Michigan Wins Big Ten Championship With Split at Iowa

Saturday, May 19

Iowa City, Iowa

2:00 PM CT

Michigan

38-13, 20-6

Iowa

30-20, 16-12

Michigan

University of Iowa

Michigan Wins Big Ten Championship With Split at Iowa

5/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: Jim Schneider

Site: Iowa City, Iowa (Duane Banks Field)
Score: Michigan 11, Iowa 5; Iowa 8, Michigan 6
Records: U-M (38-14, 20-7 Big Ten), Iowa (31-20, 17-12 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, May 20 -- at Iowa (Iowa City, Iowa), 1 p.m. CDT

• Boxscores: Game 1 | Game 2

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Junior 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) collected six hits, including a double, a homer and four runs batted in as the University of Michigan baseball team split Saturday's (May 19) Big Ten doubleheader with Iowa at Duane Banks Field to capture the Big Ten championship.

Michigan (38-14, 20-7 Big Ten) took the opener at Iowa (31-20, 17-12 Big Ten) by an 11-5 score on the strength of four home runs before losing the nightcap 8-6 despite a three-run rally in the final inning.

The Wolverines were trailing 2-0 in the second inning of the second game when they won the championship, thanks to Indiana beating Minnesota 10-7 to eliminate the Gophers (18-8 Big Ten) from the conference title chase.

Iowa took the second game, giving Michigan its first road loss of the Big Ten season. The Wolverines are 12-1 on the road in conference action.

Recknagel was 3-for-4 in the opener with his team-leading 10th homer of the year and a double to score three times. He had three singles in the second game.

The Wolverines reached the scoreboard in the second inning of the opener. Sophomore 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South) collected the first U-M hit for the second straight game and moved his way to third on a groundout and a fly ball. Abraham scored the old fashioned way when sophomore 2B Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) hit his first career home run over the fence in right. The homer was Cislo's second game-winner of the season and the fifth of his career.

Iowa touched starter sophomore LHP Mike Wilson (Pickering, Ont./Pine Ridge Secondary) for a run in the second on a two-out single by 3B Kevin Hoef.

The Wolverines went back to the power game in the third inning as senior CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) singled with one out and Recknagel and sophomore DH Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) went back-to-back with home runs to make the score 5-1.

The Hawkeyes scored once in the third inning and chased starter Wilson in the fourth with two more runs. CF Travis Sweet drove in one run with his third hit of the game, while one run scored on a throwing error and another on a wild pitch that was Wilson's final pitch of the game.

Junior/sophomore RHP Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich. South Lake HS) replaced Wilson and worked the final 3.1 innings, allowing three hits and a run to collect his second win of the season.

Sophomore SS Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) hit his seventh homer of the year and the fourth Wolverine homer of the game in the fifth inning to make the score 6-4. Recknagel then singled to center with one out to chase Iowa starter Casey O'Rourke (4-2).

Abraham singled off reliever Kyle Heim and catcher Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice) hit a sharp grounder that was ruled an error, scoring Recknagel. Pickens had his 17-game hit streak snapped in the game.

The Wolverines added four runs in the sixth inning as Rose singled in two runs, Recknagel doubled to score Rose from first and Abraham's fielder's choice grounder scored Recknagel.

Iowa grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the second game against junior/sophomore RHP Chris Fetter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and made it 4-1 with two more runs in the third inning.

Fetter (6-3) pitched the first five innings, allowing seven hits and the four runs -- three earned. He was tagged with the loss, however, as Iowa never gave up the lead.

Michigan scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to pull within a run at 4-3, but Iowa tacked on four runs in the bottom of the sixth. Only one of the four runs given up by junior/sophomore RHP Ben Jenzen (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS) was earned.

The Wolverines battled back in the top of the seventh against three Iowa pitchers. Putnam launched a two-run double to make the score 8-5. Pickens put a scare into the 1,185 fans when his blast to dead center was caught at the fence for a 400-foot sac fly.

Junior LF Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) followed with a double to put the tying runs on second and third, but Cislo grounded out to end the game, giving Iowa an 8-6 triumph.

