2019 Michigan Wolverines baseball team explained

The 2019 Michigan Wolverines baseball team represented the University of Michigan in the 2019 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Wolverines, led by head coach Erik Bakich in his seventh season, were a member of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Wilpon Baseball Complex in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Wolverines finished the season with a 50–22 record, including 16–7 in conference play, marking their first 50 win season since 1987.^[1]

The Wolverines received an at-large bid to the 2019 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. They defeated Creighton in the regional finals and UCLA in the super regionals to advance to the College World Series for the first time since 1984.^[2] They became the first Big Ten Conference team to advance to the College World Series since Indiana in 2013, and the first Big Ten Conference team to advance to the championship round in the College World Series since Ohio State in 1966.^[3]

Previous season

The Wolverines finished the 2018 NCAA Division I baseball season 33–21 overall, including 15–8 in conference play, finishing in third place in their conference. Following the conclusion of the regular season, the Wolverines qualified to play in the 2018 Big Ten Conference baseball tournament. The Wolverines would eventually lose in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament to Ohio State by a score of 3–5.^[4]

Preseason

Michigan was the only Big Ten Conference team to appear in every national preseason top-25 ranking.^[5] The Wolverines were ranked No. 17 by D1Baseball, No. 20 by Baseball America, No. 23 by NCBWA and No. 25 by ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll in their respective preseason polls.^{[6] [7] [8] [9]}

