Michigan
3-2
Troy
9-3
Troy's Seven-Run Seventh Tops Wolverines in Mississippi
3/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Troy University used a seven run seventh-inning rally to defeat the University of Michigan baseball team 13-6 in first-round action of the Cadence Bank Baseball Classic at Dudy Noble Field Friday (March 2) on the campus of Mississippi State University.
The Wolverines (3-2) held a 6-5 lead in the contest until the seventh inning when Troy (9-3) took advantage of three U-M freshmen pitchers to score seven runs on five singles, two hit batters and a walk.
Freshman LHP Eric Katzman (Harrington Park, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan HS), who suffered the loss, started the seventh and allowed a single and a hit batter before freshman RHP Mike Dufek (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain), who had just given Michigan the 6-5 lead with a run-scoring double, moved to the mound from first base.
Dufek faced five batters, allowing a walk to load the bases and four run-scoring singles before being replaced by freshman RHP Matt Gerbe (Shelby Township, Mich./Eisenhower HS). Dufek moved back to first; Gerbe retired three of the four batters he faced, including a bloop two-run single to end the scoring. The best hit ball of the inning was from the 10th batter of the frame, who hit a long fly ball to center that was hauled in with ease by senior CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield).
Junior/sophomore RHP Chris Fetter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) worked the first five innings from the mound, allowing eight hits and four runs. Fetter, who had three scoreless innings in the game, fanned seven batters -- one shy of his career high of eight set last season against Iowa. He leads the team with 13 strikeouts in 10 innings of pitching work this season.
Troy grabbed a 1-0 advantage on a solo homer by LF Kevin Weidlich to lead off the second inning; the blast was his third home run of the season.
Sophomore LF Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) doubled down the line in left to open the bottom of the second for the Wolverines; with the shot, he extended his hitting streak to five games. Sophomore 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) followed with an infield single, moving Putnam to third, and junior 2B Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice) tied the game with a sac fly to right.
Putnam has at least two hits in each game this season; his 11 hits have almost doubled his career total (six hits in 2006) in the season's first five games.
Troy regained the lead in the top of the third inning, as CF Ian Craze hit his second double of the game with one out; he scored on a single by 2B Brett Pierce. DH Clint Robinson doubled in the second run, and Weidlich singled in the third run of the inning to give the Trojans a 4-1 lead.
Michigan tied the game, 4-4, in the bottom of the third inning, as freshman DH Alan Oaks (White Lake, Mich./Divine Child) reached first base on a walk and second base on an error at shortstop on a grounder hit by Rose. Junior catcher Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion/Oakland University) hit a long fly ball homer to left to knot the game at 4-4.
It was Recknagel's second homer of the year, giving him a team-leading total of seven RBI. He has 10 career homers as a Wolverine, and 15 round trippers in his college career; the shot moved his career RBI total to 78 in 115 games.
The Wolverines grabbed a 5-4 lead with a strange run in the fourth, as SS Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio, Loveland) drew a walk, moved to second on a balk and to third on an infield groundout by Dufek, before scoring on a wild pitch.
Freshman lefty Katzman replaced Fetter in the sixth and hit the first batter he faced; after a sac bunt, a single by 3B Brett Henry tied the scored at 5-5. The Wolverine defense turned a 4-6-3 double play -- from Pickens to Christian to Dufek -- to end the inning.
The Wolverines used back-to-back doubles by Christian and Dufek with two outs in the fifth to take a 6-5 lead. The double was the first extra base hit for Dufek as a Wolverine.
The lead didn't last long, as Troy led 12-6 after the seven-run seventh, adding another run in the eighth on 3B Henry's third consecutive run-scoring single.
CF Craze led the Trojans with a 4-for-5 performance, including three doubles; LF Weidlich was 4-for-5 with his homer, a double and three RBI.
Troy RHP Ryan Ellison (1-1), the second of five Trojan pitchers, threw two innings to record the win in relief of lefty starter Joe Hallihan.
Sophomore/freshman LHP Sam Yashinsky (Farmington Hills, Mich./Frankel Jewish Academy of Metro Detroit) made his Wolverine debut in the ninth inning, retiring the final three batters after allowing the third double by CF Craze to open the frame.
Recknagel paced the Wolverine offense, hitting 3-for-5 to collect one-third of the nine UM hits; Putnam and Christian each had two hits.
Michigan plays two games in the Cadence Bank Classic on Saturday (March 3) to close out the seven-game spring break trip. The Wolverines will face Troy University at 11 a.m. (CST) with senior RHP Andrew Hess (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central HS) on the mound with his 0-0 record and a 1.80 ERA. U-M will then face tournament-host Mississippi State at 4 p.m. (CST), with sophomore RHP Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) on the mound looking for his second win of the season (1-0, 1.69 ERA).
N O T E S
Lynn Evans, former president of the M Club of Greater Detroit and a member of the Advisory Board for Intercollegiate Athletics at Michigan, was in attendance for Friday's game.
While Doug Pickens had his 13-game hitting streak snapped Friday, sophomore shortstop Jason Christian moved his hit streak to eight games. Three Wolverine players have hits in all five games this season, including Christian, Putnam and Recknagel; sophomore 2B Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) has hits in all four games he has played. Cislo and Abraham have four-game hit streaks.
SS Jason Christian was 2-for-2 with two doubles, a walk and he was hit by a pitch. Christian has reached base in eight straight at-bats over two games, including the contest at Central Florida (Feb. 27). Christian has gone 5-for-5 with three singles and two doubles, two walks and the HBP during the streak.
Michigan's leading hitters after five games are: 2B Kevin Cislo (4-for-7, .571), SS Jason Christian (9-for-17, .529), P/OF Zach Putnam (11-for-23, .478), 1B Nate Recknagel (8-for-20, .400) and 3B/P Adam Abraham (7-for-21, .333).
Contact: Jim Schneider (734-763-4423)
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ryan Ellison (1-1)
L: Katzman, Eric (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Ian Craze 3 ; Clint Robinson 1 ; Kevin Weidlich 1
HR: Kevin Weidlich 1
RBI: Ian Craze 2 ; Brett Pierce 1 ; Clint Robinson 1 ; Kevin Weidlich 3 ; Bryan Miller 1 ; Steven Felix 1 ; Brett Henry 3
SH: Steven Felix 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ian Craze 1 ; Brett Pierce 2 ; Clint Robinson 2 ; Josh Dew 1 ; Kevin Weidlich 2 ; Grant Luke 1 ; Bryan Miller 2 ; Steven Felix 1 ; Brett Henry 1
SB: Shohei Fujita 1
HBP: Clint Robinson 1 ; Bryan Miller 1 ; Steven Felix 1
Batting:
2B: Putnam, Zach 1 ; Christian, Jason 2 ; Dufek, Mike 1
HR: Recknagel, Nate 1
RBI: Recknagel, Nate 3 ; Pickens, Doug 1 ; Dufek, Mike 1
SF: Pickens, Doug 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rose, Eric 1 ; Recknagel, Nate 1 ; Putnam, Zach 1 ; Christian, Jason 2 ; Oaks, Alan 1
HBP: Christian, Jason 1
