It’s been some tough sledding for the Michigan baseball team so far this year, and the Wolverines had lost three of their last four games entering a road series against a Rutgers team that’s been a nice surprise in the Big Ten to this point.
However, the Wolverines were able to take the road series this past weekend. Here’s a look at everything that happened in Piscataway.
Game 1 – Friday
Michigan won its most recent game vs Toledo before this series began and kept up its momentum going at the plate, with Colby Turner
clubbing his sixth home run of the season — a solo shot over the left field wall — to make it 1-0 in the first inning. Michigan added to its total in the second inning courtesy of a triple from Evan Haeger, followed by a sacrifice fly from Greg Pace to put the Wolverines up 3-0.
Kurt Barr had been dealing through the first three innings, but Rutgers finally got to Michigan’s ace in the bottom of the fourth inning. Joey Erace drove in a run with an RBI single, and Quinten Perilli did the same shortly after to make it a 3-2 game.
Michigan went to the bullpen in the sixth inning, sending Shane Brinham to the hill. But Rutgers was able to solve him as well, plating two runs in the inning thanks to back-to-back singles from Peyton Bonds and Tristan Salinas to give the Scarlet Knights a 4-3 lead. Michigan’s offense was unable to scratch across any runs the rest of the way, stranding runners in both the seventh and eighth innings. The Wolverines ultimately dropped the series opener, 4-3.
Game 2 – Saturday
Needing its offense to wake back up, Michigan didn’t wait around to get on the scoreboard on Saturday, striking for three runs in the first inning via a sac fly from Noah Miller and a towering two-run hone run by Haegar.
The Wolverines added to their total in the third inning. With runners on second and third, Miller came through again, this time with a double down the right field line to plate two runs, pushing it to a 5-0 game. Miller would later be scored on a sacrifice fly from Cade Ladehoff, while Haegar would also score in the inning courtesy of an error. Michigan jumped out to a 7-0 lead all while Erik Puodziunas was cruising on the mound.
The Scarlet Knights finally got on the board via an RBI single from Chase Krewson in the fifth inning. They also made things a bit more interesting in the sixth with a three-run homer from Charlie Meglio. That made it a 7-4 ballgame and chased Puodziunas from the game.
Michigan’s power came through late in the game for some insurance runs. Haegar hammered his second homer of the day, a solo shot to center field in the eighth, while Turner had his second of the series and seventh of the year, a three-run shot, to make it 11-4. Rutgers tacked on an additional run in the final frame, but Michigan was well in control and held on to win it, 11-5.
Game 3 – Sunday
Michigan went with Max Debiec to open the rubber match on Sunday, but Rutgers was able to get to him in the first inning, grabbing a 1-0 lead on an RBI single from Trey Wells. Ladehoff wouldn’t wait around to tie the game for Michigan, hitting yet another homer for the Wolverines in the top of the second inning.
It wasn’t until the fourth inning that Michigan would grab the lead, scoring runs on RBI singles from Brayden Jefferis and Greg Pace to go up 3-1. The Wolverines scored another run in the inning, with Ladehoff scoring from third base on a wild pitch from Rutgers’ Dallin Harrison. Michigan added another in the seventh to take a commanding 6-1 lead.
Meanwhile, David Lally replaced Debiec as the bulk guy and was excellent, allowing just four hits and one walk over the final 6.2 innings of action. His lone blemish wouldn’t come until the seventh, with Ryan Jaros hitting a solo home run. It hardly made a dent against the Wolverines, though, who took the game by a 6-2 final score to secure a series victory.
By winning two games over the weekend, Michigan got back above the .500 mark and is now 14-13 on the year. The Wolverines will have a chance to push their winning streak to three games when they take the short road trip to Ypsilanti to face Eastern Michigan on Tuesday afternoon.
