Ted Burton heating up as Michigan season nears its close

All season long, Ted Burton has been like a match ready to be ignited. 

The senior second baseman is always a candidate for a blasted home run or a superstar defensive play in the field. While he has had inconsistencies throughout the season, his performance this past weekend against Northwestern proved that he is becoming even more important to the Michigan baseball team as it nears postseason play.

Going just 6-for-14 at the plate doesn’t seem like a star performance from one of the Wolverines’ better players, but a deeper dive shows that Burton had an immense impact on the game. Three of those hits were home runs and two were doubles, huge power hits that brought momentum to the team and energized the dugout. 

“I just try to get on base and I know more times than not (Burton is) going to drive me in,” graduate shortstop Cody Jefferis said. “It’s great to hit in front of him for sure.” 

Burton has become synonymous with big hits and RBI, as he significantly leads the team in both home runs and RBI. 

Burton’s first homer of the series came on Friday, pushing a four-run lead to five. While not ultimately essential to the outcome of the game, it heated up his bat enough to get him going for the rest of the series. 

From that point forward, Burton was lights out, making dazzling plays in the field and essential hits throughout the end of the series.

His biggest play of the weekend came at the end of Saturday’s game to clinch the series win. With one out, one man threatening on first and just a three-run lead, Burton took matters into his own hands to close out the Wildcats’ rally attempt. 

With a line drive smashed and on target for the gap in right field, Burton sprung up and stretched all the way out to secure the catch, before landing and quickly flipping the ball to first for the force out on the tagging runner. 

“I give all the credit in the world to his parents,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said. “Way back to conception, because that’s genetics. That’s why they produced a 6-foot-3 second baseman. All planning on their part, all credit due to them.”

Burton’s dazzling play showcased the ceiling he brings the Wolverines to, because when he is playing at his best, big plays like Saturday’s can be the difference between wins and losses. 

And even after clinching the series win, Burton wasn’t done just yet.

With home runs in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, he took on the challenge and exceeded it on Sunday. Blasting his third home run in three games in the bottom of the fourth inning, not only had he kept his streak going — but he was also in the chase against Jefferis for the cycle. 

“Ted came up to me and he was like, ‘Hey, it’s me or you for the cycle,’ ” Jefferis said. “… Having a guy like Ted behind me makes my job a lot easier.”

While Jefferis was ultimately the one to complete the cycle with a late-game triple, Burton’s single, double and home run were important catalysts to the 15-5 victory to close a series sweep for Michigan on Sunday. 

Burton’s huge weekend was full of big hits and important plays. Even more importantly, though, his performance shows that he is heating up with just one conference series left before the Big Ten Tournament — exactly when the Wolverines need him most. 

As a senior and veteran leader who has been in big spots throughout his career, Burton’s play is paramount to Michigan’s success. A series sweep puts the Wolverines in place for a tournament berth, but Burton’s performance in the sweep could put them in place for another magical run.