Bats go quiet as Michigan's season ends in Omaha
The first season of the Tracy Smith era in Ann Arbor is now all but finished as the Wolverines were eliminated by the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday morning, 5-0. Michigan couldn't find any offensive momentum as Iowa's Ty Langenberg was nearly unhittable on the mound.
Dual-sport athlete and backup quarterback Brandon Mann got the start on the bump for Michigan. It was Mann's first start of the season, and despite some early nerves, he settled in for a solid outing.
He exited the game in the third inning with no score and the bases loaded. Eamon Horwedel entered the game from the bullpen and limited the damage to just one run.
However, Michigan's offense remained quiet as Langenberg's dominance continued on the mound. He worked his way through the Michigan lineup with ease, and his day came to an end after the seventh inning.
Langenberg gave up just two hits in his seven innings of work, and he struck out nine Michigan batters en route to the win.
For Michigan, the season is almost certainly over. The Wolverines compiled a 28-28 record on the season, and they were ranked No. 119 in college baseball's RPI as of May 26.
All in all, it was a solid season for U-M, which lost not only plenty of production on the field, but it also lost its head coach, Erik Bakich, to Clemson.
Smith's squad struggled to find consistency throughout the 2023 season, but there are a number of young, promising players that Smith can look to build around in years to come. Freshmen Mitch Voit and Jonathan Kim will be two integral players for the Wolverines going forward.
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