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Erik Bakich confident Michigan can bounce back after Game 2 loss to Vanderbilt
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Wednesday night presents a winner-take-all showdown. The College World Series championship has been dwindled down to a one-game series.
Vanderbilt handed Michigan a 4-1 loss in Game 2 of the championship series on Tuesday night, the Wolverines’ first defeat since arriving in Omaha. The Commodore victory tied the best-of-three series at 1-1, making Wednesday night’s clash the deciding game.
Michigan struggled to get the bats going on Tuesday night, thanks to a lights out performance from Vandy pitcher Kumar Rockman. That offensive silence could be troubling for some coaches, but Erik Bakich is confident that his team will respond in Game 3.
“Just confident that we’ve been in this position so many times,” Bakich said after the loss. “A month ago we were staring down our season being over. We had an elimination game in a Regional. Had an elimination game in the Super Regional. It only seems fitting that we have an elimination game and this World Series goes to Game 3.”
The Wolverines have enjoyed plenty of success since arriving in Omaha, thanks to the strong arms of Tommy Henry and Jeff Criswell, as well as solid offensive production from Jimmy Kerr, Jesse Franklin and company. That wasn’t the case on Tuesday night, though.
Now, Michigan has its back against the wall for the third time this postseason, but this time a national championship hangs in the balance. Even given the circumstances, Bakich believes his team is prepared for the moment.
“All those repetitions of that adversity and being these tight moments, it’s calloused our minds to where I don’t think our guys are freaking out about it at all,” he said. “I think they’re probably excited and expecting the storyline of team 15 is that it’s going to go down to three games, because, why not?”
Michigan and Vanderbilt will square off in the deciding Game 3 tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB