"He was saying his quad. He felt it pull," Bakich said.
He said he hadn't seen Nwogu since he went back to the trainer's room and was unsure whether he'd return. Nwogu had a little extra time to make a decision on his return, as he was the Wolverine's designated hitter.
"We've got a couple guys on the bench if he can't go, that'll have to step up. If he can't that's obviously a big loss for us at the top of the order," Bakich said.
The Wolverines ultimately announced it was a quad injury and he would not return. He was replaced by junior Dominic Clementi, who has had one at-bat this postseason.
The sophomore, an Ann Arbor native, is second on the team in batting average (.324) and has posted 46 RBIs and 12 home runs this season, including a massive walk-off double against Illinois in the Big Ten tournament that helped the Wolverines stay in the mix for an NCAA tournament berth.
Michigan and Vanderbilt, the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament, were scoreless through four innings, but the Commodores broke through in the top of the fifth inning with one run, before the Wolverines escaped a bases loaded jam.