Kerr Wins 'Two-Strike Battle' With Clutch Triple to Spark Michigan's CWS Victory
6/15/2019 11:45:00 PM | Baseball, Features
By Steve Kornacki
OMAHA, Neb. -- Jimmy Kerr's two-run triple, which propelled the University of Michigan to its 5-3 win over Texas Tech in the opening game of the College World Series, was a case of intense preparation meeting opportunity.
Wolverines outfielders Jesse Franklin, who walked on a full-count pitch, and Jordan Brewer, who singled sharply to left, were on base with two outs. And Kerr found himself in an 0-2 count against Micah Dallas, who hadn't lost a game during his freshman season until this one.
So, Kerr was in a tough spot. But he choked up on the bat and stayed tough, pulling a 1-2 pitch down the right-field line before racing around the bases for his first triple in more than two years.
It was the game-changer, and it was deeply rooted in the marathon "Two-Strike Battle" the Wolverines (47-20) gain resilience from in practices.
Michigan head coach Erik Bakich, named National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association National Coach of the Year prior to Saturday's (June 15) game, pitches to his batters separated into two teams in a game where every at-bat begins with a 0-2 count.
"It was a 'Two-Strike Battle' and it was so big that the two guys before me both got on base," said Kerr. "It wouldn't have meant anything without them. That drill makes a difference. We've been significantly better with two strikes since we really got into that. Like, the first time we played Texas Tech in March, we had too many strikeouts and then it was the same thing in a series at Ohio State.
"So, we made a commitment to battling and the competition in 'Two-strike Battle' helped bring that about."
Brewer, the Big Ten Player of the Year, provided the details on the "Two-Strike Battle" in the locker room afterward: "They last one hour and it's really a scrimmage. If you don't make contact on the 0-2 pitch and go down swinging, it's minus one point. A foul ball gets you one point. The one thing you don't want to do is strike out looking. That's minus five points. You're just battling. You're literally just fighting."
Which is just what Kerr was doing -- "fighting" to stay alive with the chips down, "battling" to make a difference.
"Put it in play and make something happen," said Kerr, "and just got a pitch that I was able to put something on in play. Now, I can't wait to go see my dad."
His father, Derek, a backup catcher on the 1983 and 1984 Michigan World Series teams, was cheering in the middle of the Michigan section a number of rows behind their dugout. He got his Father's Day present one day early.
However, Jimmy wasn't alone in putting "Two-Strike Battle" to very good use.
Jordan Nwogu also was down 0-2 before working a full count leading off the first inning and responded by roping a single to left. He took second on a passed ball and Franklin moved him to third by grounding out to second. Then Brewer got him home with a sacrifice fly.
"We lost a series at Ohio State and we had a bunch of backwards K's (called third strikes)," said Bakich, "and that was an opportunity, a teaching moment with our team to really dial in our two-strike approach and our guys just got a whole lot grittier, a whole lot tougher with two strikes. They committed to choking up and just really doing a good job of expanding the zone with two strikes, and it wasn't about taking their Twitter swing, it was about being ugly productive.
"Sometimes you've got to stick your butt out and foul one off just to get to the next pitch. And so our guys are doing a great job of battling and fighting with two strikes just to put the barrel on the ball because this is college baseball."
Michigan is now 36-6 when scoring first, and Nwogu was well aware of that stat.
"It's always huge to score first," said Nwogu. "It gives us the momentum, and I saw that stat. We have confidence we can come back, too. But that gives us the start we want."
Nwogu
Wolverine starter Karl Kauffmann (11-6) allowed three runs on eight hits and zero walks with three strikeouts over seven innings. Fellow starter Jeff Criswell earned his second save of the season by following Kauffmann onto the mound for the same recipe for success that worked in the NCAA Super Regional opener at UCLA. Criswell struck out four, the last of which came against dangerous Brian Klein with two on and the outcome still in doubt.
Bakich said: "We got a great start from Karl Kauffmann, pitched extremely well, gave us a quality start, outside of a two-run home run (to Klein in the third) that I thought was a good pitch, a breaking ball down. He just got the head out and got it up out of the park. I thought he was great, gave us everything we needed.
