Ben Ballantine Suffers "Gruesome" Ankle Injury in Michigan Baseball Win
The Michigan baseball team beat Bowling Green today 2-0, but the bigger news was the "ugly" injury suffered by senior starting pitcher Ben Ballantine.
Ballantine went down with a gruesome ankle injury in the third inning today while trying to cover first. His status is unknown at this time
— Block 'M' Baseball (@blockmbaseball) April 2, 2013
Last word was he was being treated at U-M hospital. And here's an update:
@bballantine23 our thoughts are with you tonight. We wish you a speedy recovery from surgery.
— Michigan Baseball (@umichbaseball) April 3, 2013
Losing Ballantine would be a tough blow for the team to absorb, as it's already been dealing with an injured Pat Biondi, who has yet to make a full return from a sprained thumb (he has been doing some late-inning pinch-running and fielding).
EDIT: As I noted in a reply below, Erik Bakich on WTKA this morning has confirmed that Ballantine broke two bones in his ankle, and he's facing 3 to 4 months of rehab. An unfortunate way for his Michigan career to end, for sure. He tweeted this last night:
i want to say thank you as sincerely as i possibly can for the prayers and support.. all of them mean a lot.. michigan has built me strong
— Ben Ballantine (@bBallantine23) April 3, 2013
Not sure (as I wasn't there), but another person on Twitter called it an "ugly, ugly injury" and said it most likely was a broken ankle.
Leaving out the gruesome details, can you explain better exactly what happened? All I've seen on Twitter is that it occurred while he was covering first base.
EDIT: I guess I can answer my own question, based on what Erik Bakich said this morning on his weekly WTKA appearance. There was a grounder to the right side of the infield, and Ballantine ran over to first base to cover. But the second baseman ended up fielding the ball, so the first baseman was also moving to first to cover, so Ballantine tried to put the brakes on, and that's when the injury occurred.
Bakich said he broke two bones in his ankle. A tough kid—even as he was leaving the field, he was exhorting his teammates to get the victory. He's facing 3 to 4 months of rehab, so that basically means his Michigan career is over. Best wishes on his recovery.
Is there something in the water on campus. Everybody's getting injured lately.
When you've got ~1000 student athletes competing in Division-I, some of them are going to get hurt.
get the basketball team off campus,NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
but I'm pretty sure they don't play 162 games in a college season.
It's a line from Major League.
Ugh. Program just can't catch a break.
Hopefully B2 gets better and the team can pull together and qualify for the B1G Tournament. Would be a huge step in the right direction.
the hall from ben in south quad his freshman year. those baseball guys are crazy. one player lost at a game of halo to ben, so he had to streak to the elevator and back. cool story, i know. i wish ben a speedy recovery
Well, so long as it wasn't his planting foot, this isn't something that destroys a pitcher. Bettr an ankle than a forearm.