Season Review: 2025 Michigan Baseball

Team Captains: Kurt Barr, Cole Caruso, Benny Casillas, Will Rogers, Mitch Voit
Record: 33-23, 16-14 Big Ten Conference (T-6th Place)
Big Ten Tournament: 0-2, Pool B

The 2025 University of Michigan baseball team started off fast in head coach Tracy Smith's third season at the helm as the Wolverines had some big rivalry wins and finished tied for sixth in the Big Ten Conference regular season.

Team Highlights

• The Wolverines compiled a 33-23 overall record and a 16-14 Big Ten Conference mark to finish the season tied for sixth place in the league with Indiana. Michigan won at least one game in all but one weekend series with, three weekend series sweeps.

• Eight of U-M's opponents earned NCAA Tournament berths with, four coming from the Big Ten. The Wolverines finished 71st in the RPI.

• The season opened with an impressive win over preseason No. 2-ranked Virginia in extra innings in Ponce, Puerto Rico. U-M jumped out to an early lead in the first inning before the Cavilers tied it in the fifth. A two-run home run from Matt Spear put U-M back in front, but UVA tied it once again. In the 11th inning, Mitch Voit drew a leadoff walk and scored on a Spear hit-and-run single.

• U-M continued the hot start to win the Puerto Rico Challenge, taking down Rice, Villanova and Stetson. Against the Owls, U-M used a five-run eighth inning to secure the comeback victory before a dominant 19-0 win over Villanova the next day. Entering the final game, Stetson and U-M were undefeated; the Wolverines took down the Hatters 6-1 behind three home runs.

• The Wolverines' longest win streak (seven games) started with a 12-11 win over No. 15 Oregon on April 6. U-M returned home and no-hit Akron in a 13-0 win before an 8-7 extra-inning win over Oakland. Michigan then swept Mount St. Mary's outscoring The Mount 23-1 in the series. A 10-0 win at Toledo was the final win of the streak coming on April 15 at Fifth Third Field, home of the Toledo Mudhens.

• Michigan played and defeated in-state conference rival Michigan State four times, once in East Lansing and a sweep at the Wilpon Complex, home of Ray Fisher Stadium. U-M outscored the Spartans 34-16 with the biggest win being a 9-2 triumph on April 26. David Lally Jr. outdueled second-round pick Joseph Dzierwa, with Lally allowing just one run on two hits over 6.2 innings with four strikeouts. The Wolverines offense tallied 13 hits, including two home runs.

• U-M also swept Ohio State in Columbus, which included a 23-1 win -- the largest margin of victory against the Buckeyes in program history. A 16-run fourth inning led the way with the Wolverines sending 20 batters to the plate. U-M then won a doubleheader, taking the first game 11-4 and a run-rule 13-3 win in the series finale.

Individual Highlights

• An All-American and All-Big Ten first-team selection, Voit led the Wolverines in most offensive categories, slashing .346/.471/.668 with 14 home runs, 60 RBI and 14 stolen bases. He was the only Wolverine to start every game this season and compiled 72 hits across 56 games. Voit was also strong defensively, with a .986 fielding percentage with 116 putouts, 176 assists and four errors. His best game came against MSU on April 26, when he tallied a career-high five RBI with a triple and home run. Voit was drafted by the New York Mets in the first round (38th overall) of the 2025 MLB Draft.

• With a team-leading .401 batting average, Benny Casillas earned second team All-Region and All-Big Ten honors. He was the first Wolverine in 15 years to hit above .400 and only the 11th since 1960. Casillas tallied a team-leading 54 runs, 83 hits and 21 doubles, adding five home runs and 41 RBI. He played in 55 of Michigan's 56 games with 54 starts, mainly at shortstop. One of his best games this season came on March 7, when he went 4-for-5, including two doubles, with six RBIs against Illinois.

• Highlighted by tossing a no-hitter against Akron on April 8, Tate Carey earned Freshman All-America honors and Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors. He compiled a 9-0 record with a 3.63 earned-run average and a 1.21 WHIP over 18 appearances and 57 innings. His nine wins were the second most by a U-M freshman in program history. Carey tallied 51 strikeouts against just 18 walks. In his no-no versus Akron, he faced the minimum 21 batters in a seven-inning run-rule win, allowing just one walk while striking out four. He followed that up with a five-inning, seven-strikeout performance over Mount St. Mary's to earn Big Ten Pitcher of Week, Freshman of the Week and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

• A first team All-Big Ten relief pitcher, Will Rogers led the Wolverines in appearances (23) and saves (eight). He complied a 5-3 record in 58.1 innings pitched, striking out 44 batters with 23 walks. Rogers did not allow a run in seven of his relief appearances and six of his eight saves were three innings or more. Rogers was a semifinalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year after a .264 average, two home runs and 13 runs at the plate.