Schedule

2019 Michigan Wolverines baseball game log
Regular season (38–16)
February (6–0) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record B1G Record 1 February 15 vs No. 17 First Data Field Port St. Lucie, Florida, 10–0 Henry (1–0) Gallagher (0–1) — 375 1–0 – 2 February 16 vs Binghamton No. 17 First Data Field Port St. Lucie, Florida 5–4 Kauffmann (1–0) Miller (0–1) Weiss (1) 325 2–0 – 3 February 17 vs Binghamton No. 17 First Data Field Port St. Lucie, Florida 12–2 Criswell (1–0) VanScoter (0–1) — 325 3–0 – 4 February 22 No. 17 Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park Charleston, South Carolina, 2–0 Henry (2–0) Merritt (0–2) — 358 4–0 – 5 February 23 at The Citadel No. 17 Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park Charleston, South Carolina 9–1 Kauffmann (2–0) Connolly (1–1) — 622 5–0 – 6 February 24 at The Citadel No. 17 Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park Charleston, South Carolina 6–3 Weiss (1–0) Spence (1–1) Keizer (1) 278 6–0 –
March (13–7) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record B1G Record 7 March 1 No. 17 2–1 Henry (3–0) Armstrong (0–1) Weiss (2) 346 7–0 – — March 2 at CSUN Postponed 8 March 3 at CSUN No. 17 Matador Field Northridge, California 4–2 Kauffmann (3–0) Moore (1–1) Weiss (3) 394 8–0 – 9 March 3 at CSUN No. 17 Matador Field Northridge, California 2–5 Nunez (3–0) Criswell (1–1) Schriever (3) 394 8–1 – 10 March 5 No. 16 7–8 Pacheco (1–1) Beers (0–1) Spacke (1) 1,007 8–2 – 11 March 8 No. 16 7–5 Henry (4–0) Pettway (0–1) Weiss (4) 1,271 9–2 – 12 March 9 No. 16 Dedeaux Field Los Angeles, California 1–4 Esqueda (1–0) Kauffmann (3–1) Lunn (1) 658 9–3 – 13 March 10 No. 16 Dodger Stadium Los Angeles, California 2–3 (10) Basso (1–0) Weiss (1–1) Leeper (3) — 9–4 – 14 March 14 Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan, 5–1 Henry (5–0) Takacs (0–4) — 215 10–4 – 15 March 15 Manhattan Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 23–2 Kauffmann (4–1) Galvan (0–3) — 352 11–4 – 16 March 16 Manhattan Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 16–7 Keizer (1–0) Cain (2–1) Weiss (5) 379 12–4 – 17 March 17 Manhattan Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 4–0 (7) Paige (1–0) Stuart (1–2) — 387 13–4 – 18 March 19 No. 24 Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 12–5 Cleveland (1–0) Mullen (1–3) — 446 14–4 – 19 March 21 No. 24 Dan Law Field Lubbock, Texas, 2–11 Dallas (2–0) Henry (5–1) — 3,334 14–5 – 20 March 22 at #19 Texas Tech No. 24 Dan Law Field Lubbock, Texas 3–10 Kilian (2–2) Kauffmann (4–2) — 3,302 14–6 – 21 March 23 at #19 Texas Tech No. 24 Dan Law Field Lubbock, Texas 5–8 Freeman (2–0) Cleveland (1–1) Beeter (4) 4,432 14–7 – 22 March 23 No. 24 Dan Law Field Lubbock, Texas 16–6 Paige (2–0) Peto (0–4) — 4,432 15–7 – 23 March 27 Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 1–0 (7) Cleveland (2–1) Polack (1–1) Kauffmann (1) — 16–7 – 24 March 27 Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 3–0 (7) Smith (1–0) Konishi (0–2) Weiss (6) — 17–7 – 25 March 29 Drayton McLane Stadium East Lansing, Michigan, 6–3 Henry (6–1) Erla (1–5) — 1,318 18–7 1–0 26 March 30 Michigan State Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 16–2 Kauffmann (5–2) Tyranski (0–5) — 1,115 19–7 2–0 — March 31 at Michigan State Postponed
April (12–4) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record B1G Record 27 April 3 Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 8–2 Cleveland (2–1) McAtee (0–1) — 617 20–7 – 28 April 5 Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 4–6 Meyer (3–1) Henry (6–2) Schulze (4) 703 20–8 2–1 29 April 6 Minnesota Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 5–3 Weiss (2–1) Duffy (0–1) — 1,168 21–8 3–1 30 April 7 Minnesota Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 8–0 Criswell (2–1) Culliver (2–2) — 1,037 22–8 4–1 31 April 9 Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 7–8 (10) Ward (3–1) Weiss (2–2) Grauer (6) 442 22–9 – 32 April 10 Indiana State Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 6–4 (6) Weisenburger (1–0) Klein (0–1) — 369 23–9 – 33 April 12 Bill Davis Stadium Columbus, Ohio, 5–10 Burhenn (5–1) Henry (6–3) — 1,815 23–10 4–2 34 April 13 at Ohio State Bill Davis Stadium Columbus, Ohio 4–10 Lonsway (5–3) Kauffmann (5–3) Pfennig (2) 5,280 23–11 4–3 35 April 13 at Ohio State Bill Davis Stadium Columbus, Ohio 3–2 Criswell (3–1) Smith (3–2) — 5,280 24–11 5–3 36 April 13 Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 10–5 Cleveland (3–1) Egnor (0–3) — 478 25–11 – — April 19 Postponed 37 April 20 Northwestern Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 