Michigan
26-25, 0
Ohio State
30-25, 0
Ninth-Inning Rally Stalls, Michigan Drops Series at Ohio State
5/19/2023 9:19:00 PM | Baseball
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The University of Michigan baseball team fell 9-5 to Ohio State on Thursday (May 19) at Bill Davis Stadium despite a ninth-inning comeback attempt.
Trailing 9-3 in the top of ninth, the first two batters -- Joey Velazquez and Trevor Kilinski -- homered to right-center and left field, respectively, to cut the lead to 9-5. Two batters later, Cody Jefferis drew a one-out walk and Jimmy Obertop drew a two-out walk two batters down the lineup. The next hitter, Jack Van Remortel, foiled out to the catcher to end the rally and the game.
Michigan (26-25, 13-10 Big Ten) threatened in the top of the first when Ted Burton doubled to left-center, but he wa left stranded. Ohio State (30-25, 8-15 Big Ten) grabbed the lead in the home half of the inning, touching Noah Rennard courtesy of a home run to left-center then added a two-run home run in the second to take a 4-0 lead.
Burton put Michigan on the board in the top of the third with a two-run home run to left to cut the lead in half at 4-2. Gabe Sotres singled to start the inning before coming around on Burton's blast. The home run was Burton's team leading 12th of the season and 31st of his career. Rennard was strong in the third and fourth allowing just one batter to reach across the two innings.
U-M could not capitalize off Rennard settling in and only managed one hit of its own over the fourth and fifth innings -- a Tito Flores double in the fourth. OSU added to its lead in the fifth with a solo home run off Ahmad Harajli.
The Wolverines could not respond as Jimmy Obertop singled in the top of the sixth and moved to second on a passed ball but went no further. The Buckeyes extended their lead to 8-2 in the sixth inning with three runs on three hits and a walk.
Michigan tried to battle back in the seventh with a Mitch Voit leadoff double. After two quick outs, Jonathan Kim hit a pinch-hit single to right-center to push Voit around to score. The Maize and Blue were unable to keep the inning going as a strikeout ended the inning. OSU added another one in the bottom in the seventh to increase its lead to 9-3.
Both teams were held scoreless in the eighth, but Michigan drawing back-to-back walks with two outs went for naught, setting up the Wolverines' ninth-inning rally attempt.
Michigan will wrap up its regular season with the series finale against Ohio State on Saturday (May 20) at 2 p.m. at Bill Davis Stadium. The game will be streamed live on B1G+.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Coupet, Isaiah (4-3)
L: Rennard, Noah (6-4)
S: Jones, Logan (1)
Batting:
2B: Burton, Ted 1 ; Flores, Tito 1 ; Voit, Mitch 1
HR: Burton, Ted 1 ; Velazquez, Joey 1 ; Kilinski, Trevor 1
RBI: Burton, Ted 2 ; Velazquez, Joey 1 ; Kilinski, Trevor 1 ; Kim, Jonathan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Burton, Ted 1 ; Voit, Mitch 1 ; Velazquez, Joey 1 ; Sotres, Gabe 1 ; Kilinski, Trevor 1
Batting:
2B: Kaiser, Caden 1
3B: Lipsey, Trey 1 ; Graveline, Matthew 1
HR: Lipsey, Trey 1 ; Ernst, Marcus 1 ; Okuley, Mitchell 1 ; Pettorini, Tyler 1
RBI: Lipsey, Trey 3 ; Ernst, Marcus 2 ; Okuley, Mitchell 1 ; Pettorini, Tyler 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Lipsey, Trey 1 ; Graveline, Matthew 1 ; Ernst, Marcus 1 ; Andrews, Cole 1 ; Okuley, Mitchell 1 ; Erwin, Nick 1 ; Kaiser, Caden 1 ; Pettorini, Tyler 2
SB: Andrews, Cole 1 ; Pettorini, Tyler 1
CS: Okuley, Mitchell 1
HBP: Okuley, Mitchell 1
