The Michigan Wolverine baseball team was on the brink of elimination yet again, and they would be at that position for the rest of the regional. The Wolverines knew what they had to do today. 1) Beat Vanderbilt and 2) Beat Georgia Tech. But first, they were facing the Commodores at Russ Chandler Stadium in the third and possibly final day at the Atlanta Regional. The Wolverines knocked off Stetson, 11-1, yesterday to stay alive in the race while Vanderbilt fell into the loser’s bracket after they lost to #8 overall seed and regional host Georgia Tech, 7-2. Sophomore Chris Fetter was on the hill for Michigan with his team leading 1.89 ERA and 5-1 record.

            Fetter was able to get out of the jam in the first with runners on first and second with one out. He picked off David Macias at second for out number two and retired the side with a line out off the bat of catcher Brian Hernandez. Michigan also had a runner in scoring position in their opening at-bat when Leif Mahler started it off with a single with one out. He advanced to second when Nate Recknagel was hit by a pitch setting up first and second with only one out. Vanderbilt starter, Ty Davis, was able to get out of the dilemma as well as he struck out Jeff Kunkel and was able to get a ground ball out from Adam Abraham to end the Michigan first. Both teams stranded two runners in their first to leave the score at 0-0 entering the second. Michigan had yet another opportunity in the bottom of the second with Doug Pickens at third and Mike Schmidt at first but Eric Rose popped out to end the inning.

            The Commodores were the first to capitalize on those opportunities. In the top of the third, lead-off batter, Brad French, doubled down the left field line. He was then advanced to third via a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a wild pitch from Fetter to draw first blood, 1-0. The very next batter, Pedro Alvarez, hit his 21^st long ball of the season and second in this Atlanta Regional to put the ‘Dores on top, 2-0. Fetter finally was able to escape the dreadful third inning as Dominic de la Osa popped out. 

            The Wolverines finally got to Nick Christiani, who replaced Ty Davis in the fifth, in the bottom of the sixth. Nate Recknagel hit a solo shot to lead it off, his eighth of the year to put Michigan back in contention, 3-1. Doug Pickens then took the lead for the Wolverines on a two run shot. With the go-ahead run came Pickens seventh shot of the season. The Boys in Blue had another chance to cushion the lead after a Derek VanBuskirk double, but Mike Shmidt was set down on strikes.

            The Commodores tied it up in the seventh when Alex Feinberg doubled and cycled the rest of the bases on a Chris Fetter wild pitch. Vanderbilt added another to take the lead on a Brian Hernandez sacrifice fly that brought it David Macias. After the Wolverines went scoreless in the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Davis hit a solo shot to right field to add to the Vanderbilt lead. Michigan made a desperate attempt in the bottom of the eighth, but came up with only one run. After Mike Shmidt hit into a fielder’s choice in which A.J. Sheidt was called out as second, Derek VanBuskirk scored on a throwing error by Commodore second baseman, Alex Feinberg. After Wolverine pitcher, Ben Jenzen, held Vanderbilt scoreless in the top of the ninth, Michigan had one more chance to salvage their season. It started off well with a Nate Recknagel double but Casey Weathers earned his third save of the season by getting Jeff Kunkel and Adam Abraham to pop out; ending the Wolverines season.

            Michigan finishes the season with a 43-21 record. The senior core includes fifth year senior catcher Jeff Kunkel, fifth year senior pitcher Drew Taylor, pitcher Alex Martin, outfielder Mike Shmidt, fifth year senior pitcher Ali Husain, third baseman A.J. Sheidt, fifth year senior pitcher Paul Hammond, pitcher Jeff Niemiec, and pitcher Craig Murray. The senior’s contributions to this team, who advanced to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time since the 1988-99 seasons, could not be underestimated. They guided this team to a Big Ten regular season and Big Ten Tournament championship, something that hasn’t been accomplished since Bud Middaugh’s ball club did it back in 1987. Michigan also hadn’t won a Big Ten Tournament Championship since 1999. They were the only team representing the Big Ten in the NCAA Tournament and went 1-2 in the Atlanta regional including an 11-1 clubbing of the Stetson Hatters.

            The Wolverines do, however, return a good group of high caliber players for next year including Eric Rose, Adam Abraham, Nate Recknagel, and many others that found themselves in the starting line-up this year. They also return a strong pitching staff in Zach Putnam, who went 6-2 on the year with a 2.51 ERA, and Chris Fetter, going 5-2 this season with a team best 2.22 ERA.

Final- Vanderbilt 5 Michigan 4 

Go Blue!