Michigan now faces elimination in the Big Ten Tournament.
After defeating Iowa on Wednesday in its Big Ten Tournament opener, the Michigan Wolverines baseball team went back to work on Thursday night for its second-round matchup with the No. 8 seeded Penn State.
Penn State, coming off a win over Illinois on Wednesday went with senior right-hander Jaden Henline on the mound, while Michigan countered with Chase Allen.
The Nittany Lions got on the scoreboard first in the second inning by taking advantage of some sloppy defense from Michigan. A throwing error by Michigan’s A.J. Garcia allowed Penn State’s Matt Maloney to score, putting the Nittany Lions up 1-0 early.
With Henline throwing a good game for Penn State, it took until the fifth inning for Michigan to get on the scoreboard. After Cole Caruso reached on a base hit, it was catcher Will Rogers who came up big, clubbing a two-run homer that gave Michigan a 2-1 lead. Penn State countered quickly in the bottom of the fifth and took a 3-2 lead.
Henline was excellent in the contest, throwing seven innings and striking out nine Wolverines. He was replaced by Anthony Steele to start the eighth inning, and Michigan was able to take advantage. Mitch Voit came in clutch with a three-run homer, giving Michigan a 5-3 lead.
WE LIKE THAT!!!
MITCH VOIT 422 FOOT HR ! #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/SNHhOeLLIi
— Michigan Baseball (@umichbaseball) May 24, 2024
Penn State wasn’t going down with out a fight, as it was able to load the bases in the bottom of the eighth against Michigan’s Ricky Kidd. Third baseman Bryce Molinaro came through with the biggest moment of the night, smacking a grand slam to left field to put Penn State on top late, 7-5.
The Nittany Lions scored two more runs in the eighth off Kidd before Brandon Mann came in to shut things down. Michigan wasn’t able to put anything together in the ninth and lost by a final score of 9-5.
With the loss, Michigan falls to 1-1 in the tournament and now has its season on the line. The Wolverines are now in the loser’s bracket, but will get another chance to move on in the tournament on Friday night against Illinois at 8 p.m. on Big Ten Network.