Michigan manager Tracy Smith interrupted mid-interview by UCLA home run at Big Ten Tournament

The Michigan Wolverines and UCLA Bruins met to wrap up pool play in the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday in Omaha. In a pool that the Bruins already clinched, the atmosphere was a bit unique, as both teams played for pride and their postseason resumes.

Michigan head coach Tracy Smith put on the headset for a midgame interview in the bottom of the fifth. There, he was loose and joked about the rock Michigan keeps on first base so players rub for good luck, explaining he doesn’t know where it comes from. From there, he turned his attention to freshman pitcher Tate Carey on the mound.

Smith praised Carey, explaining his journey throughout the season. However, he’d be rudely interrupted mid-interview by Roch Cholowsky of UCLA who hit a massive home run to centerfield.

“He’s been a guy, same thing,” Tracy Smith said. “About just progresses and works his way in. He was throwing out of the bullpen for us early — I hope that stays in the yard. What do we got?”

Admin has ran out of words to describe Roch Cholowsky.

Just watch the clip.#GoBruins // BTN pic.twitter.com/RUfsgvvHTi

— UCLA Baseball (@UCLABaseball) May 22, 2025

The pitch certainly didn’t stay in the yard. Roch Cholowsky gave it a massive ride to centerfield. That made for the sixth home run in seven games for UCLA’s power-hitting star.

That led to the broadcast joking that it was the one rock that Smith didn’t want to see in that situation, playing on Roch Cholowsky’s name. After all, he’s one of the best players in all of the Big Ten who took advantage of a mistake made by the freshman pitcher.

“Exactly,” Smith said. “Rub that rock. Make sure he doesn’t do that again.”

Even with the home run, Tracy Smith has been happy with Tate Carey, both in Thursday’s game and throughout the season. So, he made sure to go back and keep praising his freshman even through a learning lesson on the mound.

“He’s been a guy that has worked himself in,” Smith said. “And, in my opinion, probably has been one of the pitchers in the entire conference down the stretch. Tate has pitched at a high level internationally. It’s been fun to see the growth of him. I feel really happy that he’s wearing a Michigan uniform because he’s gonna be a good one to watch that maturation as he goes through your program, but like all hard lessons to learn we’ve still got to make quality pitches to really good hitters. That kid’s pretty special on the other side.”

Coming into Thursday’s game, Tate Carey had pitched in 17 games with six starts. He also threw a no-hitter in a run-rule game against Akron. For the season, he has a 3.35 ERA over 51 innings before play.

Michigan is considered a longshot to make the NCAA Tournament this season. In the latest Field of 64 projections, the Wolverines are listed on the Next Four Out line, meaning Michigan will likely need some help to get into the postseason.