Hess, Fetter Pace Wolverine Sweep of Golden Grizzlies

Saturday, March 24

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:00 PM

Michigan

8-6

Oakland

6-12

Oakland University

Michigan

Hess, Fetter Pace Wolverine Sweep of Golden Grizzlies

3/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Starting pitchers Andrew Hess (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) and Chris Fetter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) combined to lead the University of Michigan baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Oakland University, 4-1 and 4-3, Saturday afternoon (March 24) at Ray Fisher Stadium in the Wilpon Baseball and Softball Complex.

Hess (2-0) pitched the first complete game of the year for the Wolverines (9-6) in the opener, while Fetter (1-1) needed some assistance from junior/sophomore Ben Jenzen (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS), who recorded a 1-2-3 save to close out the second game. The Wolverines own a three-game winning streak for the first time since sweeping the first three games of the season from Bethune-Cookman in Florida.

Oakland drops to 6-13 despite an outstanding performance from shortstop Andrew Stafford, who accounted for all four runs for the Golden Grizzlies in the doubleheader as he was 3-for-3 in the nightcap with a single, double and a homer and a steal of home plate. He drove in the lone OU run in the opener with a run-scoring grounder.

Junior Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice), who started the opener of the twinbill at catcher and played rightfield in the second game, was 4-for-5 in the two games Saturday, giving him seven hits for the series.

Oakland held a 2-0 lead in the second game before the Wolverines got going in the fourth inning as sophomore 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) started the rally with a solo homer, his first of the season, to cut the lead in half.

Pickens followed with a single and junior 2B Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) doubled to the gap in left-center to put runners on second and third with no outs. Freshman catcher Chris Berset (Vienna, Va./The Heights School) tied the game with a first-pitch single to extend his hitting streak to three games, and co-captain Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) gave the Wolverines the 3-2 lead with a sacrifice fly.

OU's Stafford tied the game in the sixth inning with his second homer of the year and set the stage for the Wolverines to get back-to-back doubles by Rose and Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS) in the bottom of the sixth for the winning rally in game two.

In the first game Michigan had just two hits in the first two innings, both doubles, to take a 2-0 lead. Senior LF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) doubled in the first inning and scored as he stole third -- with his team-leading seventh stolen base of the year -- and scored on a throwing error.

In the second inning freshman RF Alan Oaks (White Lake, Mich./Divine Child) opened the frame with his second double in two days, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Rose, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Christian.

After OU's LHP Matt Trausch retired 12 straight batters, the Wolverines put the opener away with two runs on four hits in the sixth inning. Junior 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) and sophomore DH Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) opened the inning with singles and were driven in by Abraham with a sacrifice fly and Cislo with a single.

The Wolverines close out the weekend series against Oakland with a single game Sunday (March 25, 1 p.m.) with sophomore LHP Mike Wilson (Pickering, Ontario/Pine Ridge Secondary) on the mound with his 2-0 record and 1.00 earned run average. Wilson will be making his fourth appearance of the season and his first start.

N O T E S

Several Wolverine have four-game hitting streaks following the doubleheader sweep of Oakland on Saturday, including 1B Nate Recknagel, DH/P Zach Putnam, C Doug Pickens and 2B Kevin Cislo. Pickens has a pair of three-hit games in the weekend series.

Michigan's leading hitters after 15 games are: SS Jason Christian (23-for-57, .404), P/OF Zach Putnam (21-for-61, .344), C/2B/OF Doug Pickens (19-for-58, .328), 3B/P Adam Abraham (18-for-56, .321), OF Brad Roblin (18-for-60, .300), and 1B Nate Recknagel (17-for-60, .283).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423