Highlights & Recap: Michigan Baseball Drops Two Of Three Versus Maryland

No. 24-ranked Michigan Wolverines baseball dropped two of three to the Maryland Terrapins during the Big Ten season's penultimate weekend, with its Big Ten title hopes now gone. The Maize and Blue conclude the regular season with a pivotal three-game set at Nebraska, the Big Ten champions, next week.

Here is a recap of how the weekend unfolded on the diamond.

RELATED: Michigan Wolverines Football Musings: Five Thoughts Heading Into Summer

RELATED: Seven Michigan Players Land On Athlon Sports' Preseason All-Big Ten Teams

Maryland scored two runs in the third inning, three in the fifth and one in the sixth, while Michigan was held scoreless, and the Wolverines looked all but dead heading into the seventh frame.

The Maize and Blue then rattled off eight-straight runs of their own, tying the game in the bottom of the ninth and sending the game into extra innings. Sophomore DH Joey Velazquez — also a Michigan football linebacker — was huge in the comeback, notching a pinch-hit RBI single in the seventh and a two-run, game-tying single on a 10-pitch at-bat in the ninth.

Michigan failed to score in extra innings, while Maryland scored three runs in the 11th inning, going on to win, 11-8.

Michigan redshirt sophomore lefty ace Steven Hajjar pitched the first five innings, yielding five hits and two unearned runs. The Wolverines out-hit Maryland, 15-1, but it wasn't enough to pull out the victory.

Box Score

Michigan carried its Friday night late-game momentum into Saturday, with the Wolverines

Velazquez stayed hot, putting Michigan on the board in the second inning with a two-run double as part of a three-run frame.

Sophomore infielder Ted Burton's three-run bomb over the left-field wall in the fourth inning gave the Wolverines a 9-0 edge. He went 3-for-4 on the day with four RBI — including a RBI double in the sixth inning — and three runs scored.

Fifth-year senior shortstop Benjamin Sems drilled a three-run homer of his own in the seven inning to give the Wolverines 14 runs for the game, after Maryland scored on a three-run homer in the sixth — the Terrapins' only runs of the game.

While earning the win, sophomore righty starter Cameron Weston cruised through 5.1 innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run. Redshirt junior lefty Ben Dragani relieved him and finished out the game, yielding three runs on three hits.

Michigan posted 14 hits to Maryland's six in the rout.

Box Score

Two first-inning home runs — a two-run bomb and a solo shot — got Maryland off to a 3-0 start in Sunday's rubber match in Ann Arbor that was moved up to 11 a.m. due to weather conditions set to hit the area later in the day.

Michigan battled back, with left fielder Tito Flores skying a three-run homer to left field to tie the game.

But those would serve as the Wolverines' only runs of the game, and sophomore left-hander Jacob Denner, Michigan's starter for game three, struggled. He gave up four earned runs on five hits in 2.1 innings, before being pulled in favor of right-handed senior Blake Beers, who allowed three runs of his own in the third.

Freshman lefty Logan Wood, fifth-year senior righty Joe Pace and junior righty Willie Weiss finished things off on the mound for Michigan, not allowing any runs in the game's final six innings. But the bats didn't produce enough, and the Wolverines dropped the game, 7-3.

Box Score

---

• Talk about this article inside The Fort

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine

• Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett

• Like us on Facebook