Hajjar, Beers Handcuff Batters in Two Valley of the Sun Wins

By Steve Kornacki

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Steven Hajjar showed why Wolverine head coach Erik Bakich had the confidence to pencil him in for the start against a loaded Arizona State batting order. The freshman left-hander threw six shutout innings, allowing just three hits while striking out seven with two walks in a 5-0 win.

"It was Steve Hajjar's night out there -- a coming-out party for him," said Bakich. "Same thing with Blake Beers, too. He's had a couple of starts here and there the past two years. But what Blake did against Cal Poly and what Steve did tonight gives us a lot of excitement about what our rotation could look like."

Beers also made good on Bakich's call to start him in the first of two games here Saturday (Feb. 15) in the Valley of the Sun.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound right-hander threw hard and threw strikes. Beers had just three previous starts, but made a case to have many more this season. He retired the first 11 batters he faced, and allowed no earned runs on four hits over 5.2 innings during an 8-5 win over Cal Poly in Scottsdale.

The Wolverines boarded a bus in full uniform after game one, drove a half hour while eating grilled chicken and veggies over rice out of Styrofoam containers, and arrived in Phoenix on what you'd think would be fumes. But they quickly changed uniforms, warmed up and played with great enthusiasm and energy.

It was quite a day in what has been quite a weekend for the Wolverines (3-0), who came in ranked No. 13 and will surely move up in the polls after beating the No. 9 Sun Devils and No. 2 Vanderbilt on Friday night.

They won three games in an elapsed time of just under 29 hours by a combined score of 17-8, holding two of the top offenses in college to a combined three runs. Michigan concludes the MLB4 Collegiate Baseball Tournament here Sunday against UConn.

Bakich
The Bakich-led Wolverines are 3-0 with wins over the No. 9 Sun Devils, Cal Poly and No. 2 Vanderbilt.

Starting pitching has been consistently strong in these season-opening games.

Hajjar showed the ability to come through in the clutch. He struck out Denson Myles with two on and two out in the second inning, and then recovered from back-to-back singles to open the fifth, thanks in part to a quality running catch on the warning track in straight-away center by Jordan Nwogu to end the threat.

His competitiveness was as impressive as his repertoire of a low 90's mph fastball, slider (he calls it his best off-speed option), circle change and curve. I asked him about the source of his competitive nature.

"All last year, I watched Tommy Henry, Karl Kauffmann and Jeff Criswell (who had a good outing in the Vandy victory) absolutely just go after hitters," Hajjar said. "I saw what they were able to do and tried to emulate it. I had three great role models last year, and a front-row seat."

Henry (Arizona Diamondbacks) and Kauffmann (Colorado Rockies) became second-round picks, and both were in attendance to watch Hajjar.

"Steven put on an absolute clinic here tonight," said Henry.

Bakich said of Hajjar: "He threw a lot of strikes, worked ahead. He commanded his fastball very well, and commanded his breaking balls and his changeup. He was able to wiggle out of jams and let his defense work. He got enough swing-and-miss, and it's hard to hit when you're behind in the count.

"He did a really good job of staying poised, and not making the moment or the situation or the crowd or the fact that it's Arizona State or any of that too big, and just executed pitches."

Hajjar received a medical redshirt year in 2019 with a torn ACL suffered while doing a windmill dunk in a pickup basketball game. He was the 2018 Gatorade Player of the Year in Massachusetts for Central Catholic in Lawrence and was a 21st-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers that June.

"The coaching staff has been so supportive of me with the ups and downs and injury," said Hajjar. "I was stupid last year, and they were never wavering in confidence in me. So, I'm just thankful to have the coaching staff that we do. I'd say it's the best staff in the country."

Hajjar faced Spencer Torkelson, projected to be the first or second player drafted overall in June, and a pair of Baseball America pre-season second-team All-Americans, Alika Williams and Gage Workman. They went 0-for-8 against him with three strikeouts and a walk to Torkelson.

"I try not to focus on who's up to bat and just focus on throwing strikes," said Hajjar. "I know that if I throw strikes, my defense is going to make plays for me."

He got Torkelson out in front, flailing on a changeup to strike out in the first.

"I had no information on him because we didn't have a scouting report coming from the last game," said Hajjar. "But you just trust in the pitch."

Sophomore Jack White earned a save by throwing three big shutout innings with the bullpen taxed by totaling nine innings over two days.

Hajjar, White (who pitched two innings last year) and Beers combined to throw 14.2 innings without an earned run allowed Saturday.

