Michigan baseball takes down Butler in 13-2 midweek blowout

Entering Tuesday, the Michigan Wolverines baseball team had won back to back midweek games. Against the Butler Bulldogs, they made it three straight.

In an extremely lopsided 13-2 affair, the Wolverines racked up 23 base runners on 13 hits, while their defense held the Bulldogs at bay despite Butler having more than its fair share of runners in scoring position.

Things got off to a hurry for Michigan, as an RBI single from Jonathan Kim drove in Ted Burton on just the second hit of the game. Jack Van Remortel added another run to the Wolverines’ tally in the first inning with an RBI double, driving in Joe Longo.

The Bulldogs looked like they had recovered from the early onslaught, escaping both the second and third innings with the bases loaded and loading the bases themselves in their halves of the fourth and the fifth. Remarkably, Michigan was also able to escape with its 2-0 lead intact in both situations, seemingly pointing to a low scoring day for both sides.

That all changed in Michigan’s half of the fifth inning. With yet another bases loaded situation appearing to be in danger of being for naught, Cody Jeffries blew the floodgates off their hinges — clearing the diamond with a three-RBI double.

Things went from bad to catastrophic for Butler in the next inning, as every Wolverine got up to the plate and they scored a whopping eight runs in the frame, capped off by a two-run bomb over the brick monster by Longo.

Once the rout was in play, head coach Tracy Smith emptied the bench — playing a total of 24 different players, including 18 different position players. Even still, the Bulldogs couldn’t come close to challenging the dominant score, getting just two batters on base in the final three frames.

The blowout victory couldn’t come at a better time for Michigan. After losing their first Big Ten series of the season this past weekend, the Wolverines hope to use Tuesday’s result to get back in the groove of things as they head into a three-game series against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights starting on Friday.