Michigan
30-17
Eastern Michigan
26-21
Michigan Downs Eastern Michigan, Claims 30th Victory
5/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan scored early by taking a 6-0 lead and late with four runs in the eighth to beat Eastern Michigan 11-6 in a non-conference college baseball game Tuesday afternoon (May 9) at Ray Fisher Stadium. The game, originally scheduled for Wednesday evening (May 10), was moved up a day due to impending bad weather.
The win was the 30th of the season for the Wolverines (30-17) and marks the fourth straight season with at least 30 wins for U-M under head coach Rich Maloney.
Freshman RHP Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS), who hit a game-winning grand slam homer against Illinois on Sunday (May 7) as the DH, pitched 2.2 innings out of the bullpen to collect his fourth win of the season.
Freshman RHP Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake) pitched the first 3.1 innings in the start vs. Eastern Michigan (26-21) and the Wolverines used seven pitchers in the game with sophomore/freshman RHP Ben Jenzen (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS) recording the final two outs in the ninth to close out the win in a non-save situation.
Fifth-year senior Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest), making a rare start at first base, gave the Wolverines the early lead with a run-scoring double in the first inning for his second game-winning RBI of the season and his 14th career "gamer."
Junior CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) had a run-scoring triple in the second inning and sophomore catcher Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice) had pair of sacrifice flies as Michigan took a 6-0 lead after three innings.
Rose had three hits in the game, adding a run-scoring single in the sixth inning and singling and scoring in the eighth. He collected his team-leading 24th stolen base in the eighth inning. Rose has 48 career steals as he has matched his total of his first two seasons.
Senior 3B A.J. Scheidt (West Bloomfield, Mich./Lahser) was 3-for-5 in the win with a double and a run scored in the three-run third inning, and he had singles in the seventh and eighth innings. He drove in a run in the eighth.
The Wolverines took advantage of a dropped fly ball with two outs to turn a one-run bottom of the eighth into a four-run rally to provide insurance for the win as Kunkel, Scheidt and sophomore RF/1B Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) had RBI singles in the frame.
The freshman middle infielders chipped in during the win as SS Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a run batted in and 2B Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) walked twice and scored twice. They each had a stolen base.
EMU catcher Derek Lehrman was 4-for-4 while 1B Steve Bradshaw and CF Trumaine Riley each had three hits to lead the 17-hit output for EMU. The 17 hits matched the season high in hits allowed by the Wolverines. U-M is 2-0 when allowing 17 hits, with the wins over Pacific (13-9) and EMU (11-6).
EMU 3B Matt Moffett drove in three runs with a two-run homer in the sixth inning and he had a run-scoring single in the eighth. His bid for a ninth-inning grand slam hit the roof of the Indoor Track Building in right but was foul.
Rose and Scheidt each had three hits, while Kunkel, VanBuskirk and Christian had two hits to account for 12 of the 13 U-M hits. The Wolverines have reached double digits in hits 24 times in 2006.
The Wolverines open a four-game Big Ten series at Penn State on Friday (May 12, 2 p.m.) with freshman RHP Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) on the mound with his 4-1 record and team-leading 2.45 ERA.
N O T E S
The win over Eastern Michigan was the 30th of the season for the Wolverines and head coach Rich Maloney. Maloney has won at least 30 games in each of his 11 seasons as a head coach.
Sophomore 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion), who was named Big Ten Player of the Week for his eight-hit weekend performance at Illinois, had his team season-high hitting streak snapped at 12 games. Recknagel walked twice and scored twice in his first two at-bats vs. EMU and was 0-for-3 in the game.
Fifth-year senior Ali Husain (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) made his 12th appearance of the season and the 73rd of his career in the ninth inning of the win over his hometown EMU Eagles. Husain is tied for fourth on U-M's all-time pitching appearance with Greg Everson (73 appearances, 1985-87). Mike Ignasiak (76 appearances, 1985-88) is third.
Michigan's leading hitters after 47 games are: CF Eric Rose (55-for-149, .369), 1B/C/DH Nate Recknagel (57-for-156, .363), C Jeff Kunkel (60-for-166, .361), SS Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) at .347 (52-for-150), 2B/OF Doug Pickens (50-for-170, .294) and DH/OF Adam Abraham (34-for-116, .293)
Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Abraham, Adam (4-3)
L: Jeff Davis (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Steve Bradshaw 1 ; Derek Lehrman 2
HR: Matt Moffett 1
RBI: Steve Bradshaw 1 ; Matt Moffett 3 ; Trumaine Riley 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Shane Davis 1 ; Steve Bradshaw 1 ; Jeff Hehr 1 ; Derek Lehrman 2 ; Matt Moffett 1
CS: Trumaine Riley 2
HBP: Derek Lehrman 1
PO: Jeff Davis 1 ; Trumaine Riley 1
Batting:
2B: Kunkel, Jeff 1 ; Scheidt, A.J. 1 ; VanBuskirk, Derek 1
3B: Rose, Eric 1
RBI: Rose, Eric 2 ; Kunkel, Jeff 2 ; Pickens, Doug 2 ; Scheidt, A.J. 1 ; VanBuskirk, Derek 2 ; Christian, Jason 1
SF: Pickens, Doug 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rose, Eric 1 ; Cislo, Kevin 2 ; Recknagel, Nate 2 ; Kunkel, Jeff 2 ; Pickens, Doug 1 ; Scheidt, A.J. 1 ; VanBuskirk, Derek 1 ; Christian, Jason 1
SB: Rose, Eric 1 ; Cislo, Kevin 1 ; Christian, Jason 1
CS: Christian, Jason 1
