One Hit Enough for Beavers in Super Regional Opener

Sunday, June 10

Corvallis, Ore.

1:00 PM PT

Michigan

42-18

Oregon State

43-18

Oregon State

Michigan

6/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Site: Corvallis, Ore. (Goss Stadium at Coleman Field)
Event: NCAA Super Regional (Game 1)
Score: #25 Oregon State 1, Michigan 0
Records: U-M (42-18), OSU (43-18)
Next U-M Game: Monday, June 11 -- at Oregon State (Corvallis, Ore.), 4 p.m. PDT

• Boxscore

CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Defending national champion Oregon State found a way to win a game with one hit by breaking up a no-hit bid by University of Michigan sophomore RHP Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) on a two-out, two-strike single by 2B Joey Wong in the ninth inning as the host Beavers topped the Wolverines 1-0 in the first game of the rain-delayed NCAA baseball Super Regional Sunday (June 10) at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.

Wong was the star of the game in the win for Oregon State (43-18) as he made a diving stop on an errant throw to save a run in the fifth inning and then had the only hit for the Beavers in the game to drive in pinch-runner Braden Wells with the lone run of the game.

The second game of the best-of-three weekend series is set for Monday (June 11), and Michigan (42-18) faces elimination. The winner of the Michigan-Oregon State series advances to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., with first-game action slated for Saturday (June 16).

Putnam kept the 3,284 fans quiet most of the day as he retired the first 16 batters he faced before allowing a sixth-inning walk to RF Scott Santschi. He retired 25 of the 29 batters he faced in the game and faced the minimum three batters in seven innings. Putnam walked Wong in the seventh, but he got catcher Mitch Canham to ground into a double play.

In the top of the ninth Putnam walked Santschi for the second time in the game. After a sacrifice bunt moved pinch-runner Wells to second, Putnam recorded his eighth strikeout of the game, but Wong hit a 1-2 pitch through the left side of the infield and Wells beat the throw by junior LF Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) to junior catcher Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice) on a close play at the plate.

Lefty reliever Joe Paterson (10-6), who pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and got the benefit of the run in the ninth, gained his 10th win of the season. He allowed a single to junior 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) to put the tying run on first in the ninth. Junior/sophomore OF Kenny Fellows (Holt, Mich./Holt) ran for Recknagel, and Oregon State's RHP Eddie Kunz replaced Paterson with DH Putnam at the plate.

Kunz got Putnam on a grounder to short as Fellows advanced to second base, and then he retired sophomore 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South) on a grounder to Oregon State star of the game Wong at second base for the final out.

Michigan sophomore shortstop Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) opened the fourth inning with the first hit of the game, and he reached second on a two-out balk by starting pitcher Jorge Reyes, but Putnam hit a fly to right to end the threat at 0-0 after four innings.

The Wolverines started a rally in the fifth as VanBuskirk singled with two outs and stole second base but was not able to advance when the throw sailed into the outfield.

Sophomore 2B Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) followed with a slow-hit roller for an infield single as nobody covered first base, putting runners on the corners. OSU 2B Wong made the defensive play of the game on that play as he made a diving stop to keep the ball, thrown by pitcher Reyes to an empty first base, from rolling into the outfield on a play that would have allowed VanBuskirk to score. Reyes ended the threat by getting senior CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) to hit a hard grounder to third base and Cislo was forced at second base.

Recknagel provided the Wolverines with their final two baserunners of the game when he was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning and when he singled with one out in the ninth.

The Wolverines face host Oregon State in the second game of the best-of-three NCAA Super Regional on Monday (June 11) at 4 p.m. PDT on ESPN2 with sophomore LHP Mike Wilson (Pickering, Ontario/Pine Ridge Secondary) starting for the Wolverines with his 7-0 record and 3.07 earned run average.

N O T E S

• The combined one-hitter for Zach Putnam and junior/sophomore RHP Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake) against Oregon State on Sunday (June 10) was the first for the Wolverines since earlier this season when LHP Mike Wilson, who pitched the first seven innings, junior/sophomore RHP Clint Tobias (Sunfield, Mich./Lakeside) and sophomore/freshman Sam Yashinsky (Farmington Hills, Mich./Frankel Jewish Academy of Metro Detroit) combined to one-hit Oakland University on March 25 in a 17-0 win.

• The last time a Wolverine threw a no-hitter was Ron Hollis (1992-94) against Michigan State on April 3, 1994.

• By pitching 8.2 innings with eight strikeouts, Zach Putnam pushed his season totals to 102.1 innings, third best single-season total for a Wolverine, and a team-leading 87 strikeouts, the seventh-best strikeout total for a Wolverine. The U-M single-season records are 113.0 innings by Fritz Fisher in 1962 and 119 strikeouts by Jim Burton in 1970.

• Michael Powers replaced Putnam on the mound in the top of the ninth and struck out the only batter he faced. The appearance for Powers was his team-leading 29th of the season, the third best single-season total for the Wolverines. Powers recorded his 48th strikeout of the season in his 54 innings of work as he is tied for third on the team in strikeouts with junior/sophomore RHP Chris Fetter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel).

• Shortstop Jason Christian's leadoff single in the fourth inning extended his hitting streak to seven games.

• Michigan's leading hitters after 60 games are: LF Derek VanBuskirk (55-for-143, .385), 2B Kevin Cislo (59-for-159, .371), 1B Nate Recknagel (80-for-221, .359), C/OF Doug Pickens (78-for-228, .342), P/DH Zach Putnam (74-for-221, .335), SS Jason Christian (80-for-240, .333), 3B/P Adam Abraham (74-for-228, .323), OF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) at .320 (55-for-172), and CF Eric Rose (61-for-201, .303).