Michigan
31-26
Iowa
36-19
Michigan Trounces Iowa, Will Play Rutgers for Big Ten Title
5/29/2022 5:41:00 PM | Baseball
» Michigan scored nine times in the seventh inning to open a close game.   Â
» Michigan scored the first four runs and received a strong starting effort from Connor O'Halloran.
» The game was called after seven innings due to the Big Ten Tournament's run-rule.
OMAHA, Neb. -- The University of Michigan baseball team erupted offensively Sunday (May 29), as the Wolverines defeated Iowa by a score of 13-1 in seven innings to advance to the Big Ten Tournament championship game at Charles Schwab Field.
The Wolverines will now face Rutgers in a single championship game at 5 p.m. CT. The Big Ten Tournament championship appearance will be U-M's first since 2015, when the Maize and Blue defeated Maryland and clinched the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Michigan (31-26) jumped on Iowa flamethrower Brody Brecht, chasing the big righty after just four batters. Clark Elliott walked and immediately stole second. Following a walk to Matt Frey and a double steal, Jimmy Obertop lined a 2-0 fastball to left field and brought home Elliott, chasing Brecht from the game. Dylan Nedved entered for Iowa and got a pair of strikeouts around a Riley Bertram RBI single that gave U-M a 2-0 lead. Â
In the fourth inning, Bertram sparked another rally as he led off with a single. Following a walk to Ted Burton, Joey Velazquez laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt, and everyone was safe as Nedved bobbled the ball trying to make an ill-advised play to third. One pitch later, Jake Marti sent a sacrifice fly to left-center on a ball that stayed in the park only because of the stiff wind blowing in from center. That spelled the end of the day for Nedved, and Duncan Davitt entered for his third outing of the tournament. Elliott lined a long fly ball to left that also went for a sacrifice fly as Michigan took a 4-0 lead.
In an eventful frame, Iowa (36-19) scratched for an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth that saw a hard-fought leadoff walk, two infield singles, and two U-M throwing errors before Connor O'Halloran worked out of further trouble. O'Halloran worked through four innings and earned the win.
Michigan blew the doors open in the top of the seventh inning with a trio of big hits as the Wolverines scored nine times against four Iowa pitchers and took a 13-1 lead. Tito Flores drove home two runs with a double, Burton laced a three-run double to left, and Elliott put an exclamation point on the inning with a three-run double to left field.
Iowa put two runners on base with two outs in the bottom of the seventh but did not score as a strikeout from Cameron Weston -- who struck out six through 3.0 impressive innings of relief, including three in the final frame -- sealed the game with a 13-1 Michigan victory through just seven innings due to the league's Big Ten Tournament's run-rule.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: O'Halloran, Connor (5-4)
L: Brody Brecht (1-4)
S: Weston, Cameron (4)
Batting:
2B: Frey, Matt 1 ; Flores, Tito 1 ; Burton, Ted 1
3B: Elliott, Clark 1
RBI: Elliott, Clark 4 ; Stewart, Joe 1 ; Obertop, Jimmy 1 ; Flores, Tito 2 ; Bertram, Riley 1 ; Burton, Ted 3 ; Marti, Jake 1
SH: Velazquez, Joey 1 ; Marti, Jake 1
SF: Elliott, Clark 1 ; Stewart, Joe 1 ; Marti, Jake 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Elliott, Clark 2 ; Stewart, Joe 1 ; Frey, Matt 2 ; Obertop, Jimmy 1 ; Flores, Tito 1 ; Bertram, Riley 2 ; Burton, Ted 2 ; Velazquez, Joey 1 ; Marti, Jake 1
SB: Elliott, Clark 2 ; Frey, Matt 1
HBP: Frey, Matt 1 ; Burton, Ted 1
PO: Velazquez, Joey 1
Batting:
2B: Michael Seegers 1
RBI: Kyle Huckstorf 1
SH: Michael Seegers 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Izaya Fullard 1
HBP: Sam Petersen 1
