LOS ANGELES — Despite four errors, 10 walks and stranding 15 men on base, the Michigan baseball team (45-20) remained tied with top-ranked…
LOS ANGELES — Despite four errors, 10 walks and stranding 15 men on base, the Michigan baseball team (45-20) remained tied with top-ranked UCLA (52-10) 4-4 in the 12th inning.
It was the Wolverines’ fifth error though, that proved costliest. It ended up representing the winning run.
UCLA’s Kevin Kendall drove in Jake Moberg from first base with an RBI double in the right-center field gap to give the Bruins a 5-4 lead. Moberg had reached base as a result of an error by Wolverine pitcher Walker Cleveland.
Despite a leadoff walk in the bottom half of the inning, Michigan failed to catch the Bruins, losing the game 5-4 and sending the Los Angeles Regional to a deciding Game 3 on Sunday night at 6 p.m. PST. The winner will then advance to Omaha for the College World Series.
After playing from behind most of the game, the Bruins’ offense broke through in the eighth and ninth innings. Michael Toglia hit a solo home run to leftfield to tie the game at 3 — his fourth RBI of the series. Then in the next inning, with two outs and Ryan Kreidler on second base, Chase Strumpf hit a fly ball to leftfield. Michigan left fielder Chase Bullock misplayed it and the ball fell right through his glove, scoring Kreidler and giving the Bruins a 4-3 lead.
