Michigan Baseball Fall Recap
12/12/2019 3:00:00 PM | Baseball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball team had a busy fall, hosting Dayton for a 14-inning exhibition before participating in the inaugural David Williams Classic against Vanderbilt. The Wolverines also were active in numerous community events during the first semester.
Michigan 3 Vanderbilt 2
The David Williams Classic pitted the Wolverines in a rematch of the 2019 College World Series finals against Vanderbilt in front of a capacity crowd at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tennessee. With the college baseball world tuned in, Michigan came away with a 3-2 win.
Sophomore Riley Bertram got U-M on the board early with a two-run double in the top of the second, and after the Commodores answered back with a run of their own in the next inning, a pitcher's duel ensued.
After Vanderbilt knotted the game at 2 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Michigan rallied in the ninth. Junior Joe Donovan came through with a clutch RBI single to drive home fellow junior Jack Blomgren and set the Wolverines up with a 3-2 lead. U-M closed the door in the ninth with redshirt freshman Steven Hajjar, freshman Cameron Weston, redshirt sophomore Ben Dragani and freshman Jacob Denner combining to allow just one earned run on five hits while striking out 11 in the ballgame.
Michigan 10 Dayton 9
After allowing a Dayton run in the top of the first, the Michigan offense set the tone for game one with its first batter. Junior Jordan Nwogu answered with an inside-the-park home run that caromed off the wall in center field and tied the game at 1.
U-M added a run in the second inning, then jumped out to a 9-1 advantage courtesy of a seven-run third. The Flyers scored three runs in the fourth inning to stay within striking distance, added two more in the fifth and eventually knotted the game at 9 in the top of the seventh.
With two down in the bottom half of the seventh inning, freshman Jimmy Obertop came through in the clutch, launching a home run over the wall in left-center field to give the Wolverines the 10-9 walk-off win.
Dayton 5 Michigan 1
Game two saw the bats go cold and Dayton get even as the Flyer offense hit two solo home runs in the second inning to grab the lead and never looked back. Michigan's lone run came by way of an RBI single from redshirt sophomore Danny Zimmerman.
The Wolverines also had an active fall away from the diamond, as they spent every Thursday afternoon at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital during the semester and hosted the annual Halloween Batting Practice event for kids ages 6-12 on Oct. 30. Team 153 and its trip to the 2019 College World Series was honored at halftime of the Michigan-Michigan State football game (Nov. 16) and the team made a holiday visit to the VA Hospital (Dec. 6).
