Season Review: 2019 Michigan Baseball

• Michigan at 2019 World Series

Team Captains: Tommy Henry, Jimmy Kerr, Benjamin Keizer
Record: 50-22, 16-7 Big Ten Conference (2nd place)
NCAA Tournament: College World Series

The University of Michigan baseball team enjoyed one of the program's most successful campaigns during the 2019 season, which featured a trip to the College World Series Finals for just the third time in Michigan history and the eighth trip to the CWS overall.

Led by seventh-year head coach Erik Bakich, the Wolverines finished the year with a 50-22 overall record, marking the program's first 50-win season since 1987 and the first of Bakich's career.

UCLA celebration

High-Five Line

Team Celebration

Florida State Celebration

Team Highlights

• The unseeded Maize and Blue sneaked into the NCAA Tournament field as one of the last four teams to make the 64-team field. The Wolverines emerged victorious at the Corvallis Regional and upset No. 1-ranked UCLA in the Super Regional to advance to the College World Series, where Michigan finished as the national runner-up behind Vanderbilt.

• The Wolverines went 3-0 in the first half of the College World Series with wins over Texas Tech (twice) and Florida State. Michigan advanced to the CWS Finals for the third time in program history and the first since the best-of-three series format was introduced in 2003.

• Michigan's pitching was outstanding during the 2019 campaign. Led by junior starters Tommy Henry and Karl Kauffmann, and sophomore starter Jeff Criswell (All-Big Ten First Team), the Michigan pitching staff finished 10th in the country and led the Big Ten Conference with a 3.46 earned-run average, while finishing seventh in the nation with 7.44 hits allowed per game.

• The Wolverine lineup finished fourth in the nation with 150 doubles, seventh in total hits (685), eighth in walks (354), and 10th in runs scored (487). Michigan batters led the Big Ten in batting average, on-base percentage, stolen bases, runs scored, doubles and walks.

• Driven by its team success, Michigan wrapped up its 153rd season with a large number of individual awards. Five Wolverines earned nine All-America nods and eight were selected to All-Big Ten teams, including the program's first Big Ten Player of the Year (outfielder Jordan Brewer) since 2008.

• The program also excelled in the classroom with 11 Academic All-Big Ten selections, while senior Jimmy Kerr and redshirt junior Benjamin Keizer were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.

Tommy Henry

Karl Kauffmann

Jordan Brewer

Jimmy Kerr

Individual Highlights

• Pitchers Tommy Henry and Karl Kauffmann wrapped up record-breaking careers in their junior seasons, as both were selected in the second Round of the MLB Draft and inked deals with their respective teams following the close of the season. Henry finished the year with two complete games -- including including one over FSU in the College World Series -- and a Michigan record 135 strikeouts, while Kauffmann tossed a program record 130.2 innings. The pair compiled 12 wins each, which tied a Wolverine record for wins in a single season set by Rich Stoll in 1982 and repeated in 1983.

• Junior outfielder and transfer Jordan Brewer made a splash in his first and only season in the maize and blue. In addition to leading the Wolverine lineup in batting average (.329), slugging percentage (.557), stolen bases (25) and multi-hit games (25), he captured Michigan's first Big Ten Player of the Year award since 2008 and went on to earn five All-America selections. Brewer was a third-round selection of the Houston Astros and he signed following Michigan's historic postseason run.

• Third-generation Wolverine and co-captain Jimmy Kerr shined in his senior campaign, especially during the postseason. The All-Big Ten third-team selection was named the MVP of the Corvallis Regional and selected to the College World Series All-Tournament Team and finished the season with a team-leading 15 homers -- including seven during the Big Ten Tournament and CWS. Kerr also led Michigan with 64 RBI and was the only Wolverine to start all 72 games on the season.

• Sophomores Jordan Nwogu and Jeff Criswell were named to the All-Big Ten first team for their efforts at their respective positions. As Michigan's designated hitter, Nwogu finished the year with a team-leading .435 on-base percentage and tied Brewer with a team-best .557 slugging percentage. Criswell, who began the season as a starting pitcher but transitioned to a reliever as the Wolverines went deep into the postseason, finished with a 2.72 earned-run average to go with seven wins and three saves.

• In the midst of an exciting postseason, Michigan had five players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including Henry (second round, Arizona Diamondbacks) Kauffmann (second round, Colorado Rockies), Brewer (third round, Houstin Astros), reliever Jack Weisenburger (20th round, Oakland Athletics), and Kerr (33rd round, Detroit Tigers).

Honors and Awards

Jordan
Brewer

Karl
Kauffmann

Jordan
Nwogu

Willie
Weiss

Tommy
Henry

Jimmy
Kerr

Jeff
Criswell

Jack
Blomgren

D1Baseball.com
All-America (Third Team): Jordan Brewer, Karl Kauffmann

American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)
All-America (Second Team): Jordan Brewer
All-America (Third Team): Jordan Nwogu
All-Mideast Region (First Team): Jordan Brewer, Jordan Nwogu

Perfect Game
All-America (Third Team): Jordan Brewer
All-America (Honorable Mention): Tommy Henry
All-America (Freshman Team): Willie Weiss

Baseball America
All-America (Third Team): Jordan Brewer

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper
All-America (Freshman Team): Willie Weiss

National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA)
National Pitcher of the Week: Tommy Henry (March 4)

Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Player of the Year: Jordan Brewer
All-Big Ten (First Team): Jordan Brewer, Jordan Nwogu, Jeff Criswell
All-Big Ten (Second Team): Jack Blomgren
All-Big Ten (Third Team): Joe Donovan, Jimmy Kerr, Jesse Franklin
All-Big Ten (Freshman Team): Willie Weiss
Sportsmanship Award: Jimmy Kerr

Big Ten Player of the Week
Pitcher: Karl Kauffmann (April 29)
Pitcher: Tommy Henry (Feb. 25, March 4)

Academic All-Big Ten
Ben Dragani, So., Business Administration
Tommy Henry, Jr., Economics
Benjamin Keizer, Jr., Sport Management
Jimmy Kerr, Sr., Industrial & Operations Engineering
Miles Lewis, Sr., Biology
Blake Nelson, Sr., General Studies
Jordan Nwogu, So., Computer Science Engineering
Harrison Salter, So., Economics
Matthew Schmidt, Sr., Sport Management
Ako Thomas, Sr., Health & Fitness
Danny Zimmerman, So., Sport Management