• Brayden Jefferis earned All-Big Ten Freshman honors after leading U-M freshmen in starts (29) and appearances (41). He started mostly in the outfield, but played second base, third baase and shortstop as well. Offensively, he tallied 28 hits with five extra-base knocks to go with 20 runs, 18 RBI and 15 walks for a .398 on-base percentage.

• Greg Pace Jr. played in 54 of 56 games with 32 starts, mostly in center field. He slashed .313/.448/.586 with 30 runs, 21 RBI and eight stolen bases. After just five starts over the first 26 games, Pace started 27 of the last 30 games. He tallied 27 hits in the team's final 30 games and had his average as high as .343. Pace went 4-for-4 twice over the season, -- against Mount St. Mary's with three doubles, two runs and three RBIs and again versus Michigan State with four runs, including a home run.

• Second on the team in home runs, Cole Caruso had a power upswing this season, smacking 11 -- including a two-homer effort at Nebraska on May 11 -- after just seven home runs combined over his first three seasons. He slashed .284/.360/.512 with 57 hits and 37 runs. Caruso was one of three Wolverines to play in every contest, starting 55 contests mostly at third base. He joined Voit and Casillas as the only players to tally over 100 total bases.

• Jeter Ybarra played in all 56 games, starting 53, mostly at first base, while slashing .283/.373/.460 with 37 runs, 50 RBI and seven home runs. He had a great weekend against Ohio State, going 8-for-12 with with two doubles, four runs and seven RBI.

• Lally led the Wolverines in innings pitched with 76.1, compiling a 4-5 record with a 4.95 ERA and 1.34 WHIP with 54 strikeouts and two complete games across 13 starts. He went the distance on March 21 against Purdue, striking out three over seven innings and allowing just three hits and two earned runs. His second complete game came three starts later against Mount St. Mary's, fanning seven over seven scoreless. His Michigan debut came in a combined shutout win over Villanova.

• Kurt Barr pitched 69.2 innings with 74 strikeouts, which ranked 10th in the conference as he worked his way to becoming Michiagn's Friday starter. He compiled a 6-5 record with a 4.65 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP, starting 14 games across 16 appearances, and combined with Rogers for a seven-inning shutout against USC during which Barr struck out four batters.

Awards and Honors

Mitch
Voit

Benny
Casillas

Tate
Carey

Brayden
Jefferis

Will
Rogers

D1Baseball
All-America (Third Team): Mitch Voit

Perfect Game
All-America (Second Team): Mitch Voit

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
Freshman All-America (First Team): Tate Carey

American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings
All-Midwest Region (First Team): Mitch Voit
All-Midwest Region (Second Team): Benny Casillas

Big Ten Conference
All-Big Ten (First Team): Mitch Voit, Will Rogers
All-Big Ten (Second Team): Benny Casillas
All-Big Ten (Defensive Team): Mitch Voit
All-Big Ten (Freshman Team): Tate Carey, Brayden Jefferis
Sportsmanship Award: Cole Caruso

College Sport Communicators
Academic All-District: David Lally Jr., Max Debiec, Matt Spear

Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
Ricky Kidd, Sr., Sport Management
Wyatt Novara, So., Sport Management
Jeter Ybarra, Gr., Real Estate

Academic All-Big Ten
Kurt Barr, Jr., Sport Management
AJ Garcia, So., Sport Management
Ricky Kidd, Sr., Sport Management
Jonathan Kim, Jr., Sport Management
Brock Leitgeb, So., Sport Management
Joe Longo, Sr., Communications & Media
Noah Miller, So., Sport Management
Cooper Mullens, So., Business Administration
Wyatt Novara, So., Sport Management
Keegan O'Hearn, So., Sport Management
Joonsung Park, So., Sport Management
Alfredo Velazquez, So., Movement Science
Mitch Voit, Jr., Economics