Michigan Unable to Hold Late Lead, Falls to Ohio State in B1G Tourney Opener

Wednesday, May 22

Omaha, Neb.

1:00 PM CT

Michigan

38-17

Ohio State

32-24

Ohio State

Michigan

Karl Kauffmann

Michigan Unable to Hold Late Lead, Falls to Ohio State in B1G Tourney Opener

5/22/2019 6:17:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Kurt Svoboda

» Michigan lost a seventh-inning lead for just the second time this season.
» Jesse Franklin drove home a run with a sacrifice fly.
» Michigan drew eight walks but stranded nine runners.

Site: Omaha, Neb. (TD Amritrade Park)
Event: Big Ten Tournament (Day 1 of 5)
Score: Ohio State 2, Michigan 1
Records: U-M (38-16), OSU (31-24)
Next U-M Event: Thursday, May 23-- vs. Illinois - Big Ten Tournament Day Two (Omaha, Neb.), 9 a.m. CDT

OMAHA, Neb. -- The University of Michigan baseball team owned a one-run lead through seven innings, but Ohio State pushed across two runs in the eighth and the Buckeyes held on to upset second-seeded Michigan, 2-1, in the Wolverines' opening game of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday afternoon (May 22) at TD Ameritrade Park.

Michigan (38-17) scored first in a pitchers' duel when, in the fifth inning, sophomore center fielder Jesse Franklin lofted a long sacrifice fly ball to left field to score senior second baseman Ako Thomas, who led off the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a single to left-center by sophomore designated hitter Jordan Nwogu.

In the seventh, Michigan loaded the bases with one out but was unable to push across a more. At that point, the Wolverines had drawn eight walks but just one hit while stranding nine runners. Those final numbers stood out as the lone hit came courtesy of Nwogu's fifth-inning single.

In the eighth, a leadoff double and hit batter put U-M in trouble as junior starter Karl Kauffmann (8-6) ran into difficulty for the first time. A sacrifice bunt moved runners to scoring position while U-M countered with an intentional walk to load the bases with one out against Matt Carpenter, a .265 hitter. Carpenter hit a ball to second base and just beat the throw to first on a would-be double play ball as the Buckeyes tied the game at 1. Dillon Dnigler then blooped a single into right field for a 2-1 lead.

Kauffmann allowed just three hits in eight innings of work and tossed 90 pitches with three strikeouts and five walks.

Michigan drops into the losers' bracket and will play third-seeded Illinois on Thursday at 9 a.m. CDT. The Illini were upset by sixth-seeded Maryland in the morning game by a score of 6-2.