No. 10 Notre Dame-Michigan baseball preview: A Q&A with The Wolverine

No. 10 Notre Dame (20-5, 8-4 ACC) welcomes non-conference foe Michigan (17-14, 3-3 Big Ten) to Frank Eck Stadium on Tuesday afternoon, but there is no shortage of familiarity between the Irish and Wolverine fan bases.

Freshman Jack Findlay (3-0, 0.73 ERA) will make his fourth start and sixth appearance this year for the Irish, while Michigan’s starting pitcher will be senior Walker Cleveland (1-2, 7.65). It will be a matchup of two left-handed pitchers.

Notably, the Irish are seeking their ninth consecutive win, and Notre Dame head coach Link Jarrett has never lost a mid-week contest while at the helm in South Bend. The traditional rivals will square off at 5:30 p.m. ET on ACCNX.

In place of our normal game preview, BlueandGold.com spoke with Clayton Sayfie of The Wolverine to learn more about the Michigan baseball team.

Like many teams, Michigan has the reliable guys with high averages and the power hitters. Who would you say is the best in both categories?

“It all starts with leadoff man and outfielder Clark Elliott. The junior leads Michigan with a .339 average, .449 OPS and .449 on-base percentage. He recently reached base in all five of his plate appearances in game two of Michigan’s sweep of Cal State Fullerton over the weekend. He’s just hard to keep off the base paths, and he’s scored a team-best 31 runs.

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“Fellow outfielder and No. 2 hitter Joe Stewart has the most hits on the team (42) and touts a .321 average, while the team’s top power hitters are second baseman Ted Burton and DH/infielder Tito Flores. Those two have combined for 65 RBI and 15 home runs. Flores is especially hot and cold, but he can really get going. He’s posted 11 hitless games but also an identical number of contests with two or more pokes.” 

What are Michigan’s notable weaknesses?

“Michigan’s glaring weakness is its inconsistency, especially on the mound. The Wolverines have gotten great starts from sophomore lefty Connor O’Halloran, with Michigan winning three out of his last four outings. The problem is, he won’t be on the mound Tuesday, and the rest of the staff has struggled. 

“Right-handed junior reliever Noah Rennard has been stellar, but he and sophomore righty Chase Allen have been the team’s two only reliable arms out of the bullpen. The Wolverines are ninth in the Big Ten with a 5.68 ERA and have given up the most total hits (311), doubles (76) and triples (14) in the league.”

Michigan is one of the better fielding teams in the Big Ten. Who are the best defenders?

“Michigan’s top fielder, in our eyes, is senior shortstop Riley Bertram, who can make sparkling plays on the diamond and ranks third in the Big Ten with 78 assists (though he has committed the most errors on the squad with six). He made a nifty play to turn two and strand the bases loaded against Cal State Fullerton last Saturday. Second baseman Burton has also been steady, with a .984 fielding percentage on 128 balls hit his way.”

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After getting a win in his first start, Cleveland lost two straight to Xavier and Purdue Fort Wayne. Are there any similarities or trends from those games that Notre Dame might be able to exploit?

“There are definitely similarities between those games, in that they were all played midweek. Michigan has lost its last four non-weekend contests, yielding eight, 14 and six runs in the last three, respectively (not that Cleveland was the top reason for all of them). 

“In a 6-3 setback to Purdue Fort Wayne last week, Cleveland went just 3.2 innings, with four walks, two hits and five earned runs. He was chased after 2.1 innings that included five hits, two walks and four earned runs in an 8-2 loss to Xavier. 

“At least so far, Cleveland hasn’t been able to recapture his level of play from his freshman year in 2019 — the year Michigan advanced to the College World Series Finals — when he owned a 4.23 ERA in 38.1 innings.
Typical of midweek games, the Wolverines haven’t pitched their top throwers, and they’ve paid with some early-season losses. They’ll have to put forth a much better effort against a Notre Dame team that has some big bats and is really stingy in the field.”

Who is a “pleasant surprise” on the team this year?

“Two guys come to mind right away — Stewart and Bertram. The former transferred in from in-state rival Michigan State, and while it’s not a huge surprise — he led MSU in extra base hits last season, after all — the lift he’s given the Maize and Blue has been massive. Bertram, on the other hand, has really increased his production from the plate. After batting .214 last year, he’s up to .289 this season, marking a huge senior-year jump.”