez gave the Wolverines a 2-0 advantage before Flores and Van Remortel extended the lead.

“It’s always good to play for the front,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said. “It sets a mindset not only on the offensive side, but from a pitching standpoint … to get a little breathing room. To me, it lends that attitude (that) they can pitch aggressively in the zone and trust the guys behind them.”

But that cushion was short-lived.

Spartans right-hander Ryan Szczepaniak, appearing in relief of Cook, cooled the Wolverines’ early hot hitting. Szczepaniak began his outing with 4.2 scoreless innings, giving his own Michigan State hitters a chance to come back.

And the Spartans capitalized, using the opportunity to grind out runs off O’Halloran and chip away at the deficit. 

An RBI double by shortstop Mitch Jebb put Michigan State on the board in the third inning. Jebb then scored all the way from second, taking advantage of Van Remortel’s delayed recognition after Spartans first baseman Brock Vradenburg beat out the throw to first. Then, second baseman Trent Farquhar cut Michigan State’s deficit to just one run in the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly. While not credited as an error, the lack of situational awareness by Van Remortel helped the Spartans get back in the game.

“Defensively, we made a couple mistakes there,” Smith said. “In my opinion, we gave them two (runs) just by not taking care of and doing the things that we can control, which is playing catch. … We kind of gave them a couple of just by not playing catch.”

Yet when the game seemed to be up for grabs after these miscues, the Michigan hitters once again rose to the occasion to quash any chance of another rally attempt.

As Szcsepaniak’s pitch count rose into the sixth inning, Van Remortel rebounded off his mistakes in the field, taking a pitch over the left-center field wall for a home run to give the Wolverines some breathing room.

That breathing room subsequently turned into a lead well beyond arm’s length, forcing the Spartans to make multiple pitching changes. Back-to-back doubles by the top of the order, graduate shortstop Cody Jefferis and senior second baseman Ted Burton, piled onto the lead. Extending the advantage to 7-3, the Wolverines’ response showed signs of their steady approach when facing the pressure of an opposing comeback effort.

“It was a mature approach in the dugout because the guys were confident,” Smith said. “Like, ‘Hey, we’re alright. We’re up a run, let’s extend the lead.’ And that was really the dialogue in the dugout.”

Again with a comfortable lead, O’Halloran settled back in with four consecutive shutout innings to finish off his first complete game of the season.

An insurance run scored by junior catcher Gabe Sotres on a wild pitch provided the exclamation point on a dominant all-around performance for the Wolverines, one that was catalyzed by big first and sixth innings at the plate.

And finding that intensity from the get-go after the Flores hit-by-pitch helped them do so.

The post Michigan clinches series victory over Michigan State with dominant 8-3 win appeared first on The Michigan Daily.

When the Michigan baseball team takes the field against Michigan State Friday afternoon, it will be exactly nine weeks since the teams last faced off at the MLB Desert Invitational.

Nine weeks ago, the Spartans delivered the Wolverines their first loss of the Tracy Smith era, 15-8. But as these two rivals enter this weekend’s battle — nearly 1,650 miles from their first encounter — the stakes are much higher.

Despite the final tally in that February matchup, Michigan actually held a 5-1 advantage heading into the third inning. Junior right-hander Chase Allen got off to a strong start, giving up just one earned run in 3.2 innings pitched.

From there, though, it went haywire.

Sophomore right-hander Avery Goldensoph, who has not pitched since, got tagged for five runs in just one inning. Sophomore right-hander Jake Keaser and freshman right-hander Brandon Mann allowed six more earned runs to seal their squad’s fate.

In just the second game of the Wolverines’ season, Michigan coach Tracy Smith was sifting through his staff to see what he had in the stable. Heading into this weekend series, now approaching the final stretch of the regular season, none of these pitchers figure to play much of a role. Yet Michigan’s pitching depth problem still remains, reinforcing the need for quality starts in each game.

“Compete in the zone and change speeds, and it’s got to be the guys executing in the situations we need to execute,” Smith said April 19. “You got to get ahead of hitters, you can’t leave it over the plate because we played them earlier. We know they’re a really good hitting team, but we can neutralize that.”

Although Smith is confident his pitchers can negate the Spartans’ hitting, it will be a tall task. Currently sitting at 23-11 overall and 6-3 in the Big Ten, Michigan State has six hitters in their lineup batting at least .300. First baseman Brock Vradenburg is the anchor, batting .418 with a 1.230 OPS.

Like the Spartans, when Michigan steps up to the plate, its winning formula will also likely rely on capitalizing on the opportunities presented by the opposing pitching staff — which holds a combined ERA of 5.26. Left-hander Joseph Dzierwa pitched 4.2 scoreless relief innings against the Wolverines in February; however, his ERA has risen to 4.40 as he became Michigan State’s Friday starter.

While the rest of the weekend starters have been up in the air, the Spartans’ relievers are among the best in the conference, with right-handers Andrew Carson and Wyatt Rush respectively sitting at ERAs of 3.26 and 3.12.

As such, Michigan will likely need to pounce early on Michigan State’s starting pitchers to mitigate the impact of Carson and Rush in relief. And to avoid a repeat of the Wolverines’ bullpen implosion, lengthy starts from junior left-hander Connor O’Halloran on Friday and Allen on Saturday will be critical in setting the tone for how Smith curates his relievers.

Heading into a matchup like this weekend’s, with significant Big Ten standings implications, it can be easy for teams to get caught up in the emotions.

But the Michigan locker room remains focused on keeping this series scoped in a broader context of its Big Ten aspirations.

“Our goal is to extend our season and extend the season by getting in the Big Ten Tournament,” Smith said. “So I don’t care if it’s Michigan State or ‘whatever state’ coming in, these games are important. …We’re still in the hunt (to) win the Big Ten regular season. So let’s focus on Friday night. That’s our thing is like, ‘take it one game at a time.’ ”

Amid the dense history of the rivalry — that has already been added to earlier this season — the Wolverines enter this series focused on moving up the Big Ten ladder in the thick of a tight race.

And if Michigan’s hitters are able to chase the Spartans’ starters early and often, the Wolverines can continue to climb toward their goals.

The post With first encounter in rear, Michigan approaching Michigan State series focused on Big Ten goals appeared first on The Michigan Daily.