Michigan baseball drops three games in Shriners Classic, Oakland up next

The Michigan Wolverines’ baseball team spent the weekend in Houston, Texas playing three ranked teams — TCU, Texas Tech and Louisville — and things did not go as planned.

The Wolverines played against three very talented teams and were unable to come away with any wins. Here’s how the three contests went.

Game 1: 6-0 L against #10 TCU

Connor O’Halloran got the start on the rubber for Michigan in this one, and he pitched a gem and gave the Wolverines a chance to win.

The game was scoreless before TCU took a 1-0 lead in the 4th. The Wolverines had a great chance to jump out in front when they got the bases loaded with nobody out. But TCU got out of the jam with no damage done.

O’Halloran kept Michigan in the game for a long time, but the offense could never get cooking. TCU only led by one until the 7th inning when it began to pull away. TCU ended up winning, 6-0.

Game 2: 10-7 L against #24 Texas Tech

This was the only game of the weekend the Wolverines’ offense came alive. Unfortunately for Michigan, it happened after Texas Tech had already built an early 5-0 lead.

Ted Burton and Tito Flores came up big with RBI hits to make it 5-3, but Michigan wasn’t able to get any closer than that. Texas Tech stretched the lead all the way up to 10-4 going into the final inning.

To Michigan’s credit, it made things interesting in the 9th and was able to chip away to make it a three-run game, but the comeback fell short. The Red Raiders won, 10-7.

Game 3: 10-0 L against #14 Louisville (7 innings)

The Wolverines fell victim to the new mercy rule in college baseball in this one, as things went south from the start and never got better.

Things were scoreless heading into the 3rd inning, but a six-run frame from the Cardinals put a damper on things.

The Michigan offense could never get going and Louisville was able to defeat the Wolverines, winning 10-0 via the mercy rule. Michigan’s record on the season is now 4-7 after the tough weekend.

What’s next

Michigan needs to put this past weekend behind it and shift focus to this week’s home opener against Oakland.

The Big Ten season is right around the corner, and the Wolverines need to get some momentum heading into the bulk of the schedule.

Michigan vs. Oakland will take place at Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.