Erik Bakich Departs Michigan
6/16/2022 11:00:00 AM | Baseball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Erik Bakich, head coach of the University of Michigan baseball program, is departing the program following his 10th season in Ann Arbor in an announcement made on Wednesday (June 15).
Bakich has accepted the head coach position at Clemson University, where he formerly served as an assistant coach.
Bakich, the consensus 2019 national coach of the year, has guided Michigan's oldest sports program to a No. 1 overall ranking in the top-25 polls, an NCAA runner-up finish, four NCAA Tournament bids, a Big Ten Conference Tournament title, and seven Big Ten Tournament appearances. During his time at the helm, Michigan had 38 players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, along with 41 All-America selections, 60 Big Ten Conference team selections, one Big Ten Player of the Year and 79 Academic All-Big Ten selections.
In 2022, a magical postseason run saw Michigan claim the Big Ten Tournament championship at Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb., as the Wolverines became the first team to defeat the tournament's top four seeds. Michigan won four games in as many days, playing into the early morning hours twice and winning two games on the final day to emerge with the program's 10th tournament title, the most all time. Michigan roared into the Louisville Regional, defeating Oregon and host Louisville before seeing its season end on a controversial call in the eighth inning on the final day to finish as regional runner-up.
In a 2020 season cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wolverines opened against No. 2-ranked Vanderbilt in a College World Series rematch, with Michigan winning in a dramatic fashion. U-M followed that win with a convincing shutout against No. 9-ranked Arizona State, vaulting the Maize and Blue to the No. 1 national ranking by Baseball America. With few individual postseason honors bestowed due to the shortened season, Michigan's prominence in collegiate baseball was seen in Major League Baseball's shortened First Year Player Draft. Four players were selected in the five-round event, including the highest pick in the Bakich era, starting pitcher Jeff Criswell, who was selected 58th overall in the second round by the Oakland Athletics. Also selected were outfielder Jordan Nwogu (third round, Chicago Cubs), outfielder Jesse Franklin (third round, Atlanta Braves) and shortstop Jack Blomgren (fifth round, Colorado Rockies). The four draftees were second most among college programs.
Bakich's Wolverines enjoyed one of their most successful campaigns in program history during the 2019 season, which featured a trip to the College World Series Finals for just the third time in Michigan history and the eighth trip to the CWS overall. The Wolverines powered through the Corvallis (Ore.) Regional and upset No. 1-ranked UCLA in the Super Regional to advance to the College World Series, where Michigan finished as the national runner-up behind Vanderbilt. Bakich was named the National Coach of the Year by D1Baseball.com, the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA), and the College Baseball Foundation, while five Wolverines earned nine All-America nods and eight were selected to All-Big Ten Conference teams, including the program's first Big Ten Player of the Year award (outfielder Jordan Brewer) since 2008. In the midst of an exciting postseason, Michigan also had five players selected in the Major League Baseball Draft, including starting pitchers Tommy Henry (2nd round, Arizona Diamondbacks) and Karl Kauffmann (2nd round, Rockies), Brewer (3rd round, Houston Astros), reliever Jack Weisenburger (20th round, Athletics), and senior infielder and team co-captain Jimmy Kerr (33rd round, Detroit Tigers). The Wolverines finished the 2019 season with a 50-22 overall record, which marked the first 50-win season for Bakich and the program's first since 1987.
A national search will begin immediately.
