Michigan
Texas Tech
Michigan Baseball to Open 2022 Season in Arlington at State Farm Showdown
2/15/2022 9:00:00 AM | Baseball
» Michigan plays three games at Globe Life Field (Feb. 18-20) and an additional game at UT Arlington on Feb. 21.
» Michigan opens its season vs. No. 14 Texas Tech. The schools last met in the 2019 College World Series when Michigan defeated the Red Raiders twice en route to a runner-up finish.
» Texas Tech is ranked No. 14 in the preseason by D1Baseball.com.
THIS WEEK
Fri-Sun., Feb. 18-20 -- at State Farm Showdown (Arlington, Texas)
Friday, Feb. 18 -- vs. #14 Texas Tech (Globe Life Field), 7 p.m. CT
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Saturday, Feb. 19 -- vs. Kansas State (Globe Life Field), 11 a.m. CT
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Sunday, Feb. 20 -- vs. Oklahoma (Globe Life Field), 6:30 p.m. CT
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Monday, Feb. 21 -- at UT Arlington (Arlington, Texas), Noon CT
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team (0-0) opens the 2022 campaign this weekend in Arlington, Texas, beginning with three games at the State Farm College Showdown at Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. The Wolverines are set to play three games in as many days against Big 12 Conference member schools Texas Tech (Feb. 18), Kansas State(Feb. 19) and Oklahoma (Feb. 20) before traveling to nearby Clay Gould Ball Park on Monday (Feb. 21) for a single game unaffiliated with the tournament against UT Arlington.
All three games of the tournament will be streamed live by FloBaseball in a subscription package.
Wolverine Notes
• Michigan enters the season in familiar place as one of the teams to watch in a deep and talented Big Ten Conference. The Big Ten's preseason coaches poll and honors announcement is scheduled to be announced by the league office on Thursday (Feb. 17) but most baseball media outlets have projected Michigan, Nebraska, Maryland and Iowa as NCAA Tournament teams.Â
• Michigan enters the campaign following a choppy 2021 season that saw the Wolverines advance to NCAA Regional play despite a decision by the Big Ten Conference to play a conference-only schedule. Michigan finished 27-17 in the regular season, advanced to Regionals and saw three players selected in the MLB Draft, including second rounder Steven Hajjar.Â
• Michigan has had 12 players drafted in the past four years. The Wolverines led all college programs in players drafted in the opening three rounds in both 2020 and 2019. Additionally, in 2017, Michigan had the most overall draft choices of any college program when a staggering 11 players were selected.
• In 2020, the Maize and Blue become the first school from the Big Ten Conference to earn Baseball America's No. 1 overall ranking, which came in the second week of the season following wins over then-No. 2 Vanderbilt and No. 9 Arizona State.
• Michigan advanced to the national championship game in Omaha in 2019, making its eighth overall appearance in the College World Series. The Maize and Blue have two national championships to its credit (1953 and 1962).
• Michigan has won its last two meetings against Texas Tech; both came during in the 2019 College World Series.
• Michigan has won its last four meetings against Oklahoma, including a three-game sweep in Ann Arbor in 2017 (5-3, 14-4, 6-2) when the Wolverines allowed just 15 hits and struck out 28 over the three games. Â
• Michigan and Kansas State have met on the diamond just once previously, with K-State winning a 1997 matchup by a score of 9-6.
• Michigan and UT Arlington have never met on the diamond.
• After posting a 7-4 record with a 2.81 ERA and leading the Big Ten in innings pitched (83.1) as a draft-eligible sophomore last season, Michigan will lean on ace right-hander Cameron Weston again this season to lead the pitching staff.Â
• Weston is expected to again be joined in the rotation by Jacob Denner (4-4, 4.35 ERA), a 6-foot-1 lefty who has been compared to former Michigan hurler and MLB prospect Tommy Henry in terms of development and demeanor at a similar stage in their careers.
• Willie Weiss, one of the nation's most dynamic closers from 2019-2021, is capable of starting or closing games. Armed with a live fastball and a wipeout slider, Weiss has averaged nearly 1.5 strikeouts per inning as a Wolverine.
