OMAHA, Neb. — Thirteen feet: the difference between the centerfield walls in Ray Fisher Stadium and Charles Schwab Field. A mere 13 feet was the disparity between a run for the Michigan baseball team and a put-out for Penn StateThursday. Eager to pounce on any ball that came their way, the Nittany Lions’ fielders roamed the outfield grass keenly. The unit may have had just six combined putouts, but their impact extended far beyond what the stat sheet may suggest.
In the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, Michigan’s play was characterized by small-ball performances, where it took advantage of Iowa’s mistakes in order to inch out the win. In round two, the batter’s box couldn’t have looked more different for the Wolverines, sending the ball into the outer edges of the field time and time again against Penn State.
“That was a back and forth contest,” Michigan coach Tracy Smith said. “ These things, they never go as planned. In other words, you’re very rarely going to go out and run the table.”
Striking first in the bottom of the second inning, the Nittany Lions shot back-to-back balls to the left field corner and brought home one run in the process. Using the full expanse of the outfield to its advantage, Penn State’s power hitters had the Wolverines outfielders chasing balls across the outfield.
But when Michigan stepped up to bat, the Nittany Lions had nearly no issues containing balls sent to the outfield. While Smith employed three different left fielders throughout the matchup to contain Penn State’s bats, the Nittany Lions’ outfielders stalked the domain with a confidence that simply wasn’t replicated by their opposition. And from diving plays to clean relays, the Nittany Lions’ outfield unit didn’t give Michigan’s hitters an inch of breathing room.
“The outfield has done a great job,” Penn State coach Mike Gambino said. “(Nick Puccio) has done a really great job with those guys, continuing to work with them as they get better and better. The diving catches are obviously awesome, and they all came up today, but there’s also just a lot of balls that they ran through that were harder catches that they got too.”
In the top of the sixth inning, freshman designated hitter Colin Priest entered the batter’s box looking to give the Wolverines an edge as they trailed 3-2. Staring down the fifth pitch he saw, Priest smashed the ball to dead-center field. At Ray Fisher Stadium, the hit would’ve been a home run easily. But at Charles Schwab Field, the ball instead grazed the center field wall and rolled to the feet of center fielder Joe Jaconski. Jaconski quickly snatched the sphere and hurled it to the infield to prevent Priest from passing second base.
The throw may have seemed inconsequential in the moment, but it likely prevented Priest from scoring a run. The following two at-bats saw ground balls that, while resulting in outs, likely could have been just enough for Priest to get to home had he been at third base. The routine throw, while less exciting, highlights the consistency that the Nittany Lions’ outfield unit brought to the matchup..
On the other end of the spectrum, Jaconski also made his fair share of highlight-reel defensive plays. In the top of the fourth inning, graduate right-fielder Stephen Hrustich pounded the ball to center left field. The ball seemingly dropped at the exact right time, just inside of the outfielders’ reach. But Jaconski had other plans. Diving with his glove extended in stride, Jaconski sent Hrustich back to the dugout defeated.
“It’s unbelievable, you know half of those plays I didn’t even think were going to be possible,” Nittany Lions right-hander Jaden Henline said. “Whenever you have that kind of support behind you, it really gives you a lot of confidence on the mound.”
The only chance Michigan had to combat these defensive plays was to put the ball in a place where the outfield would physically be unable to reach it. The two at-bats that brought home all five of the Wolverines’ runs. Thursday came from home runs that exited the ballpark altogether. While effective, if the only option to score is for your offense is to rocket the ball out of the ballpark, it’s difficult to score a lot.
Michigan’s batters weren’t shut downThursday, they were simply outplayed. The Nittany Lions’ outfielders took advantage of their domain, and controlled the matchup in a way that the Wolverines just couldn’t escape.
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