4–1 Kauffmann (6–3) Lavelle (3–5) Weiss (7) 950 26–11 6–3 38 April 21 Northwestern Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 3–2 Keizer (2–0) Bader (1–3) Weiss (8) 1,134 27–11 7–3 39 April 21 Northwestern Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 10–1 Criswell (4–1) D'Alise (0–1) — 1,134 28–11 8–3 40 April 26 Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 8–3 Kauffmann (7–3) Rutkowski (2–4) — 981 29–11 9–3 41 April 27 Rutgers Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 10–1 Henry (7–3) Genuario (2–4) — 751 30–11 10–3 42 April 28 Rutgers Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 4–1 (10) Keizer (3–0) Brito (3–4) — 823 31–11 11–3
May (7–5) Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record B1G Record 43 May 3 10–7 Kauffmann (8–3) Parsons (8–3) Weiss (9) 633 32–11 12–3 44 May 4 at Maryland Shipley Field College Park, Maryland 10–4 Henry (8–3) Thompson (2–5) — 817 33–11 13–3 45 May 5 at Maryland Shipley Field College Park, Maryland 13–1 Criswell (5–1) LaBonte (1–6) — 185 34–11 14–3 46 May 7 Michigan State Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 7–0 Keizer (4–0) Olson (0–4) — 1,027 35–11 – 47 May 8 Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 10–1 Cleveland (4–1) Koons (0–1) — 904 36–11 – 48 May 10 Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 4–10 Milto (7–5) Kauffmann (8–4) — 1,418 36–12 14–4 49 May 11 Indiana Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 8–10 Gordon (5–4) Henry (8–4) Lloyd (5) 1,540 36–13 14–5 50 May 12 Indiana Ray Fisher Stadium Ann Arbor, Michigan 6–5 (11) Paige (4–0) Sloan (2–3) — 945 37–13 15–5 51 May 14 Kentucky Proud Park Lexington, Kentucky, 4–7 Ramsey (4–6) Cleveland (4–2) Coleman (5) 3,224 37–14 – 52 May 16 Hawks Field Lincoln, Nebraska, 2–5 Palkert (4–3) Kauffmann (8–5) Gomes (11) 4,724 37–15 15–6 53 May 17 at Nebraska Hawks Field Lincoln, Nebraska 0–7 Fisher (6–3) Henry (8–5) — — 37–16 15–7 54 May 17 at Nebraska Hawks Field Lincoln, Nebraska 10–8 Criswell (6–1) Schanaman (1–2) Weisenburger (1) 6,888 38–16 16–7
Postseason (12–6)
Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record B1GT Record 55 May 22 vs. Ohio State TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Nebraska, 1–2 Pfennig (2–3) Kauffmann (8–6) Magno (11) — 38–17 0–1 56 May 23 TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 5–4 Weisenburger (2–0) Acton (2–3) — — 39–17 1–1 57 May 24 vs. Maryland TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 10–4 Henry (9–5) Blohm (1–2) — — 40–17 2–1 58 May 25 vs. Nebraska TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 18–8 Weisenburger (3–0) Eddins (6–3) Beers (1) — 41–17 3–1 59 May 25 vs. Nebraska TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 3–7 Palkert (5–3) Keizer (4–1) Gomes (12) 11,038 41–18 3–2
Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record Regional Record 60 May 31 6–0 Kauffmann (9–6) Ragan (8–3) — 3,122 42–18 1–0 61 June 1 Goss Stadium Corvallis, Oregon 10–4 Criswell (7–1) Murray (3–2) — 3,092 43–18 2–1 62 June 2 vs. No. 22 Creighton Goss Stadium Corvallis, Oregon 7–11 Kametas (3–0) Weisenburger (3–1) — 3,078 43–19 2–1 63 June 3 vs. No. 22 Creighton Goss Stadium Corvallis, Oregon 17–6 Beers (1–1) Sakowski (7–1) — 3,058 44–19 3–1
Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record Record 64 June 7 vs. No. 1 (1) UCLA Jackie Robinson Stadium Los Angeles, California 3–2 Kauffmann (10–6) Garcia (10–1) Criswell (1) 1,904 45–19 1–0 65 June 8 vs. No. 1 (1) UCLA Jackie Robinson Stadium Los Angeles, California 4–5 (12) Powell (4–3) Cleveland (4–3) — 1,967 45–20 1–1 66 June 9 vs. No. 1 (1) UCLA Jackie Robinson Stadium Los Angeles, California 4–2 Henry (10–5) Mora (3–3) Keizer (2) 2,031 46–20 2–1
Date Opponent Rank Stadium Site Score Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record CWS Record 67 June 15 TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Nebraska, 5–3 Kauffmann (11–6) Dallas (7–1) Criswell (2) 24,148 47–20 1–0 68 June 17 TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 2–0 Henry (11–5) Van Eyk (10–4) — 23,541 48–20 2–0 69 June 21 vs. No. 8 Texas Tech TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 15–3 Kauffmann (12–6) Dallas (7–2) Criswell (3) 20,944 49–20 3–0 70 June 24 TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 7–4 Henry (12–5) Fellows (13–2) Criswell (4) 24,707 50–20 4–0 71 June 25 vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 1–4 Rocker (12–5) Paige (4–1) — 25,017 50–21 4–1 72 June 26 vs. No. 2 Vanderbilt TD Ameritrade Park Omaha Omaha, Nebraska 2–8 Hickman (9–0) Kauffmann (12–7) Eder (4) 20,007 50–22 4–2