• Michigan boasts an impressive returning and veteran lineup with every projected starter to be at least a junior. Ted Burton (.342 batting /.434 on base /.667 slugging) was among the Big Ten leaders in almost every offensive category in 2021 and is joined in the infield by Matt Frey (.327/.507/.551), a second-year graduate transfer who missed all of 2021 with a lower body injury. Another graduate transfer, Alex Fedje-Johnson, is a career .300 hitter who had 24 extra-base hits, a .450 average and nine stolen bases at Davison last year. Steady veteran Riley Bertram excels in high leverage offensive situations and is a premier defensive playmaker at multiple positions. Finally, there is Jimmy Obertop, who will transition back to catcher this season after a lower body injury put him at first base and designated hitter for all of 2021 where, despite his hobbles, he led Michigan with 11 homers.Â
• Michigan's outfield is impressive, led by Cape Cod League batting champion Clark Elliott, all-around star Tito Flores and another graduate transfer in Joe Stewart all slated to start. Elliott battled injuries through the spring but still managed a .270 mark, a .403 on-base percentage and eight stolen bases. Flores, a Detroit native, led U-M with 22 extra-base hits and slashed .325/.429./552 in a breakout campaign. Stewart graduated from rival Michigan State where he led the Spartans with 15 extra base hits. Â
• Michigan is known as a program that embraces early season scheduling. In week two of the season, Michigan will travel to Miami, Fla. for games against Seton Hall (Feb. 25), Florida International (Feb. 26-27) and Florida Atlantic (March 1-2) before continuing on to East Carolina for the LeClair Classic (March 4-6) and games against ECU, Indiana State and Maryland. Then, Michigan travels to Louisville, Ky. for a three-game series against the Cardinals (March 11-13) before heading home via Nashville, Tenn. and a midweek contest against Vanderbilt (March 15). In early April, the Wolverines will welcome Cal State Fullerton (April 8-10) for a rare home series against a California school in the middle of the season.
Scouting the Opponents
TEXAS TECH
• Texas Tech enters the 2022 season as a consensus top-25 team, ranging from No. 4 to No. 23. Collegiate Baseball News liked Texas Tech as No. 4, followed by Perfect Game at No. 12, D1Baseball at No. 14 and Baseball America at No. 23.
• Texas Tech returns 22 players from a 2021 team that finished 39-17 and was ranked as high as No. 11 in the final rankings last season while advancing as a national seed to the Super Regionals.
• The Red Raiders are led by third baseman Jace Jung who is the Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year and a consensus preseason All-American. Jung was the Big 12 Player of the Year in 2021, hitting .337 for the Red Raiders and leading the Big 12 with 21 home runs. The infielder from San Antonio, Texas was a consensus All-American in 2021 and was selected as the NCBWA National Freshman Hitter of the Year.
• The opening day starter is likely to be hard-throwing righty Brandon Birdsell (4-1, 3.06 ERA, 36 K, 35.1 IP), who was drafted in the 11th round of the 2021 MLB Draft but elected to return to school.Â
KANSAS STATE
• Kansas State features one of the more unique rosters in the country with 13 first-year freshmen and 12 transfers that weren't with the program last year. The Wildcats finished hot to end 2021, winning six of their last nine and advancing to the Big 12 title game.
• Among the Wildcats' known entities for position players are Dylan Phillips (.333/.422/.643), first baseman Terrence Spurlin (.339/.406/.496) and shortstop Nick Goodwin (.277/.355/.482).
• K-State opens the tournament against Arizona on Friday.
OKLAHOMA
• Oklahoma is another team with lots of new faces after the Sooners struggled to a 27-28 showing (11-13 in the Big 12) in 2021. Oklahoma brought in 13 junior-college transfers to go with 13 first-year freshmen.
• Offensively, the Sooners will lean on Peyton Graham (11 HR, 28 RBI) and Jimmy Crooks (.287, 10 HR, 39 RBI).
• Oklahoma opens the tournament with games against Auburn on Friday and Arizona on Saturday.
UT ARLINGTON
• UT Arlington slumped to a 27-30 overall record in 2021 but tied Louisiana atop the Sun Belt Conference West Division.
• Third baseman Boone Montgomery (.288, 6 HR) and shortstop Cason Gregory (.246, 11 RBI) will be mainstays in the lineup with many preseason questions still to be answered. The pitching staff projects to be very strong with relievers likely to factor in the Monday game vs. U-M. Senior relievers Tanner King and Michael Wong combined for nine saves last season with King striking out 46 batters in 37 innings.
• The Mavericks open their season with a three-game home set against Texas A&M Corpus Christi.
