OMAHA, Neb. — Michigan head coach Erik Bakich went with his pitcher-by-committee approach in Tuesday night's 4-1 loss to Vanderbilt, with mixed results. Starter Isaiah Page was very good, pitching 4 1/3 innings and allowing only one charged run (unearned), but two wild pitches from Jack Weisenburger gave the Commodores two costly runs in defeat.
Paige said he was surprised to get the nod, learning at breakfast he'd get the ball. Bakich said he had complete faith in his redshirt freshman.
"We had a lot of confidence in Isaiah Paige," Bakich said. "It wasn't just a random [thing] — his numbers are good, and he fills up the strike zone with three pitches. He did a nice job tonight."
The impetus for the decision to start Paige was more the desire to have Jeff Criswell out of the pen in an extended role, he added. If they had gotten any kind of a lead in the middle innings, Criswell would have gotten the nod.
"Instead of extending him in the start like we did at UCLA a couple of weeks ago coming off of pitching an inning the night before, we felt like he would better serve our team finishing the game off," Bakich said. "So there was a lot of deliberation, but at the end of the day, it just kind of got to a point where we said, 'this really is a no-brainer. We need Jeff at the back end of the game.'
It didn't work because U-M never got the lead, but Paige was outstanding. He mixed up his speeds and kept the Vanderbilt batters off balance.
"For a redshirt freshman to go in there in that stage and fill up the strike zone with three pitches and show a lot of poise and command, I thought he did a nice job," Bakich said.
Nwogu Doubtful With Quad Strain
DH Jordan Nwogu was thrown out early on a ground ball to third that had been bobbled, but he might have been safe had he not pulled up lame. He was replaced by Dominic Clementi, who struck out twice in two at-bats.
"Nwogu felt his quad pull when he was running, and it was tough for him to put pressure on it, and the doc that evaluated him said he had a quad strain," Bakich reported. "I would guess with the way he was coming off the field, that would be a tough assignment to be ready to go in 24 hours.
"But, you know, we've been in this position multiple times in the year. Nwogu has been out, [Jesse] Franklin has been out, [Jordan] Brewer has been out. So we've had a lot of guys step up and get opportunities."
Clementi could go again tomorrow, but whoever gets the assignment will likely bat ninth with everyone else in the lineup moving up a spot.
"I'm probably leaning towards a guy like Riley Bertram who's been a spark throughout this postseason," Bakich said. "A guy like Miles Lewis could do it and has done it all year. He's got 200-something at-bats and 16 doubles and had a lot of clutch hits.
"I think what we'll do is watch a lot of film tonight and tomorrow and just see the matchup with [Vanderbilt pitcher] Mason Hickman and what seems to fit best, whether it's a right-hander like Miles Lewis or switch-hitter like Bertram or just a left-hander like Dominic and make a decision between one of those three guys."
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