Erik Puodziunas couldn’t let the game get away from him.
Powered by serious accuracy issues from the Michigan baseball team’s mound, Oakland had barrelled in three runs at the top of the second inning. With a full count and runners on second and third, the Wolverines were in desperate need of damage control from the freshman right-hander.
On that occasion, Puodziunas delivered. It took Michigan another six innings to do so collectively — and despite retaking the lead late, the Wolverines (12-11) fell short against the Golden Grizzlies (4-18), 7-6. Trailing for the majority of the contest, Michigan never let the game drift out of reach. But when its early-game issues resurfaced at the eleventh hour, its efforts ultimately proved insufficient.
The Wolverines’ poor start began at the mound. Starting freshman left-hander Shane Brinham entered Tuesday’s game with 12 walks and 12 strikeouts on the season. But in a 12-pitch stretch at the top of the second inning, he threw 11 balls to only one strike, resulting in three straight walks to load the bases. When Grizzlies third baseman Boston Halloran — who bats just .146 — got a free pass to first for Oakland’s first score of the day, it capped a period where Michigan was beating itself more than its opponents were excelling at the plate.
With his first batter faced, Puodziunas didn’t fare much better. Inheriting a 2-0 count from Brinham, he allowed a 2-RBI single that extended the Grizzlies’ lead to three. A clutch putout to end the top of the second kept the game within reach for the Wolverines, but Michigan’s own batters couldn’t get anything going, tallying just two hits in the first three innings.
After utility player Blake Selhke stepped onto the mound at the bottom of the fourth, however, Michigan found its rhythm. It blasted off three straight singles, and redshirt junior center fielder Greg Pace Jr. sent junior catcher Noah Miller in for the Wolverines’ first score of the game.
The offensive revelation continued as junior shortstop Drew Culbertson brought another runner home, before a passed ball sent Pace to third base — where a well-executed sacrifice hit brought Pace home to tie the game at three apiece.
Michigan appeared to have shaken off its slow start and taken control of the momentum. But its earlier struggles began to creep back up, preventing it from fully reclaiming the game from the Grizzlies.
In the next half inning, another Oakland runner strolled home on a walk. Facing a one-run deficit, Michigan couldn’t afford to sit tight — the impetus was on the Wolverines to pick up the pace.
Michigan understood the urgency, and began to trade outs for bases. At the bottom of the eighth, the Grizzlies committed a throwing error on a sacrifice hit, advancing junior pinch runner Keegan O’Hearn from first to third base, and the Wolverines seized the chance. With a Culbertson bunt, they scored O’Hearn to tie the game.
Oakland promptly put a fresh arm on the mound — but sophomore third baseman Brayden Jefferis had the measure of the closer, hitting a two-RBI double to give Michigan its first lead of the game, 6-4.
All the Wolverines needed to do to hold on was maintain their grip on the mound at the top of the ninth. Yet just like its starter had at the beginning, Michigan’s bullpen loosened at the close. It allowed four hits and two walks at the top of the ninth, causing the Grizzlies to score three runs and retake the lead.
Facing one last chance to stop the game from getting away, the Wolverines’ lineup started to ramp up steam in the bottom of the ninth. But with only the final half-inning left, it couldn’t afford the luxury of time, and a sudden Oakland double play with one out capped off the game. Michigan may have overcome its slow start — but it wasn’t prepared for a fast finish.
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