Pickens Paces Wolverine Win Over Illinois

Sunday, May 6

Ann Arbor, Mich.

1:05 PM

Michigan

34-10, 17-3

Illinois

24-22, 10-12

Illinois

Michigan

5/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ray Fisher Stadium)
Score: #22 Michigan 10, Illinois 5
Records: U-M (34-10, 17-3 Big Ten), Illinois (24-22, 10-12 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, May 9 -- DH at Eastern Michigan (Ypsilanti, Mich.), 4:00 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. C- Junior RF Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./.Brother Rice) was 4-for-4 and junior/sophomore RHP Chris Fetter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) allowed two runs in six innings as the University of Michigan baseball team defeated Illinois, 10-5, in the series finale Sunday afternoon (May 6) at Ray Fisher Stadium

The win gives the Wolverines (34-10, 17-3) a split in the weekend series with Illinois (24-22, 10-12 Big Ten) and snapped a two-game Michigan losing streak. U-M has not lost more than two games in a row all season.

Michigan used a pair of four-run innings for the win in a game that Illinois led 2-1 after two innings.

The Wolverines grabbed a 1-0 lead off Illini starter Kevin Manson (2-2) in the first inning. Sophomore SS Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) singled to lead off the game and moved to second on a sac bunt by senior CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield). Junior 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) lined a single to right to make the score was 1-0.

Fetter, who notched his 11th career win, gave up two runs in the second on a solo homer by 1B Mike Rohde and a run-scoring double by LF Joe Bonadonna. Fetter (6-1) allowed four hits in the win.

Michigan scored four times in the third inning, as Christian doubled with one out and scored the tying run when Rose tripled to left-center. The hit extended Rose's hitting streak to 28 games. Recknagel hit a sac fly to give Michigan a 3-2 lead -- it proved to be his sixth game-winning RBI of the season.

Sophomore DH Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) and sophomore 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) followed with walks, and Pickens chased starter Manson with a run-scoring single.

Junior LF Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) hit a single off the leg of pitcher Billy Barrett to load the bases, and freshman catcher Chris Berset (Vienna, Va./The Heights School) drew a walk to force in the fourth run of the inning.

The Wolverines scored four more times in the fifth on a single by Putnam, a double by Abraham to put runners on second and third and a two-run single by Pickens. VanBuskirk drove in the third run with a triple and scored the fourth run on a sac fly by Berset.

The score went to 10-1 in the sixth as Abraham singled with two outs -- his sixth hit of the series -- and he scored from first on a double by Pickens. Pickens had 10 hits in six games during the week.

Illinois scored three times to close out the scoring, as Ryan Hastings hit a solo homer in the seventh off junior/sophomore Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake). The Fighting Illini added two off Powers in the eighth for the final margin. Abraham moved to the mound from 3B with two runners on and no outs in the eighth and they both scored. Abraham allowed two hits, dropping his ERA to 2.66.

Pickens had four hits Sunday (May 6) while VanBuskirk and Christian each had three. Michigan had 18 hits in the win. For the weekend, Pickens had eight of the 45 U-M hits while Putnam had seven hits and Abraham six.

The Wolverines play a mid-week doubleheader at Eastern Michigan on Wednesday (May 9) starting at 4 p.m. (original schedules show this game as a single game at 6 p.m.) and the games will be carried by Comcast Local. Freshmen lefthanders Eric Katzman (Harrington Park, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan HS) and Jeff DeCarlo (Medford, Mass./St. John's Prep) are the scheduled starters for the Wolverines at EMU. Katzman is 3-2 with a 5.49 ERA, while DeCarlo is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA.

N O T E S

Michigan's 10-5 win over Illinois was the single game home win on Sunday. MSU won its third game of the weekend at Ohio State by a 7-5 margin, Northwestern got a series split with a 6-5 win in 10 innings and the Indiana game at Iowa was rained out. In doubleheader
action Purdue took the first game 6-1 at Penn State, while the hosts took the second game 7-3.The Indiana at Iowa game was rained out.

Big Ten Standings (Includes 5-6-07):

 1. Michigan 17-3 (.850) 2. Minnesota 14-5 (.737) 3. Penn State 14-8 (.636) Iowa 14-8 (.636) 5. Ohio State 12-10 (.545) 6. Illinois 10-12 (.455) 7. Purdue 9-14 (.391) Michigan State 9-14 (.391) 9. Indiana 6-17 (.261) 10. Northwestern 5-19 (.208).

Senior CF Eric Rose extended his career-best hitting streak to 28 games with a second-inning triple. He was 2-for-4 in the game.

Freshman SS Anthony Toth (Lorain, Ohio/St. Ignatius), who entered Sunday's game when Adam Abraham went to the mound from third base in the eighth inning, singled in his lone at-bat, moving his batting average over the .500 mark. Toth -- who has played in 23 games -- is hitting .526 with 10 hits in 19 at bats.

Michigan's leading hitters after 44 games: C/2B/OF Doug Pickens (60-for-165, .364), P/DH Zach Putnam (58-for-160, .363), 3B/P Adam Abraham (60-for-167, .359), 2B Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) at .359 (37-for-103), 1B Nate Recknagel (56-for-156, .359), SS Jason Christian (62-for-177, .350), CF Eric Rose (53-for-153, .346) and OF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) at .338 (45-for-133).