Ninth-Inning Heroics Push Michigan Past Michigan State

Saturday, March 24

East Lansing, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

11-11, 2-0

Michigan State

6-15, 0-2

Michigan

Michigan State

Ninth-Inning Heroics Push Michigan Past Michigan State

3/24/2018 5:18:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Katie Gwinn Hewitt

» The Wolverines trailed, 1-0, after eight innings but rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth.
» Michigan scored its go-ahead runs on a two-run squeeze bunt by Miles Lewis.
» William Tribucher earned the win with 2.2 innings of scoreless relief.
» The Maize and Blue extended its win streak to seven games and is 2-0 in conference play.

Site: East Lansing, Mich. (McLane Stadium)
Score: Michigan 3, Michigan State 1
Records: U-M (11-11, 2-0 B1G), MSU (6-15, 0-2 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, March 25 -- vs. Michigan State (Wilpon Complex), 2 p.m.

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Three runs in the top of the ninth inning propelled the University of Michigan baseball team to a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Michigan State at McLane Stadium in the second game of the three-game Big Ten Conference series.

Freshman left-hander Ben Dragani got the start for Michigan and held the Spartans scoreless for six innings before surrendering one run in the seventh. He struck out three and walked one while scattering five hits.

Junior William Tribucher came on in relief duty in the bottom of the seventh inning and eventually earned the win. The lefty threw 2.2 innings and allowed one hit with two strikeouts.

Michigan recorded just three hits over the first seven innings, and each one came with two outs. The Wolverines nearly rallied for a run in the top of the second. After Ako Thomas reached on a base hit and stole second, he advanced to third on a throwing error by the catcher only to see the inning end on a fly out.

The Wolverines put their first leadoff man on base in the top of the seventh with a walk to junior Jonathan Engelmann, whose steal of second base made him just the second Michigan player to reach scoring position. This time, back-to-back strikeouts and a popup ended the Michigan threat.

Michigan State answered in the bottom of the frame when it put its leadoff man on base via a single, and a balk by Dragani pushed Spartan pinch-runner Danny Gleaves to second. A deep fly ball then allowed Gleaves to tag up and advance to third base. Michigan responded with a call to the bullpen for junior lefty William Tribucher. With one out and a runner on third, Tribucher's first pitch of the day resulted in a perfectly executed squeeze bunt that scored Gleaves for a 1-0 Michigan State lead.

The Wolverines went without scoring in the seventh and eighth innings, but rallied for three runs in their last at-bat to take a 3-1 lead. Sophomore Christan Bullock picked up the Wolverines' first leadoff hit of the day with a base hit to right-center field, and a walk to Engelmann gave Michigan two baserunners with no outs. Following a Spartan pitching change, junior Blake Nelson reached on an error that allowed Bullock to score and tie the game at 1. With two men on an in scoring position, redshirt-junior Miles Lewis laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score both Engelmann and Lewis, to give Michigan a 3-1 lead.

The victory is Michigan's seventh straight and the second in Big Ten play. The Wolverines totaled four hits in the effort, including two from Bullock, and left five runners on base.

Tweet of the Game

MICHIGAN TAKES THE LEAD pic.twitter.com/cd3KULjSFF
— Michigan Baseball (@umichbaseball) March 24, 2018

Michigan and Michigan State will wrap up their Big Ten-opening series on Sunday (March 25) at the Wilpon Complex, home of Ray Fisher Stadium. First pitch is now scheduled for 2 p.m. [ Tickets ]