Michigan Baseball Suffers Tough Loss to Illinois in Game One of the Big Ten Tournament

The No. 7 seed Michigan came up short against the No. 11 seed Illinois in a heartbreaking loss in game one of the Big Ten tournament, the Illini coming out on top 6-5. The Wolverines fought hard, coming back from a three run deficit to tie the game in the eighth inning, and ultimately falling short at the bottom of the tenth. This loss prevents the Wolverines from advancing to the tournament semifinals.

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Things were not looking good for the Wolverines heading into the bottom of the eighth, as they trailed the Illini 5-2. Second baseman Mitch Voit came out and hit a solo homerun to get some momentum going, and that momentum certainly carried through the rest of the batting order; first baseman Jeter Ybarra got on base with a walk, and pinch hitter Noah Miller had his second homerun of the season to bring himself and Ybarra home, resulting in a 5-5 tie heading into the ninth.

 

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Michigan Couldn’t Keep the Momentum Going Beyond the Three Run Inning

Though it was a truly valiant effort on all fronts to tie the score after trailing the whole game, the Wolverines simply couldn’t capitalize at the bottom of the tenth. With two outs, Illinois hit a miracle solo homerun in the top of the tenth, and kept the Wolverines scoreless for the remainder of the inning, ending the game with a flyout.

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Michigan will still play No. 2-seeded UCLA on Thursday morning, but regardless, they will not have the opportunity to advance to the tournament semifinals. Sitting at 33-22, it isn’t exactly likely that the Wolverines will make it into the NCAA tournament, though it isn’t impossible either. The 64-team field is undoubtedly competitive this year, but a win against UCLA on Thursday could definitely help Michigan’s case, and their resume this season does include some impressive moments.

Heading into what may be the final game of their season, the stakes are high for the Wolverines, and defeating a 13th nationally ranked UCLA team is definitely a tall order. However, Michigan still has some fight left in them, and anything is possible during tournament season.

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