The Michigan Wolverines baseball team got off to a hot start this season, going 4-0 in the Puerto Rico Challenge over Valentine’s Day weekend. Unfortunately, they followed it up with an 0-3 dud this past weekend in the College Baseball Series in Arlington, Texas against No. 22 TCU, Kansas State and No. 5 Arkansas.
After a dominant first weekend, hopes were high for Michigan coming into the College Baseball Series. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t the Wolverines’ weekend.
Let’s take a look at how all three games went down.
Game 1: Michigan falls to TCU after late surge from Horned Frogs
Michigan got off to a pretty good start, as Mitch Voit hit a two-run homer in the first inning. The Wolverines did get into an early hole, as starting pitcher Dylan Vigue surrendered a run in the top of the first, but the Voit homer provided a 2-1 lead after one inning.
The Wolverines added to their lead in the second, as Jonathan Kim knocked in a run on a base hit to right field. Vigue settled in nicely and gave up just the one earned run in the first.
Michigan still led 3-1 heading into the sixth inning, but that’s when TCU broke things open. Four unearned runs from the Horned Frogs killed the Wolverines and gave TCU a 5-3 edge. TCU added another run in the seventh inning to make it 6-3.
Voit scored on an error in the bottom of the eighth to make it 6-4, but a four-run ninth for TCU put Michigan away for good, 10-4.
Game 2: Kansas State hands Michigan its second straight loss
Michigan took a lead in the first inning of this game as well, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Jeter Ybarra came up with a big RBI double to put the Wolverines up 1-0 in the first inning, but that was all the scoring the Wolverines would put up.
The lead did not last long, as Kansas State scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the first. Starting pitcher Kurt Barr went just three innings, but gave up zero earned runs.
Kansas State ended up extending its lead in the fifth inning with a couple long balls. Two homers plated three runs, and it was 5-1 Wildcats.
That was all the scoring for the game, and Kansas State went on to win it, 5-1.
Game 3: Michigan concludes weekend with tight loss to Arkansas
The first two games were disappointing for the Wolverines, but this trip would’ve felt a lot better if they were able to close it out with a win over a top-five team in the country. Unfortunately, the Razorbacks were a little too much to handle.
Michigan got off to a yet another 1-0 start, but Arkansas quickly erased the deficit and scored seven runs in the first three innings. A home run in the fifth put the Razorbacks up 8-1, and it looked like the game was over.
However, Michigan slowly started chipping away to get back in it. In the sixth inning, Michigan made things a little closer as Cole Caruso and Robert Hamchuk both hit homers to make 8-3. A sacrifice fly from Jonathan Kim made it 8-4 in the eighth.
Michigan showed no quit, as Hamchuk came up with another massive hit in the ninth. He hit a two-RBI single to make it 8-6, and the Wolverines all of a sudden had the tying run at the plate. Michigan ended up getting runners on second and third with a chance to tie the game on a base hit, but couldn’t capitalize. Arkansas hung on for the 8-6 win.
After starting the season so strong in Puerto Rico, this was a very disappointing weekend for the Michigan baseball team. The 4-3 Wolverines will return to action this Friday to begin a three-game series against Long Beach State.
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