Despite a rocky start to the season, the Michigan baseball team will have a shot to make the NCAA Tournament this week in Omaha.
Despite a rocky start to the season, the Michigan baseball team will have a shot to make the NCAA Tournament this week in Omaha.
The Wolverines, who recovered from a 7-15 start to end the regular season with a 30-26 record, will play in the 2024 Big Ten Baseball Tournament as the fourth seed. Michigan will open the week against 5-seed Iowa on Wednesday at 2 p.m. CT.
Though the Wolverines are a 4-seed in the tournament, the top half of the league was especially close this year, with the Wolverines still in contention for the conference title heading into the last weekend of the season. Michigan and Iowa both had 14-10 conference records, but were two games behind second-seeded Nebraska (16-8) and only two games ahead of eighth-seeded Penn State (12-12). Illinois won the conference with an 18–6 record.
The Big Ten Tournament, which follows a double-elimination format until the championship game, is scheduled for May 21-26 at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Neb. The winner earns an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, and the Big Ten Network will broadcast every game of the tournament.
Should Michigan win, it will face the winner of Illinois-Penn State Thursday at 6 p.m. CT. Should the Wolverines lose, they would face the loser of the Illinois-Penn State game Thursday at 10 a.m. CT. A full bracket can be found here.
Michigan won its regular-season series with the Hawkeyes, taking two of three against Iowa in Iowa City. The Wolverines lost their opener in the series, 3-2, in 10 innings, before outscoring the Hawkeyes, 14-9, in a doubleheader April 6.
In terms of the stakes, Michigan and Iowa are respectively No. 87 and No. 95 in the RPI, and need to win the Big Ten Tournament to make the NCAA Tournament. Michigan, who is tied for the league lead with 10 all-time Big Ten Tournament wins, has won the Big Ten Tournament twice in the last 15 years, in 2022 and 2015, while Iowa has won the event once, in 2017.
Statistically, the Wolverines will need a stronger-than-usual week at the plate to make a tournament run. In league play, Michigan ranks 12th out of 13 teams in batting average (.252), ninth in on-base percentage (.373) and eighth in slugging percentage (.436) and OPS (.809). The Wolverines finished ninth in the league with 6.08 runs per game. Notably, Michigan leads the Big Ten in drawn walks per game (5.3), but also averages more than a strikeout per game (9.5) than any other team.
On the mound, Michigan has fared better, particularly in Big Ten games. The Wolverines are second in the league with a 5.11 earned-run average, despite ranking 13th in strikeouts per nine innings, sixth in WHIP (1.52).
Wednesday’s matchup will likely pit Michigan against one of the league’s best ace pitchers. Iowa ace Brody Brecht (4-3, 3.55 ERA) leads all Big Ten pitchers with 118 strikeouts this season, 27 more than any other pitcher, and has a staggering 15.0 strikeouts per nine innings in 71 innings pitched this year. The junior is viewed as the No. 28 prospect in MLB.com’s ranking of top MLB Draft prospects.
Michigan has gone with Kurt Barr in its series-opening games as of late. The sophomore is 5-3 on the year, but is fifth among Big Ten pitchers with a 3.52 ERA and 10th with a WHIP of 1.26.
