Michigan Drops Big Ten Tournament Opener to Ohio State

Thursday, May 24

Ann Arbor, Mich.

7:05 PM

Michigan

39-15

Ohio State

35-22

Ohio State

Michigan

Michigan Drops Big Ten Tournament Opener to Ohio State

5/24/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The top-seeded University of Michigan baseball team lost its opening game of the Big Ten Tournament to No. 6 seed Ohio State by a score of 4-2. The top of the first inning proved to be the decisive frame, as the Buckeyes scored three runs with two outs against U-M starter Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer). U-M's runs came in the fourth and ninth innings via an Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South) home run and Eric Rose's (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) RBI fielder's choice.

Ohio State's starter Jake Hale threw a complete game, stranding 10 Wolverine baserunners. Michigan left two aboard in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

The loss drops the Wolverines into the losers' bracket, meaning they will take on Penn State -- a 5-3 winner over Iowa today -- on Friday (May 25) at noon. Should the Maize and Blue defeat the Nittany Lions, U-M would face Illinois at 3:35 p.m.

Ohio State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Jacob Howell legged out an infield single to lead off and Matt Angle walked on five pitches. Putnam settled down to fan Eric Fryer and induce a J.B. Shuck fly out. U-M nearly got out of the inning on Justin Miller's ground ball up the middle, but shortstop Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) could not get enough glove on his diving attempt and the ball skidded into center. Miller's hit drove in Howell and the next two hitters also tallied RBI singles before the Wolverines ended the inning.

U-M's first threat of the evening came on a two-out rally in the bottom of the second as Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice) and Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) each singled. Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) lined sharply to left, but Jacob Howell had enough time to track the ball down.

With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Abraham blasted the first offering from Hale high over the left field wall for his fifth homerun of the year to narrow the deficit to 3-1.

U-M had runners at the corners with one out in the fifth but was unable to come up with a clutch hit. With Cislo on third and Christian and first, Rose popped out and Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) went down on a routine groundball to short.

U-M put two men on again in the sixth inning thanks to a walk to Abraham followed by an infield hit by Pickens. VanBuskirk hit into a fielder's choice and Cislo struck out looking to strand runners at first and third -- the sixth and seventh runners left on base by U-M through six innings.

The Buckeyes manufactured their fourth run of the game in the top of the seventh when Ryan Dew singled up the middle. Dew then stole second and scored on a hit by Fryer.

Michigan had runners on first and second in the seventh, but Putnam struck out swinging.

In the ninth, Cislo and Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) started things off with back-to-back singles. Christian and Rose hit into fielder's choices to score Cislo. With a runner on first, Recknagel came up with a chance to tie the game but popped out to third base.

N O T E S

Derek VanBuskirk extended his career-best hitting streak to 13 games by going 1-for-4 against the Buckeyes tonight.

Adam Abraham has a hit in seven consecutive games after homering against OSU.

With his homerun tonight, Abraham has four extra-base hits in six career Big Ten Tournament games. He had two doubles and a homerun during last season's Big Ten Tournament Championship run.

Tonight's loss snapped Michigan's nine-game winning streak against Ohio State. Michigan took all four games from OSU in Columbus in mid April. Last year, U-M won all four regular season games in Ann Arbor and then an additional meeting in the Big Ten Tournament. The last OSU win came during the 2005 Big Ten Tournament.

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423