Baseball Recap: Wolverines bow out in Big Ten Tournament semifinals

Michigan drops its second game against Penn State in three days.

Following a win on Friday night over Illinois , the Michigan baseball team was back at it on Saturday afternoon. This time, the Wolverines were in a rematch with Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal game.

At this point, Michigan and Penn State are quite familiar with each other, as the two teams squared off earlier in the tournament, with the Nittany Lions coming out on top 9-5 on Thursday . Facing elimination once again, Michigan went with ace Kurt Barr on just two days rest, while Penn State went with a bullpen game, started by Frankie Sanchez.

Barr labored through the first three innings of the game, but still got results, holding Penn State scoreless early despite an elevated pitch count. But Nittany Lions finally got to Barr in the fourth inning; after a one-out single and a walk, Matt Maloney hit one through the Michigan infield. The ball also got under the glove of Stephen Hrustich in right, allowing two runs to score and Maloney to reach third.

Tayven Kelley then got under a ball and sent it out to left field, deep enough to bring Maloney in on a sacrifice fly, giving Penn State an early 3-0 lead. Barr went as far as he could, but was replaced by Jacob Denner to start the fifth inning.

With Mason Horwat entering to pitch for Penn State in the sixth inning, Michigan’s offense went to work. Hrustich led off the frame with a double to left field, and was driven in by Cole Caruso two batters later.

Dylan Stanton reached base after being hit by a pitch and was promptly replaced on the base paths by Alfredo Velazquez. Mack Timbrook reached on a walk as well and both runners were driven in by a Kyle Dernedde double down the left field line. Just like that, Michigan had tied the game at three.

In the seventh, Mitch Voit led off the inning with a single and was driven in by Hrustich on a triple down the left field line to give Michigan a 4-3 lead. Shortly thereafter, Hrustich scored on a wild pitch from Horwat, putting Michigan up 5-3.

Penn State’s offense rallied in the top of the eighth. Infielder Joe Jaconski led off the frame with a solo homer to cut the lead in half. That was followed by back-to-back singles to give Penn State some traffic on the bases. After a strikeout from Denner, another single loaded the bases.

After getting into a good 2-0 hitter’s count, Penn State’s Bryce Molinaro ripped a single to right field that brought in the tying run. Fortunately, Hrustich came up gunning and nailed the trailing Adam Cecere at home. A strikeout would end the inning, but Penn State had made it 5-5.

After a scoreless ninth inning, the game went to extras, where Penn State kept swinging the bat. J.T. Marr led off the inning with a single, which was followed by a two-run homer from Cecere off Denner. Michigan headed to the bottom of the 10th facing a two-run deficit.

Freshman infielder Cooper Mullens struck out to open up the inning, while Jonathan Kim followed him up with a groundout to first. Voit, who has been hot all week, smacked a solo homer to left field to make it a 7-6 ballgame, but it was too little too late, as Hrustich flied out to end the game and the season.

With the loss, Michigan’s season is almost certainly over, as the Wolverines aren’t likely to receive an invite to the NCAA Tournament. The Big Ten’s lone representative will likely be the winner of the conference championship on Sunday. Michigan’s ends with a final record of 32-28.