Michigan had a long layoff between games this week, as its midweek matchup against Eastern Michigan was postponed due to inclement weather. Coming off a series win over Rutgers last weekend, Michigan faced a tough test this weekend when it welcomed in a No. 15 Oregon.
Here’s a look at how it all went down at Ray Fisher Stadium.
Game 1 – Thursday
Michigan’s bats were the story in its previous series against Rutgers, and they didn’t take long to wake back up against Oregon in the series opener. The Wolverines plated their
first run of the weekend in the second inning with a Noah Miller home run that just snuck over the right field wall.
In the third inning, Michigan erupted for five runs by taking advantage of some sloppy Oregon pitching. With one out, Michigan loaded the bases on a hit batter and two walks. Noah Miller and Brenden Stressler would drive in runs in consecutive at-bats to give the Wolverines a 4-0 lead, while Brayden Jefferis drive in two runs with a two-out single to make it a 6-0 game.
Michigan would tack on an additional run in the bottom of the fourth and three more in the sixth to go up 10-0. All the while, Shane Brinham was dominating on the mound to the tune of just three hits, no walks and seven strikeouts. He maintained the shutout through seven innings, allowing Michigan to earn a quick run-rule victory in the first game of the series, 10-0.
Game 2 – Friday
Michigan got off to another hot start, scoring a run in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a Cade Ladehoff double that drove in Evan Haeger. Oregon eventually evened the game in the top of the fifth inning with a home run to right field courtesy of Jack Brooks off of Michigan starter Kurt Barr.
Gavin DeVooght relieved Barr to start the seventh inning, but Oregon knocked him around a bit, hitting a leadoff double before eventually driving in the run with a one-out single from Ryan Cooney. With the game winding down, the Ducks now held a 2-1 lead.
Michigan wasn’t able to hold down Oregon’s offense in the eighth inning, as the Ducks scored three more runs to jump ahead 5-1. In the bottom of the eighth, Michigan would show a bit more fight, scoring one more run courtesy of a two-out RBI single from Haeger. But Oregon limited the damage and held on for the 5-2 win.
Game 3 – Saturday
Oregon kept its momentum from Friday rolling into Saturday’s game by scoring two runs in the first inning off Michigan starter David Lally, with both runs crossing the plate via a throwing error from Michigan shortstop Drew Culbertson.
Michigan started to battle back in the bottom of the third inning with Culbertson getting hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. He was driven in thanks to a one-out single from Colby Turner to make it a 2-1 game. Later in the inning, it was Brayden Jefferis driving in Turner with two outs to tie the game at 2-2.
In the next half inning, Oregon’s Gabe Miranda recorded a leadoff single before Lally got two fast outs. The Ducks would take advantage of the runner on base, though, as Dominic Hellman hit a two-out RBI single to score Miranda and make it a 3-2 game.
With one more chance to make something happen, the Michigan offense came back to life in the ninth against closer Devin Bell. Brayden Jefferis and Jack Laffitte hit singles, then Brenden Stressler got hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs, Cooper Mullens stepped up and hit a single up the middle, scoring two runs to give Michigan a 4-3 walk-off victory to clinch the series.
By winning two-of-three this weekend, Michigan is now 16-14 overall and 5-7 in the Big Ten. More importantly, defeating a high-quality team like Oregon helped generate some momentum that can carry the Wolverines through the middle of the season.
They’ll have a chance to keep the good times rolling with their makeup game against Eastern Michigan on Monday, followed by a game against Central Michigan on Tuesday.
