Wolverines Fall to Penn State in Extra innings in Big Ten Tournament Semifinals

Saturday, May 25

Omaha, Neb.

1:00 PM CT

Michigan

32-28

Penn State

29-23

Penn State

Michigan

Jacob Denner (Michigan Photography)

Wolverines Fall to Penn State in Extra innings in Big Ten Tournament Semifinals

5/25/2024 8:00:00 PM | Baseball

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By: Conor Stemme

» Michigan lost 7-6 to Penn State in 10 innings in a Big Ten semifinal.
» Stephen Hrustich and Mitch Voit each tallied three hits and two runs.
» Jacob Denner pitched the final six innings and struck out a career-high nine batters.

OMAHA, Neb. -- The University of Michigan baseball team fell 7-6 to Penn State in 10 innings in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on Saturday (May 25) at Charles Schwab Field.

Tied at five after nine innings, the game went into the 10th and the Nittany Lions capitalized immediately. A leadoff single was followed by a two-run home run to put PSU ahead 7-5. Mitch Voit hit a two-out homer in the bottom of the inning, but U-M was unable to come up with another run.

Michigan (32-28) threatened in the first inning after a 1-2-3 inning from starter Kurt Barr. Voit hit a one-out single and U-M loaded the bases with back-to-back walks, but left them stranded.

Penn State (29-23) opened the scoring in the fourth inning with three runs, and Barr's day came to a close when Jacob Denner took the mound to start the fifth. He tossed back-to-back 1-2-3 innings with two strikeouts in his first two innings of work to keep the score 3-0 in favore of PSU.

The Wolverines evened things up in the bottom of the sixth, started by a Stephen Hrustich double. He advanced to third on a groundout and later scored on a Cole Caruso groundout. Dylan Stanton was hit by a pitch and Alfredo Velazquez came in to pinch run for him. Mack Timbrook walked and Kyle Dernedde doubled both runners home to knot the game at three.

Denner faced just three batters in the seventh, striking out a pair before picking off a runner at first. Michigan grabbed the lead in the bottom half, when Voit single and Hrustich followed with a triple down the left-field line. The next pitch was wild, allowing Hrustich to scamper home for a 5-3 U-M lead

PSU tied the game in the top of the eighth with a solo homer and four singles, the last of which brought home th tying run but saw Hrustich throw out the runner from second trying to score. Denner collected his seventh strikeout to end the inning and tie his career high.

The Wolverines threatened the in the home half of the eighth, but could not find the go-ahead run. Denner pitched a 1-2-3 ninth giving U-M a chance to walk it off, but after a Caruso walk Michigan was set down in order.

Denner (9-5) was the hard-luck loser, throwing six strong innings and striking out a career-high nine batters in his final game as a Wolverine, while Barr fanned six in his four innings of work -- one shy of tying his career high. Hrustich and Voit had three hits each to combine for six of U-M's nine hits and four of its six runs.

Michigan finished its second year under head coach Tracy Smith with a 32-28 record and a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten standings with a 14-10 record.