To quote Morgan Wallen: “We got close, but close doesn’t cut it.”
Last Thursday evening, the Oakland men’s baseball team traveled west to Ann Arbor to take on the University of Michigan Wolverines in a one-game stand. The game was a 10-inning slugfest, with Oakland falling just short of a huge comeback win.
Both teams went scoreless through the game’s first two innings as Oakland starter Tanner Ware kept the Wolverines off the board early. However, he started to slip up in the third inning. After retiring the leadoff batter on a flyout, Ware walked a batter, and another reached on a fielder’s choice. The OU coaching staff chose to pull Ware from the game after throwing just 47 pitches.
In came sophomore Luke Riggs to relieve Ware. Riggs promptly surrendered two singles, scoring two runs for the Wolverines and putting the Golden Grizzlies in a 2-0 hole. He would finish out the inning with no further damage.
OU showed signs of life on offense in the fourth with back-to-back doubles from Matthew McGann and Carter Hain. Michigan’s starter, Cade Connolly, got out of the bind with three consecutive flyouts.
Unfortunately, U-M was ready to do some more damage in the bottom of the fourth. Austin Fisher took the ball for the fourth but could only record one out before being pulled. Fisher let up three singles and a walk to drive in two additional runs. It was up to Blake Sehlke to get out of the inning; he would hit his first batter to load the bases and then give up a run on a ground out. At the end of the fourth, the score now stood at a daunting 5-0.
Oakland finally got things rolling in the fifth inning. Trent Rice earned a base on a hit-by-pitch and immediately stole second base. Brandon Nigh got to second base on an error, giving OU two men on with no outs. Up came Taylor Tomlin, who roped a single through the right side to score Rice. Nigh would also score on a pick-off attempt of Tomlin, getting the Golden Grizzlies back in the game down 5-2.
In the bottom of the frame, Sehlke would allow a run after a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and a single. Besides some struggles with control, he had a solid outing. His teammates had his back, though; they started off the top of the sixth with a double from Hain, a single from Ben Clark, and a walk from Sam Griffith to load the bases. However, Oakland would only scrape a run out of the promising inning. Rice got a fly out to bring Hain home, sandwiched between two strikeouts to end the frame.
It was again Hain and Tomlin that would do the damage in the seventh inning. Tomlin began the inning with a pivotal walk before the next two Golden Grizzlies hit groundouts. Hain came up clutch with a single to drive Tomlin in, inching Oakland closer 6-4. Huge props are due to relievers Drew Delcollo, Gage Smith and Ryan Donley, who combined for four innings of shutout baseball to help Oakland claw their way back in the game.
And claw their way back in, they did. Rice tied the game with a huge two-run homer at the top of the eighth inning, bringing in teammate Jack Lux, who reached base on a walk. OU had a chance to take the lead with two men on and two outs, but McGann hit a fly out to center field to end the frame.
The Golden Grizzlies’ defense made a huge play to cut off a Wolverine runner trying to reach home base. Left fielder John Lauinger threw a missile to the catcher McGann before McGann threw it up to third base for Boston Halloran to tag the runner out, securing the tied game.
In the top of the 10th, everything was going Oakland’s way. Rice continued his excellent play with a double to lead off the inning. Nigh earned a walk right before Tomlin reached on a throwing error to load the bases with no outs. Lauinger came up big again with a single to drive home Rice, taking Oakland’s first lead of the day.
The Wolverines elected to intentionally walk McGann, again loading the bags with one out. As I said before, though, OU failed to make the most of an excellent opportunity. Hain struck out before Aidan Schuck was called on to pinch-hit and hit a fly out to end the frame. It’s just another example of the frustrating ways that the Golden Grizzlies let this game slip away.
Ryan Uhlenhake was called on to pitch the 10th inning, but his control was off from the start. Uhlenhake walked four batters and had just one strikeout. After he walked home a runner to tie the game, he was pulled out for Jaxson Easterlin. Easterlin didn’t fare any better; he gave up a walk on a 3-2 count to lose the game 8-7. It was the fourth 3-2 count walk of the inning. If just a couple of pitches get called differently or placed a few inches better, it’s a different outcome.
Next up for Oakland is a weekend series against the Wright State Raiders.
