Conqu'ring Heroes: Bakich on Excitement for Season, Early Tests in Texas
1/27/2022 10:42:00 AM | Baseball, Features
The Conqu'ring Heroes podcast stays on a diamond this week, as Michigan baseball head coach Erik Bakich stops by the show. Bakich discusses his excitement for the upcoming season, including a big opening weekend in Texas, an overview of the club's pitching staff, and his thoughts on the Wolverines' position players.
By Riann English
University of Michigan baseball head coach Erik Bakich and his team are ready to run head first into competition this 2022 season. The Wolverines' season opener is set for Feb. 18 in Arlington, Texas, where they will face off against three Big 12 Conference teams, including a No. 14-ranked Texas Tech program.
It is a challenge Bakich is looking forward to.
"You can always count on Texas Tech to be one of the elite teams in college baseball. It'll be a great challenge and a great test out of the shoot," he shared on this week's edition of the "Conqu'ring Heroes" podcast. "To be the best, you must beat the best."
The team's philosophy is to "train above the speed of the game," as Bakich put it, and never shy away from any competition.
The Wolverines hope to capitalize on their recent experience with Texas Tech, having played them five times in 2019 alone. Two of those victories came in the College World Series along the way to a national runner-up finish to Vanderbilt.
Before outscoring the Red Raiders 20-6 in two postseason contests, the roles were reversed and the Wolverines were themselves the victims of a lopsided 29-10 three-game regular-season series against Texas Tech. Bakich says those losses were the best thing that happened to the team that season because it exposed all the areas that needed growth.
"We had a much more clear road map of what it takes to compete at a high level. If we didn't have that series in Lubbock [Texas] ... I don't know if we would've been able to make the adjustments we needed as quickly as we needed to."
From great loss comes even greater wisdom. Michigan's veteran-heavy roster is ready for the return with 12 seniors and graduate students and 33 total players with previous college experience. The Wolverines have all the tools -- experience, depth, age and maturity -- to be a championship team.
"The challenge for us as coaches is finding the right people to make the best lineup to give us the best chance to win as many games as possible. But we are not lacking anything."