"I mean all these kids -- two or three years with (pitching) Coach (Chris) Fetter and with the strength and conditioning staff – they're maturing and they're growing and they're developing," said Bakich. "It's good to see. It's one thing to prove your stuff in the bullpen and another to prove it when the lights are on and you're playing another (team). And they can slow it down and pitch the way they did."

Beers
Beers got the win against Cal Poly after going 5.2 innings, giving up two runs, zero earned, on four hits, allowing no walks and striking out five.

Beers didn't know the start was going to be his until boarding the team bus Friday night after Matthew Schmidt's long, two-run homer in the ninth made Michigan a 4-3 winner over Vanderbilt.

"It was going to be either me, Isaiah (Paige) or (Cameron) Weston," said Beers, "and both of them pitched. So, I figured they were going to give me the ball."

Bakich and Beers had a humorous connection when the sophomore-eligible hurler finished climbing the steps of the bus to face Bakich, seated in the front right seat.

"I was walking by him and he stopped me," said Beers. "He was talking to the coaches, and since he stopped me, I knew I was going to get the start. I'm like, 'I got it, I'm good.' Coach said, 'What do you mean?' "

Bakich and Beers were all smiles as they repeated the same phrase back and forth to one another: "What do you have to tell me?"

This team likes to play loose and have fun, and Bakich sets the tone. He's big on practical jokes, and even bigger on pitchers with a hunger for the ball.

Beers struck out five and walked nobody. Cal Poly cleanup hitter Tate Samuelson had a 3-0 count after Beers gave up his first hit, a single, in the fourth inning. But Beers ended up striking out Samuelson, who couldn't catch up to his high, hard fastball. Beers consistently hit 93 mph with his heater.

"It was just a little bit of a lack of focus (after the hit)," said Beers, "I got to 3-0, took two deep breaths and (catcher) Joe (Donovan) calmed me down with his body language. We have that kind of dialogue with hand motions and we know each other pretty good. I was ready to get back in the zone and challenge."

Beers returned to the basic game plan Fetter issued for him.

"It was just about getting ahead in counts and letting my defense make the plays behind me," said Beers. "Coach Fetter did a really good job of scouting them and said to just attack with the fastball, get ahead with fastballs.

"I feel like Blommy (shortstop Jack Blomgren), Teddy B. (third baseman Ted Burton) and (second baseman Riley) Bertram were going to make the plays."

Beers induced 10 ground outs.

"Quick outs from trust in the defense really helps you," he added. "Those came from fastballs down in the zone. And our defense was just impeccable."

Bertram
Bertram secures one of Beers' 10 groundouts.

Beers also has effective off-speed pitches.

"I throw a changeup that I throw over Joe Donovan's head," said Beers, shaking his head and smiling about a wild pitch. "And I throw a curveball and slider as well. I like my curveball because I can drop it in whenever I want. But I like to throw my slider more as an out-pitch."

He was 1-1 with a 6.04 ERA last year, getting two starts among 14 appearances. His victory came in the championship game of the Corvallis (Oregon) NCAA Regional. Beers didn't have a great pitching line, and the final score was 17-6, but having Bakich go to him and pitching well enough meant much to him.

"I knew we were going to win that game by a lot," said Beers, "but E.B. had the confidence in me to put me out there, and I didn't have the best outing, but winning that game was definitely one of the highlights of my career."

He's moved himself into consideration as a starter -- whether it comes on weekends or weekdays -- and pointed to strength and conditioning coach Jason Cole's work with him. Doing a series of squats designed to take stress off the back while strengthening his legs made a big impact.

"J. Cole has definitely helped me in the weight room," said Beers. "I got stronger on the Pit Shark. You put a belt around your waist, hook the belt, and have weights on both sides and squat without weight on your back."

It's the same device and squat routine Wolverine first baseman Jimmy Kerr used last year in jumping from one homer and four RBI in 2018 to 15 homers and 64 RBI.

Cole said, "Blake Beers has worked his butt off and deserves everything he gets."

Beers added on his improvement: "But a lot of it was more mental than physical, too."

He doesn't know what his role will end up being on this pitching staff, but is looking forward to the challenges ahead.

"Obviously, (the rotation) is everybody's goal," said Beers. "But that's uncontrollable really. We have so many good pitchers, and it's not like, 'I want to get a Saturday or Sunday spot.' It's just been about the team collectively getting better together. Of course, we want to be contributing. But we don't care where that is."

Bakich said, "Today, he had a no-hitter (into) the fourth inning. So, he did a really good job of having some quick, 1-2-3 innings. And when he got into jams, he got out of them and stayed connected with his defense."

Great starting pitching sets the tone, and that's what Hajjar and Beers did Saturday. They're off to a great start and that bodes well for Team 154.