Michigan Stuns Michigan State with Eight-Run Ninth Inning

Sunday, March 21

Ann Arbor, Mich.

4:00 PM

Michigan

9-2, 9-2

Michigan State

5-6, 5-6

Michigan State

Michigan

(Andrew Woolley photo)

Michigan Stuns Michigan State with Eight-Run Ninth Inning

3/21/2021 8:41:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Kurt Svoboda

» Jimmy Obertop's two-out, two-run walk-off homer in the ninth capped an eight-run rally in the bottom of the frame.
» Michigan logged seven of its 10 hits in the final inning.
» Michigan has defeated MSU in 10 consecutive games.

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Score: #22 Michigan 8, Michigan State 7
Records: U-M (9-2, 9-2 B1G), MSU (5-6, 5-6 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Monday, March 22 -- vs. Michigan State (Wilpon Complex), 4 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Jimmy Obertop hit an opposite field, two-run walk-off home run to cap a furious Michigan comeback as the Wolverines scored eight runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Michigan State, 8-7, on Sunday (March 21) at the Wilpon Complex, home of Ray Fisher Stadium.

Michigan faced an uphill battle against a Spartan team that had not allowed a baserunner to reach third base until the eighth inning and had continually asserted itself on offense by scoring all of its runs with two outs.

Trailing, 7-0, with just three outs remaining, Michigan's bats awoke as the first five batters reached base with Benjamin Sems (single) and Jake Marti (double) driving home runs. A pinch-hit, four-pitch walk to Logan Pollack loaded the bases with no outs, forcing MSU to summon Jordan Beatson from the bullpen. Beatson got a strikeout before Clark Elliott fought off a tough 3-2 pitch for an infield single and a 7-3 score. With the bases still loaded, Beatson induced a fly ball for the second out only to surrender a bases-clearing double to the right-center-field gap by Tito Flores to make it a 7-6 game. That brought Obertop to the plate.

Obertop, who hit a pair of home runs against Illinois on Friday (March 19), quickly fell behind in the count, 0-2, against Beatson, but worked the count to 2-2 as Beatson could not entice a swing on a pair of curveballs. Beatson then sent a 2-2 fastball over the outer third of the plate and Obertop pounced, driving a ball 373 feet over the right-field wall to stun the Spartans.

MSU claimed a 2-0 lead in the second inning with a two-out rally keyed by a Mitch Jebb soft liner that went for a triple to left and two singles against U-M starter Jacob Denner.

It was another two-out rally in the fifth that gave MSU a 4-0 lead as Joe Stewart lined his third hit of the game and scored all the way from first base on a hard-hit grounder up the middle that drifted into the gap in right-center by Zach Iverson on an 0-2 pitch, going for a double. Zaid Walker followed with a single up the middle on a 1-2 fastball to score Iverson.

Michigan's offense was silent until the sixth inning when, with one out, the Wolverines put together back-to-back singles by Griffin Mazur and Flores to chase MSU starter Adam Berghorst from the game. Reliever William Christopherson got a strikeout and then benefited from a nice play in center from Stewart to chase down a deep drive in the right-center gap by Christian Molfetta to keep U-M off the board.

Another two-out hit in the seventh made it 5-0 as Walker laced a double inside the third-base bag and U-M could not hit the cutoff man with Iverson scoring all the way from first. Bryce Kelley and Stewart added two-out RBIs with a double and single, respectively, to make it 7-0.

Angelo Smith (1-0) earned the win for Michigan, striking out a batter in a scoreless inning of work. Elliott, Flores and Obertop all had two hits.

The Michigan win marked its 10th consecutive in the rivalry. The teams will conclude their two-game series Monday (March 22) with a 4 p.m. game at the Wilpon Complex.