Michigan hockey finished the season well enough to earn a No. 2 in the NCAA Tournament. Their reward — they'll open the NCAA Tournament in Fargo, N.D. with two-time defending National Champion Minnesota-Duluth.

The Wolverines (15-10-1) will play the No. 3 seed Bulldogs (14-10-2) March 26. If they win, they play the winner of AIC and No. 1 North Dakota a day later.

U-M finished 8-3-1 down the stretch to earn its spot with a number of big wins down the stretch. The Wolverines had Minnesota on the ropes, leading 2-0 in the third period of last week's Big Ten Tournament, before goalie Strauss Mann let in a few softies in the third period.

Michigan lost 3-2 but had done enough to earn their spot in the 16-team tournament.

Frosh Thomas Bordeleau notched eight goals and 21 assists in 22 games to lead U-M in scoring this year, while a trio of other freshmen — Kent Johnson (8-17-25), Matt Beniers (10-13-23), and Brendan Brisson (8-11-19) — were the next three. Junior Mann, last year's Big Ten Goaltender of the Year, was still a finalist for the award this year, finishing 10-8-1 with a 1.93 GAA and 93.0 save percentage.

Michigan finished eighth nationally with 3.50 goals for and fifth in goals-against (1.96). They're back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since reaching the 2018 Frozen Four in St. Paul, comes into the tournament with a 15-10-1 record after finishing third in the Big 10 during the regular season and losing in the conference semifinals to Minnesota in overtime last week.

“Speed — they play up and down,” Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin told the Duluth News-Tribune of the Wolverines. “Mel’s teams and Michigan in general has always played with a lot of pace and tempo. They have a lot of high-end talent there.”

The entire draw:

*****

In baseball, Erik Bakich's team stands 9-2 after one of the more improbable and impressive comebacks in program history. The Wolverines stunned Michigan State with eight runs in the bottom of the ninth to pull out an 8-7 victory over the Spartans, capped by Jimmy Obertop's opposite field, two-run walk-off home run.

U-M notched seven of its 10 hits in the final stanza to pull out the win.

Michigan's first five batters first five batters reached base, helping cut the deficit to 7-3. With the bases loaded, Tito Flores doubled with two outs to clear the bases and make it 7-6, setting up Obertop's heroics.

Michigan and Indiana sit atop the conference standings with 9-2 records.

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