Baseball takes series from Maryland, Erik Bakich passes Branch Rickey in wins

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Michigan Baseball (14-12, 2-4 B1G) picked up the rubber match win against Maryland (18-7, 4-2 B1G) today at Ray Fisher Stadium, winning 5-2.

Michigan blew Maryland out yesterday, winning 10-1 in game 2 of their doubleheader after dropping game 1, 3-1. 

Michigan scored all of their runs in the first inning in this game via RBIs by Jackson Glines, Carmen Benedetti and a 3-run double by Kyle Jusick. 

This was a pretty big series win for Michigan. Maryland is ranked as high as #17 in some polls, but are unranked in Baseball America. Very strong weekend after that disaster of an opening B1G weekend last week in Lincoln. 

Maryland is also the school Michigan head coach Erik Bakich left behind to come here to become the head coach of the Wolverines in 2013. 

So it's pretty fitting that Bakich picked up his 69th Michigan victory against his former team. This puts him at 9th among Michigan Baseball coaches in wins, and puts him past the baseball legend Branch Rickey in wins. 

Branch Rickey is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and is known for breaking the color barrier in the MLB, when he brought Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Rickey coached Michigan from 1910-1913. He also attended the university.

Monkey House

March 29th, 2015 at 3:51 PM ^

Branch Rickey is from town. we have a big mural of him painted on our floodwall with a plaque tell of his life. the thing about his plaque is there isn't one word mentioning his time at Michigan. that's Ohio for ya.

Honk if Ufer M…

March 30th, 2015 at 2:28 AM ^

More importantly than Moby Benedict's 18 years coaching at Michigan is that he coached me at the Don Lund Baseball School for a few years!

That was the forerunner to the entire sports camp scene at Michigan which now goes all summer with thousands of kids in a plethora of sports.

One thing they did was time us going from home to first, you'd swing & they hit the stop watch at the end of the swing. Don Lund said he timed me at 3.2 (batting left) tying my original sports hero and all-time favorite player Mickey Mantle for the fastest home to first in history!

Now did 11 or 12 year old me really tie the Mick? I was fast as hell but I don't know about that one! :)         

Also I'm sure swinging at no pitch and concentrating on your take off to first rather than having to concentrate on a pitch and getting a hit before you run must make a difference.

Don Lund, who played for Branch Rickey as Jackie's teammate & backed up the young Kaline for the Tigers, told us he always thought Mantle was the greatest player he ever saw and that his triple crown year was the only full year he ever played truly injury free.

Every year he brought in a major leaguer or two as guest instructors for a day. I remember Kaline coming, The Gator, Gates Brown, Freehan, Tom Terrific, Tom Seaver (!), but mostly, as a center fielder, I remember Mickey Stanley who worked with us outfielders directly.

I remember he had us by the warning track in center showing us how to field a ball on one hop and do the cro hop & throw the ball on one hop to third. So he demonstrated for us and had the 3rd basemen stand there with his foot on the bag and glove out waiting to get the throw. So he did it like ten times in a row and I swear to the god I don't believe in the guy never moved his mitt barely an inch and the ball one hopped right into it every time!!! I've never seen anything like it.

What a great guy Don Lund was and Moby too!