Jesse Franklin handed teammate Tommy Henry everything he needed, on the second pitch of the game.
Michigan’s sophomore outfielder redirected an offering by Florida State’s CJ Van Eyk into the right field stands like Franklin had carried a rocket launcher to the plate instead of a bat.
Game over, given the masterpiece that followed.
Henry, the junior lefty who ignored pneumonia to pitch Michigan into the NCAA College World Series days earlier, chopped Florida State’s Seminoles into irrelevance. Henry’s brilliant three-hit, complete-game, 2-0 shutout has the Wolverines one win away from a best-of-three showdown for the NCAA championship.
How big was this stage? Consider this: Michigan hasn’t been on it since 1984. How huge was it to see Henry step up and deliver donuts like the finest bakery in Omaha?
Historic … and how.
The Wolverines hadn’t experienced a complete-game shutout in the World Series since Steve Howe pulled it off in 1978, a generation before this present crew arrived on the planet.
Henry left no doubt, either. He dazzled the Seminoles while never overpowering them. He worked the corners, set hitters up, and over and over left them flailing at air in crucial situations.
Legendary FSU coach Mike Martin — set to retire after 40 years at the helm — heaped praise on Henry and the Wolverines. No excuses, no million reasons why his team lost. Just a refreshing grace, when asked if this simply involved a time to give the other pitcher a nod.
“Absolutely,” Martin said. “And don’t forget, they really played beautiful defense, also. It was a game that was extremely well played. We made a couple of mistakes … but at the same time, it was just a game that the University of Michigan played a beautiful game of baseball.”
The Wolverines added an insurance run on senior outfielder Jimmy Kerr’s clutch, two-out base hit in the fifth. But the way Henry kept on hurling, it was overkill.
“I kept going, dadgum, they keep getting the big, two-out [hit],” Martin said. “We need us a two-out hit. Tip your cap to them.”
Henry kept Florida State dadgummed up. One-hundred bewitching pitches included no combination that allowed a free pass. Those same pitches allowed Henry to blow by Michigan’s single-season strikeout record.
He fanned 10 FSU hitters, racing by the old record of Oliver Jaskie and Jim Burton (119) to stand at 127 by game’s end.
“That’s a pitcher’s job,” Henry told MGoBlue.com afterward. “We go out there and try to throw up enough zeroes, and the offense can score enough runs, and we win baseball games. That’s a pitcher’s job, whether we win 9-8, or 1-0.”
The Wolverines weren’t going to win 9-8 this night. No chance. Three FSU pitchers combined to hang 17 strikeouts on a strong-hitting Michigan team.
No, they weren’t going to smash their way past the Seminoles. They needed a horse to ride.
Henry gave them Secretariat.
“Our guys played with a lot of enthusiasm,” Martin said, dismissing any talk of a letdown from a previous big win. “There were a lot of guys that were frustrated, but that’s the way this game is. It can frustrate you. You just have to be mentally tough to play it.”
The national spotlight shined on Henry’s mental toughness in recent days. His illness-weakened seven-inning effort against UCLA shoved the Wolverines into the World Series in the first place.
He’s now 11-5, having just tucked away the biggest win of his career.
“He’s a guy that, if he can execute his fastball down early in the count, then we can start elevating the breaking stuff right off of it,” Michigan pitching coach Chris Fetter told the U-M website. “He was able to do it masterfully.”
Michigan head coach Erik Bakich reached back a generation in praising Henry’s character, saluting the parents that produced him. Bakich witnessed it for three years. He’s glad the nation caught a glimpse.
“I couldn’t be happier for him, to shine, on this stage, the way he did tonight,” Bakich said. “He’s incredibly deserving.”
“That was about as gutty a performance as he’s had, last week,” Fetter added, harkening back to the win over No. 1-seed UCLA. “For him to back that up with probably one of his best games as a Michigan Wolverine tonight, on the biggest stage, is something pretty special.”
What’s special to Henry is his team remaining alive, and very much so, in the tournament. The Wolverines get to rest up for a game Friday, and stand just three victories away from a national championship.
“Tonight was a fun one, for sure,” Henry said. “But really, the W is all that matters.”
He and the Wolverines delivered it like a knockout blow on the way to a title bout. If they keep playing like this, they'll be in one.