Rankings

See main article: 2019 NCAA Division I baseball rankings.

Awards and honors

Weekly Awards

Player	Award	Date awarded	Ref.
Tommy Henry	Big Ten Pitcher of the Week NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week	February 25, 2019	[10] [11]
Tommy Henry	Big Ten Pitcher of the Week	March 4, 2019	[12]
Karl Kauffmann	Big Ten Pitcher of the Week	April 29, 2019	[13]

Individual Awards

Player	Award	Ref.
Jordan Brewer	Big Ten Player of the Year	[14]
Erik Bakich	NCBWA National Coach of the Year	[15]

All-Big Ten

Player	Selection	Ref.
Jordan Brewer	First Team
Jeff Criswell	First Team
Jordan Nwogu	First Team
Jack Blomgren	Second Team
Joe Donovan	Third Team
Jimmy Kerr	Third Team
Jesse Franklin	Third Team
Karl Kauffmann	Third Team
Willie Weiss	Freshman Team

All-American

Player	Selection	Ref.
Jordan Brewer	Third Team	[16]
Karl Kauffmann	Third Team
Willie Weiss	Freshman Team
Tommy Henry	Honorable Mention

Major League Baseball Draft

The following Wolverines were selected in the 2019 Major League Baseball draft:^[17]

List of Drafted Players
Name	2019 Class	Pos.	Team	Overall
	Junior	LHP		74th
	Junior	RHP		77th
	Junior	OF		106th
Jack Weisenburger	Junior	RHP		614th
Jimmy Kerr	Senior	INF		982nd

Notes and References

1. Web site: Michigan's CWS Journey Ends With Runner-up Finish After Loss to Vanderbilt . . MGoBlue.com . Katie Gwinn . Hewitt . June 26, 2019 . June 26, 2019.
2. Web site: Michigan outlasts UCLA, 4-2, advances to first College World Series since 1984 . Detroit Free Press . June 10, 2019 . June 10, 2019.
3. Web site: Michigan’s College World Series appearance ‘a long time coming,’ coach says . Ryan . Zuke . MLive Media Group . MLive.com . June 11, 2019 . June 15, 2019.
4. Web site: Big Ten Tournament: Michigan baseball eliminated by Ohio State . Ryan . Zuke . MLive Media Group . MLive.com . May 26, 2018 . June 10, 2019.
5. Web site: Michigan Picked to Finish Second in Big Ten Preseason Poll . . MGoBlue.com. Kurt . Svoboda . February 13, 2019 . June 10, 2019.
6. Web site: Baseball Coaches Poll. USA Today. January 24, 2019. June 10, 2019.
7. Web site: College Top 25. May 26, 2019. Baseball America. June 10, 2019.
8. Web site: 2019 D1Baseball Preseason Top 25. d1baseball.com. D1Baseball. January 14, 2019. June 10, 2019.
9. Web site: Vanderbilt Tops 2019 Preseason NCBWA Poll. SportsWriters.net. National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. February 4, 2018. June 10, 2019.
10. Web site: Maryland and Michigan Earn Baseball Weekly Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20190626032324/https://bigten.org/news/2019/2/25/maryland-and-michigan-earn-baseball-weekly-honors.aspx . dead . June 26, 2019 . . BigTen.org . February 25, 2019 . June 15, 2019.
11. Web site: NCBWA Names Division I National Players of the Week . sportswriters.net . February 25, 2019 . June 15, 2019.
12. Web site: Indiana, Michigan and Nebraska Earn Baseball Weekly Honors . https://web.archive.org/web/20200913004448/https://bigten.org/news/2019/3/4/indiana-michigan-and-nebraska-earn-baseball-weekly-honors.aspx . dead . September 13, 2020 . . BigTen.org . March 4, 2019 . June 15, 2019.
13. Web site: Iowa and Michigan Claim Baseball Weekly Accolades . https://web.archive.org/web/20190626032242/https://bigten.org/news/2019/4/29/iowa-and-michigan-claim-baseball-weekly-accolades.aspx . dead . June 26, 2019 . . BigTen.org . April 29, 2019 . June 15, 2019.
14. Web site: Brewer Named Player of the Year; Nine Wolverines Earn All-Big Ten Honors . . MGoBlue.com . Kurt . Svoboda . May 21, 2019 . June 15, 2019.
15. Web site: Bakich Named NCBWA National Coach of the Year . . MGoBlue.com . Kurt . Svoboda . June 15, 2019 . June 15, 2019.
16. Web site: Awards & Honors: Five Wolverines Garner All-America, Region Accolades . . MGoBlue.com . Kurt . Svoboda . June 13, 2019 . June 13, 2019.
17. Web site: Weisenburger, Kerr Selected on Day Three of MLB Draft . . MGoBlue.com. Katie Gwinn . Hewitt . June 5, 2019 . June 10, 2019.