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UM baseball cruises 10-5 vs. Bradley in NCAAs opener – Detroit Free Press

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Michigan catcher Kendall Patrick after a win against Bradley in the NCAA regional opener. By Zach Shaw, Special to the Free Press.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In the bottom of the first inning today, the Michigan baseball team looked like a team that hadn’t had a sniff of the postseason in six years.

By the top of the second, the Wolverines (38-23 overall) couldn’t have looked more at home. Led by a two-run home run by senior catcher Kendall Patrick, Michigan used a four-run second inning to cruise to a 10-5 victory over Bradley (35-20) to advance to Saturday’s winner’s bracket.

“It was a good start to the tournament for us,” said Michigan coach Erik Bakich. “We got a quality performance from Matt Ogden, who really settled in after that first inning where the whole team just had some jitters it looked like on those pop-ups and after that just settled the game down. We got some huge hits, including (Patrick)’s five RBI’s, four of which were with two outs so some good timely hits.”

“It was a good team win, we did a good job grinding out at-bats, especially with two outs.”

Patrick, hitting ninth in the lineup, went 3-for-4 with five RBI, leading an offense that tallied 14 hits against four Braves pitchers.

“This is one for the memory bank,” Patrick said. “We just needed to stick to our approach, getting pitches you can drive. We’ve done a nice job of that the second half of the season, and it worked today.”

Before any of those hits, however, the Wolverines looked far from ready. After going hitless in the top of the first, Michigan’s defense struggled to adjust to the winds and lighting of Louisville’s Jim Patterson Stadium. The team dropped two easy outs, and fell behind with an early sacrifice fly.

Focus on ‘today’ leads to turnaround

But just as it has numerous times in recent weeks, the Wolverines’ offense bounced back. Tacking on five hits, two sacrifices and a walk in the second inning. Michigan batted around and quickly took control of the game, providing plenty of insurance runs for junior right-hander Matt Ogden.

Making just his sixth start of the season and first weekend start, Ogden pitched 6.2 innings, allowing just one run on five hits with seven strikeouts — six looking. The junior set career highs in both strikeouts and innings pitched.

“I just got out there and did what I’ve done all year; attack the zone,” Ogden said. “I was just pitching to contact and had this mentality that, even if I was on my ‘C’-game, I could still beat their ‘A’-game.”

Added Bakich: “We knew he was going to be fearless … We felt really confident with him out there — his demeanor his mindset, his confidence level, so it was really a no-brainer.”

At the plate, Michigan added six runs in four other innings. Patrick belted an RBI double, then scored on a sacrifice fly in the fourth, junior infielder Jacob Cronenworth got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the fifth and junior infielder Travis Maezes — whose average had dipped to a career-low .293 in recent weeks — jacked an RBI double to make it 8-1.

Then, just as the game had quieted down in the ninth inning, Patrick belted a two-run home run — his second of the day — to make it 10-1. The Braves added four runs in the bottom of the frame, but by then, the game was well out of reach.

With the win, Michigan advanced to play Saturday at 4 p.m. against the winner of the Louisville-Morehead State game that took place following the Wolverines’ win. Louisville is ranked third in the country and is hosting a regional for the third straight year, while Morehead State leads the nation with a .354 batting average.

Regardless of who the opponent is, the Wolverines, who have won six straight games against teams currently in the NCAA Tournament, will make themselves right at home.

“Coach always preaches that, it’s not the best team that wins, it’s the team that plays the best,” Ogden said. “In our minds it makes sense, and right now we’re playing the best.”