OMAHA, Neb. — Will Rogers pitched an almost-complete game, exiting after 8.2 innings of work that included a no-hitter through seven innings against No. 1-seeded Illinois. Previously, the junior right-hander hadn’t extended past five innings on the mound before Michigan coach Tracy Smith made the bullpen call. But as each inning passed, the belief in Rogers grew.
Because at the end of the day, Rogers wasn’t supposed to make it that far. And neither were the Wolverines.
Yet, here they are.
And as Michigan heads into the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, the question appears: How did the Wolverines get this far? And the answer is Smith.
Before the season even started, Smith knew he had a challenge on his hands. With 27 newcomers to Ray Fisher Stadium, the roster reeked of novelty. While a mix of transfers filled the vacancies of the infield, the biggest uncertainty lay in the pitching staff. Senior right-hander Chase Allen, sophomore right-hander Mitch Voit and fifth-year left-hander Jacob Denner were the predicted routine arms for Michigan’s season.
“I almost look at us in two different pieces,” Smith said February 13. “We’re really veteran in this area and we’re really green in the other area. And unfortunately, we’re green in the area that really matters.”
Smith knew from the beginning that someone had to step up from the group of 11 freshman pitchers entering the club alongside his veteran bullpen. But as the season progressed and expectations were modified, Smith’s vision had to change with it.
Fast forward three months, and Rogers took his third-ever start for the Wolverines in the Big Ten Tournament elimination game. And no one could have predicted this would be Michigan’s brand of baseball.
The first hiccup came from the presumptive Friday night starter freshman right-hander Dylan Vigue. His reputation followed him to Ann Arbor, and Smith set his bar high. However, Vigue’s transition into collegiate baseball was rocky at best, as he navigated the first few weeks of the season while driving up his ERA. Smith gave him the room to breathe and adjust, but the pressure became a burden, and eventually, Smith had to hand the ball over to someone else. But through relief and mid-week outings, Smith knew who he was giving the green light to.
Here enters the saving grace of the Wolverines pitching staff: sophomore right-hander Kurt Barr.
In his freshman year, Barr had the luxury that Vigue couldn’t afford. Rather than expecting immediate results from opening weekend starts, Barr had the chance to learn. His outings in his first year came sparingly, used mostly out of the bullpen while retaining six starts. But his results were minimal, commonly seeing just one or two innings before Smith pulled him. As the young arm of the team at that time, Barr had the luxury to test the waters before Smith called on a more seasoned pitcher to finish the job. This season, with his back against the wall, Smith needed results fast. And while Vigue struggled, Barr’s time had come.
“I came in the third and walked the first guy, and if this was last year, I think they would have yanked me,” Barr said March 17.
Smith and pitching coach Brock Huntzinger’s confidence in Barr blossomed as he began his control of the Big Ten. From pitching a complete game to supporting the third-lowest ERA in the Big Ten in conference match-ups, Michigan switched gears. With the support around him, Barr took off and became the solution to the Friday troubles.
With one problem solved, others arose in plenty.
It became a chain reaction when sophomore outfielder Greg Pace Jr. went down with injury. The loss of Pace put the lineup back into the air, and Smith started playing chess with his defensive set-up, interchanging players around the diamond and searching for the ideal combination. As the Wolverines’ lineup varied each game, sophomore center-fielder Jonathan Kim was sucked into the injury vortex, too.
Now with not only one, but two outfielders missing in action, Smith once again had to figure out his next steps. But instead of only having to find the defensive support he needed, Smith had to replace the notable loss of Kim’s bat as well.
And while Barr became the obvious answer to the pitching woes, the problems at the plate weren’t solved as easily.
Michigan’s most impactful hitters, graduate outfielder Stephen Hrustich and Voit, remained vigilant throughout the season, offering the foundation it needed to stay competitive in the conference. But even the power duo experienced their share of slumps through late March and into April. Without the guaranteed runs and hits from the two, it became imperative for someone else to take the reins.
In a time of need, the Wolverines found their breakout player of the year: freshman designated hitter and first baseman Collin Priest.
“(Priest’s) a threat every time he walks to the plate,” Smith said May 11. “He was kind of our internal player of the game deservingly so, but without his performance today, we’re probably not sitting here.”
In that game alone, Priest delivered five hits including two doubles with just a pair of RBIs. With the cherry on top, he swung for the fences, earning himself another home run. His shining performances were no longer surprises, but a welcomed regular occurrence for Michigan.
Despite his success at the plate, the Wolverines’ instability continued. While Priest rode through a high, others dropped. Michigan’s hitting was unpredictable and depended on the day, finishing with the second-lowest batting average in the conference. The Wolverines went from multi-home run games to losing by double digits in a single weekend.
Yet, Michigan continued to win its Big Ten series.
The Wolverines never swept their conference opponents, but they continued to pull out late-momentum wins. The resilience didn’t have to be questioned when consistently Michigan kept finding ways to win. But instead of focusing on what it didn’t have, the Wolverines embraced the gritty nature that set them apart.
Even entering into the tournament, Michigan’s season-long dilemma of the mound didn’t make Smith fret. In the double-elimination bracket, he had to find a way to prepare for a week of games with Allen and Barr as the only guaranteed starters. Fifth-year Jacob Denner would presumably make his clutch relief appearances, with a few other faces such as Vigue or junior right-hander Ricky Kidd joining the party. But at the end of the day, Smith had two starters and knew he just needed to let his team battle it out.
“We’re going to continue to approach it with the way we’ve approached every game up to this point, which is lay it on the line and see what happens (to) trust in that,” Smith said.
That same mindset landed them in the semifinals.
Smith continued to show through the season that even in an ugly loss or a clean win, his faith remains with the Wolverines. While some might have thrown the season to the side as a product of its environment, Smith created a place for things to be done his way and the Michigan baseball team followed him through it. That’s because the Wolverines have been playing their own style of baseball all year.
Michigan might not win the Big Ten Tournament or even its next game, because on paper the Wolverines shouldn’t be here. But their biggest strength isn’t on a stat sheet somewhere, it’s the ability to find ways to win.
And due to that, here they are.
The post Mackenzie Mielke: On paper, Michigan shouldn’t be here. But here it is. appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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