The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/480355
and being outside, being able to get on a field and play live competition to evaluate and truly know what our team consists of, what nine guys give us the best chance to win as many games as possible." There's plenty to like about this crew of Wolverines, regardless of the early challenges — including a physi- cally and mentally taxing eight out of nine weekends on the road in the opening portion of the schedule. They batted .302 as a team through March 15. They also fielded at a .970 clip and recorded a team ERA of 3.32. "We're a team that's capable of put- ting up a big inning anytime, even with two out," Bakich said. "We've shown that multiple times this sea- son. Our offense is dangerous. We've got a tough lineup to get through, one through nine. "Defensively, we've played very fundamentally sound. On the mound, we're young and we're talented. All of those areas look like strengths on paper." Now, Bakich noted, it's a matter of doing what situations call for in order to get over the top. He's expecting some hard knocks in the early portion of the schedule to pay off in the Big Ten season to come. "The one thing we've got to do is put teams away, to get timely hits," he said. "When you play in a good conference — and this year, the Big Ten is the best baseball conference it has ever been — the outcome of a lot of these games coming up are three to five pitches or plays throughout the entire game. "It's one pitch, one swing, one play. We've got to win all of those pitches. It's win the next pitch." Bakich insists he likes the leader- ship and chemistry on the team, de- spite the fact that Michigan is playing Senior outfielder Jackson Glines was hitting a team-best .475 with 14 runs scored and nine RBI through 19 games. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS