Michigan
16-6
Central Michigan
15-12
VanBuskirk, Abraham Power Wolverines Over CMU
4/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Junior DH Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) drove in five runs and sophomore 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) had three hits and three RBI, pacing the University of Michigan baseball team to a 13-3 win over Central Michigan Tuesday (April 3) at Ray Fisher Stadium.
The Wolverines (16-6) grabbed a quick lead, scoring six times in the first inning jumpstarted by Abraham's two-run single -- the eventual game-winning hit -- against CMU starter Jeff Richard (0-3). The Chippewas are 15-12.
CMU went to the bullpen quickly in the first after the Wolverines loaded the bases. VanBuskirk, hitting seventh in the lineup, hit the first pitch thrown by Devan Kline onto the U-M softball field for a grand slam homer, giving Michigan a 6-0 lead.
Freshman LHP Eric Katzman (Harrington Park, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan HS) pitched the first 5.1 innings to collect his second straight starting win. Katzman (2-1) allowed six hits and two runs -- both unearned -- and fanned a career-best six batters. Katzman dropped his ERA to 3.00 and has 12 strikeouts in 12 innings of work this season.
Junior/sophomore closer Ben Jenzen (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS) entered the game in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and dark clouds closing around the stadium. Jenzen threw a strikeout and drew a fly ball out to get out of the jam, fanning a career-best five batters during his 2.2 innings of work.
Freshman RHP Mike Dufek (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) closed the win, facing six batters in the ninth inning and recording U-M's 12th K of the game for the final out. CMU left 16 runners stranded in the game and left the bases loaded three times in the last four innings.
The Wolverines added a run in the fourth inning as sophomore SS Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) singled and later scored on a single by junior 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion).
Michigan closed the scoring with a six-run eighth-inning rally, taking advantage of three CMU errors. Senior LF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) had a two-out single that kept the inning going and -- later in the frame -- Abraham and junior 2B Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice) had back-to-back RBI-doubles.
VanBuskirk knocked in his team single-game season-best fifth RBI with a single to close out the eighth inning. After missing the first 12 games of the year, VanBuskirk went 3-for-6 (.500) as a pinch hitter and has made two starts, hitting 3-for-9. He has a double, two homers and nine RBI.
Sophomore LF Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a second-inning double, and Pickens extended his streak to 11 games with an eighth-inning double. Freshman catcher Chris Berset (Vienna, Va./The Heights School) extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single to left in the third inning -- his first career right-handed hit.
The Wolverines, with all nine starters collecting hits, have had double-digit hit totals in eight straight games and in 10 of the last 11 contests. Michigan has had 10 hits or more in 16 of the 22 games this year and nine hits in two other games.
The Wolverines host Minnesota on Friday (April 6, 3:05 p.m.) in Ray Fisher Stadium for the start of a four-game Big Ten series. Putnam (4-2, 1.95 ERA) will start on the mound.
N O T E S
The grand slam home run by DH Derek VanBuskirk was the first for a Wolverine since 3B Adam Abraham had one at Illinois last season on May 7, 2006. It was the first slam at Ray Fisher Stadium since Matt Butler (2002-05) cleared the bases against Detroit-Mercy on March 28, 2004.
The 10-game winning streak for the Wolverines matches the career best for head coach Rich Maloney at Michigan. In the 2005 season, the Wolverines had a 10-game streak prior to the start of the Big Ten season, and later in the year U-M had a pair of nine-game streaks.
The game against CMU was started under sunny skies with the temperature at 75. It was moved from Wednesday (April 4) to avoid bad weather conditions heading towards this area mid week. The game was delayed for 30 minutes by lightning in the seventh inning.
Co-captain Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) collected his ninth stolen base of the year in the CMU game. It was his 65th career steal, tying Steve Finken (65, 1986-88) for second place on U-M's career stolen base list. The U-M career record of 74 stolen bases is held by Jim Durham (1986-89).
Two Wolverines have 11-game hitting streaks following the win over Central Michigan, including OF/P Zach Putnam and C/RF Doug Pickens. Four UM players have eight-game streaks including freshman catcher Chris Berset, 3B Adam Abraham, SS Jason Christian and CF Eric Rose.
Michigan's leading hitters after 22 games are: P/OF Zach Putnam (33-for-86, .384), SS Jason Christian (34-for-89, .382), C/2B/OF Doug Pickens (31-for-86, .360), 1B Nate Recknagel (27-for-81, .333), 3B/P Adam Abraham (29-for-88, .330), 2B Kevin Cislo (14-for-45, .311), and OF Brad Roblin (26-for-86, .302).
Contact: Jim Schneider (734-763-4423)
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Katzman, Eric (2-1)
L: Jeff Richard (0-3)
Batting:
2B: Sean Hoorelbeke 1
RBI: Sean Hoorelbeke 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Tyler Stovall 1 ; Ben Humphrey 1 ; Scott Szpyrka 1
SB: Tyler Stovall 1 ; Ben Humphrey 1
HBP: Noah Lankford 1 ; Sean Hoorelbeke 1
Batting:
2B: Putnam, Zach 1 ; Abraham, Adam 2 ; Pickens, Doug 1
HR: VanBuskirk, Derek 1
RBI: Recknagel, Nate 1 ; Abraham, Adam 3 ; Pickens, Doug 1 ; VanBuskirk, Derek 5
SH: Roblin, Brad 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Christian, Jason 2 ; Roblin, Brad 2 ; Recknagel, Nate 2 ; Putnam, Zach 1 ; Abraham, Adam 2 ; Pickens, Doug 2 ; VanBuskirk, Derek 1 ; Berset, Chris 1
SB: Rose, Eric 1
HBP: Pickens, Doug 1
