Michigan baseball falls to Iowa, needs two wins Sunday for title

Michigan baseball team had been on a tear at at the plate the first few games of the Big Ten Tournament. That came to a halt Saturday night in Omaha, Nebraska when Iowa pitchers held them to three runs in a 7-3 victory over the Wolverines.

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Michigan banged out 10 hits but never led in the contest, one that sets up a rematch between the two teams Sunday at 2:00 (eastern time). The winner will face Rutgers, a run-rule winner over Indiana Saturday, for the Big Ten Tournament title.

The winner of that game gets the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan and Iowa went scoreless for the first four innings, but the Wolverines had their chances. They loaded the bases in the first inning, but failed to score. They left three more in scoring position in the second inning on the way to a 1-for-18 showing for the game.

The Wolverines went only 3-for-23 with men on base, the difference in the game.

Iowa took the lead in the fifth inning against starter Chase Allen, who pitched well. He gave up only two hits and three walks and one unearned run in his five innings.

The Hawkeyes put up two more runs in the sixth against Noah Rennard. He gave up a two-run triple, and Iowa had a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth.

That’s when the Michigan bats finally came alive. Matt Frey and Jimmy Obertop singled to open the inning, and Ted Burton walked to load the bases. Jordon Rogers pinch hit and hit a soft line drive to right to drive in two runs.

Burton, though, was cut down at the plate trying to score the tying run.

The Michigan momentum was short-lived. Iowa scored four runs on four singles and two hit batters to go up by five. U-M picked up a home run from Obertop in the eighth, but stranded two more runners with three straight strikeouts.

Michigan fell to 30-26 overall with the loss. They Wolverines will need to improve to 32-26 today to keep their season alive.