Game 3 Open Thread
1 2 3 start for their freshman pitcher.
Hopefully Tommy and the boys get the W tonight.
Teams that walk just about every leadoff hitter on base don't deserve to go to the CWS.
Lets not be that team.
I wish I had points to create a post, but I have not been chosen yet for the update... so this season summary will reside here for those who haven’t followed closely and/or are interested. If you’re not interested... don’t read.
TLDR... This team has a talented core with great senior leadership. The mistakes have mounted up at the worst times, and forced multiple must win situations, 4 or 5 by my estimate. Yet adversity and perseverance has carried us to this moment with a chance to continue the journey and go to a College World Series for the first time since 1984!!! Go Blue!
This has been a roller coaster of a year. The hi/lowlights are a dynamic trio of starters carrying this team all year, a win over number 1 UCLA early in the year, got swept by Texas Tech, then dropped 2 of 3 to OSU. Winning the third game vs OSU sparked a 13 game winning streak which was the longest in the nation at the time. From there it was completely Jeckyll and Hyde.
Vs IU with a chance to clinch the B1G they made 4 errors in 1 game, then 5 more in the finale as well as walking 9 batters, in which they found a way to win. To close out the season Vs Nebraska they had a game where they walked 6 batters and another with 3 more errors, the latter of which they won. they came up a half game short of a B1G title.
Then in the B1G tourney they had to stave off elimination with 2 outs in the 9th against the nations best closer (most saves at least) to keep their season alive.
Without this win, and salvaging 1 game vs IU and Nebraska, and another vs Nebraska later in the B1G tourney, they may not have even gotten in. 3 of these games they had absolutely no business winning.
Then there was a 13 walk effort against Nebraska, 3 starters going 7+ with 3 or less earned runs in the regionals, with the bullpen choking one away badly and clinching a bid to the super regionals by hitting the cover off the ball in “game 7”. Game 1, what an outing by Kauffman! Last night... nope, not going there.
This team will not be defined by how they do tonight. To come this far and fall short would be very disappointing but they have far exceeded all realistic expectations. This is not like our football team loaded with top 10 recruiting classes that consistently falls short of expectations. This is a team with one top 15 recruiting class in its history (2 years ago) that is giving the best team in the nation all it can handle and then some.
Enjoy tonight ladies and gentlemen, we may not see a baseball team have this realistic of a shot at a CWS for a long while, that’s just the reality of playing baseball in the North. Regardless of outcome this has yielded the best result in over a decade, that’s not debatable, there’s something to be said for that, and it’s not “Fire Bakich!” as has been echoed far too often on this site.
Thanks to all the Michigan baseball supporters and followers! GO BLUE!
Tommy H looking sharp. Lots of snap.
Pound the strike zone. Tommy
Both pitchers with 2 strikeouts and quick 1,2,3 innings
Michigan coming up top 2nd 0-0
Nelson gets a 1 out walk
Michigan runner on 1st 1 out
0-0 top 2
UCLA pitcher having trouble throwing strikes. Nice.
May be one of those 15 inning 0-0 games that will not end until after 3 AM EDT.
Checking in. Go Blue! Let's win this thing.
That was Bullock's best at bat in a while.
Double by Bullock, we're in business!
2 runners in scoring position with just one down.
GO BLUE!
Bullock pulled one over the 1st base bag for a double
Michigan runners 2nd and 3rd 1out
UCLA Freshman pitcher has only thrown 15 innings all season
Bruin's pitcher is literally sweating through his hat. Crazy.
HUGE! Great start! GO BLUE!
This UCLA pitcher works sooooooo slow.
RBI Blomgren on a 6-3 bounce-out.
1-0!!!!
RBI ground out,nice play by UCLA SS to save another run and get the out
1-0 Michigan runner on 3rd 2 outs
He looked safe.
Fuck man. That was so close.
1-0 Michigan headed to bottom of 2nd
couple of nice defensive plays by UCLA SS and 2nd basemen saved a huge inning
That didn't take long. Well, let's get it back.
Damn it.
Oh boy... 1-1
Hitters getting good contact this inning
Gotta get Cardenas here.
UCLA freshman pitcher has a total of 15.2 IP this season.
The run UM scored, doubled his season ERA from 0.57 to 1.02 !
38 pitch count thru 2.
Let's hope nerves get to him.
5-3 groundout.
2 down, runner on 2nd
Score the 3rd out 1-3.
1-1 as UCLA strands a runner at 2nd.
1-1
Headed to top 3rd
both pitchers seem like the heat.could be getting em a little
We have to keep hitting up UCLAs freshmen pitcher when we have the chance. Tommy's stuff looks legit. Hopefully he can limit the power hitters.
The next pitch will already be his 57th.
Too bad I have to be up at 5:45 tomorrow morning. Summer vacation cannot start soon enough (this Friday!)
What are these guys talking about? I lived in Ann Arbor for 20+ years and Seattle for 11. The weather is not is similar in any way other than both places have a lot of gray skies.
Well if you are going to strike out, at least make the pitcher throw 9 pitches to get you out.
Nastrini - 58 pitch count thru 3.
Based on what the announcers said, he'll probably be done after 4.
I can't with these errors anymore man.
UCLA must have hired Buckeye groundskeepers to make the outfield slippery
I see the self-imposed BS is starting already...
More little league stuff.
It's truly amazing. Every point UCLA has scored except for 1 has been due to Michigan fucking up.
And it's not even like it's hard stuff. Basic shit like catching a fly ball.
Need the bats to get going against a high count freshman pitcher.
Bad news bears
Not a great slip-up there.
Wow. Lots of bad defense night after night. Some is bad luck, but some is stuff you have to overcome.
Our defense at times looks more like little league
Why do we always take on the first pitch? We get behind the count early so many times.
They were swinging at worms on home plate...
Fire Bakich. The fundamentals are lacking and costing us games. The team is talented enough to make it to Omaha.
We couldn’t even win the conference. At all. Yes we are talented and should continue to be. But chest thumping about us being a top 8 team in the country and claiming it as true is a bit steep.
Wade Boggs had over 3000 hits and swung at the first pitch less than 10% of the time. I don't think you should take on the first pitch every time, but it gives the hitter a chance to get into more advantageous counts and makes the pitcher throw more pitches.
Also, I don't think we "always" take on the first pitch, but the MLB league average is about 31% swing, 69% take according to my quick googling.
Brewer is 1-11 with 1 RBI this series.
bottom line, are top hitters are not producing. They haven’t even given average production if I had to guess. Yes, you expect a drop considering the level of competition.
but this won’t cut it. Can’t win with our top 4 doing this.
This freshman is making our bats look bad.