Recknagel went 6-for-8 in the doubleheader with a double and a homer to pace the 25-hit afternoon for the Wolverines. Cislo and VanBuskirk each had four hits. For the series, Recknagel -- with eight hits -- and Cislo -- with seven -- combined for 15 of U-M's 37 hits.

The Wolverines conclude the weekend series at Iowa with a single game on Sunday (May 20, 1 p.m. CDT) with senior RHP Andrew Hess (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) (6-1, 3.77 ERA) making the start.

N O T E S

• The final doubleheaders of the season proved interesting in Big Ten play Saturday (May 19), as Michigan split at Iowa and clinched the regular season championship during a loss, and Iowa clinched fourth place before finishing the second game win. Minnesota beat Indiana 3-2 in the opener to keep the pressure on the Wolverines, but Indiana took the nightcap 10-7 to give the Wolverines the title. Penn State swept Ohio State, 4-2 and 3-2, and is chasing Minnesota for second place while. The two losses dropped OSU into seventh place with one game to play. Michigan State swept Illinois 7-3 and 16-4 to help Iowa clinch fourth place and the Spartans have moved into the sixth and final playoff position with one game to play. Northwestern swept Purdue 9-6 and 11-6 and have moved out of last place.

• Big Ten Standings (includes 5/19/07): 1. Michigan 20-7 (.741), 2. Minnesota 18-8 (.692), 3. Penn State 20-9 (.690), 4. Iowa 17-12 (.593), 5. Illinois 15-14 (.517), 6. Michigan State 15-15 (.500), 7. Ohio State 14-15 (.483), 8. Purdue 11-19 (.366), 9. Northwestern 8-23 (.258), 10. Indiana 7-23 (.233).

• The Big Ten championship for the Wolverines is the conference-leading 34th for the Wolverines. U-M's second straight title marks the first back-to-back Big Ten titles in baseball for Michigan since 1986 and 1987.

• Michigan head coach Rich Maloney earned his second straight regular season Big Ten title in his five years as head coach. He has directed the Wolverines to the Big Ten postseason in each of his five years, which marks the longest streak of baseball playoff appearances for U-M since the Wolverines were the only Big Ten team to reach in each of the first nine years of the Big Ten Tournament (1981-89).

• Junior RF Doug Pickens had his 17 game-hitting streak snapped in the opener. U-M hit streaks that continued on Saturday include an 11-game streak by LF Derek VanBuskirk and a nine-game streak by 2B Kevin Cislo.

• The back-to-back homers by Nate Recknagel and Zach Putnam in the third inning of Saturday's opener at Iowa marked the first time for U-M back-to-back home runs since Kyle Bohm and A.J. Scheidt homered at Central Michigan on May 8, 2004. It was the first on the road in Big Ten play since Scheidt and Brandon Roberts did it at Purdue on April 14, 2004.

• Senior CF Eric Rose moved his team-leading season stolen base total to 32 and his Michigan career stolen base record to 88 with another steal on Saturday at Iowa, giving him three steals for the series. Rose now owns two of U-M's three top single-season stolen base marks -- the record is 38 by Jim Durham in 1987, while Rose is second with 32 twice (2006 and 2007).

• Senior OF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) singled and had two stolen bases and scored a run in the fifth inning of the second game on Saturday. The first steal was the 50th of his career and he moved his season total to 20 stolen bases. He has 51 career steals as he ranks fifth on U-M's career list just one behind Rodney Goble (52 steals, 1992-95).

• Michigan's leading hitters after 52 games are: LF Derek VanBuskirk (44-for-110, .400), 2B Kevin Cislo (51-for-131, .389), 1B Nate Recknagel (69-for-190, .363), P/DH Zach Putnam (67-for-187, .358), C/2B/OF Doug Pickens (68-for-195, .349), SS Jason Christian (71-for-209, .340), 3B/P Adam Abraham (67-for-198, .338), OF Brad Roblin (46-for-140, .329) and CF Eric Rose (57-for-175, .326).