"And then with Jeff Criswell coming in, getting the save was huge, and him fielding his position on that chopper in the ninth was a big play because that would have -- could have -- put the go-ahead run on base. We had Criswell, we had (starter Tommy) Henry both available and just with the way the tournament is, where there's days off, it is a great matchup for our strong starting pitching that can also double as relievers."
Nwogu said: "To have both of them pitching in one game is scary. I feel for the other team."
Catcher Joe Donovan added, "Karl just really honed in on (pitching) Coach (Chris) Fetter's game plan. We wanted to get them to chase or get in high-strike counts, and he just did a really good job with that."
Criswell, Donovan said, paid heed to Fetter's instructions to pitch aggressively because the normally ultra-aggressive Red Raiders might be looking to work a walk in the last two innings. He struck out the first batter he faced in shortstop Josh Jung, the No. 8 overall pick in the MLB Draft of the Texas Rangers, setting the tone.
"He did a fantastic job late in the game," said Donovan.
Criswell said: "That's the mindset we take as a staff, to fill up the strike zone and attack with our best stuff. Attack and finish the game."
Criswell
When he got Klein to swing and miss at a 1-2 pitch, the Wolverines rushed onto the field.
Second baseman Ako Thomas' first thought: "'Thank God!' I had full confidence in Jeff; he's been great for us all year. I was so proud of the team. We played a great game."
Criswell said, "To see the elation on all their faces was pretty cool. Everybody was incredibly fired up, and I was happy that I was able to help us win."
Kauffmann saw to it that he kept the lead in his last two innings. He gave up a leadoff single in the seventh and stranded the runner right there. He gave up a leadoff infield single and a double to put two runners in scoring position with nobody out in the sixth but got two ground balls (the second of which brought in one run) and a strikeout to limit the damage.
"Earlier in the year," said Kauffmann, "I might have let in those two runs. But minimizing opportunities was the focus today, and that kept us in the lead. Then we got the other run (in the seventh) and Jeff closed it out."
Bakich noted that "pitching, defense, timely hitting seems to be the recipe of the postseason," and his team supplied all three.
The defensive play of the game came with a runner on second and one out in the fifth. Dylan Neuse hit a soft liner that appeared certain to drop between shortstop Jack Blomgren and Thomas. However, Thomas got a great break on the hooking ball and dove to grab it, saving a run and keeping the lead at two runs.
The Red Raiders scratched out one run in the sixth to cut the lead to one, but then the Wolverines countered in the seventh to get Franklin home again for an insurance run thanks to a throwing error.
The big play happened in the third, and ended up being the difference.
Kerr's triple put such a charge into the team that many in the dugout sprinted onto the field between the dugout and home plate to greet run-scorers Franklin and Brewer.
"We've gotten so many warnings from umpires to stay in the dugout," said Donovan. "But early in the year, everybody felt they had to go out to show support. Now, we're just running out of the dugout to congratulate guys who scored and it's just awesome.
"I think a team needs a little bit of cockiness and a little bit of healthy arrogance. We got that today and everyone played perfectly."
Kerr made the "pulling the rope" gesture while standing on third, smiling widely.
"I could see the ton of energy coming out of the bunkers," said Kerr, a senior captain. "I pulled the rope in the same direction with my teammates."
Thomas
Several players believed that, even with six innings to play, they were going to win the game against the No. 8-ranked Red Raiders (44-19) after the triple. Blake Nelson scored Kerr with a two-out single to solidify that feeling even more.
"After Jimmy got that hit," said Brewer, "I thought, 'OK, we've got this. It's ours. We're taking this.' And that's exactly what we did. Once we got that lead for Karl, it was over with. And I made up my mind on that hit (by Kerr), that no matter what, I was scoring from first.
"But we haven't done anything yet. This is just one win and we have more work to do. You can tell that with everybody. You could tell it with the way Criz pitched. Damn. Everyone's locked in."
It really didn't seem to matter one bit that Texas Tech had beaten Michigan three times by a combined score of 29-10 in Lubbock in late March.
"We went to Lubbock and got our butts kicked," said Donovan. "But we got a second shot at them, and we were all looking forward to it. We were just so happy to get this win.
The Wolverines are on a roll and next face Florida State -- another team on the last-four-in-the-tournament list -- Monday night in a winner's bracket game. The only thing for certain is that Michigan will choke up with two strikes, and come out ready to battle.
