Cislo's Late RBI Sends Michigan to Regional Title Game

Saturday, June 2

Nashville, Tenn.

7:00 PM CT

Michigan

41-16

Vanderbilt

52-12

Michigan

Vanderbilt

Cislo's Late RBI Sends Michigan to Regional Title Game

6/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Sophomore second baseman Kevin Cislo's (Novi, Mich./Novi) two-out, run-scoring infield single in the top of the ninth inning snapped a 3-3 tie, and sophomore 3B/RHP Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South) -- who scored the winning run -- pitched the bottom of the ninth to record his second save of the season, as the University of Michigan baseball team defeated No.1-ranked Vanderbilt 4-3 in second round action of the 2007 Nashville Regional Saturday night (June 2) at Hawkins Field.

The win pushes the Wolverines (41-16) to Sunday's (June 3) regional championship game (7 p.m. CDT). U-M will face the survivor of Sunday's elimination game between host Vanderbilt (52-12) and Austin Peay (40-21).

Austin Peay defeated Memphis 18-7 in the first game on Saturday, which featured a three hour and 24 minute rain delay that pushed the start of the U-M-Vanderbilt game to 9:50 p.m. CDT. The game ended just before 1 a.m.

The starting pitchers in the game, Vanderbilt freshman LHP Mike Minor and U-M sophomore LHP Mike Wilson (Pickering, Ont./Pine Ridge Secondary), pitched well in no decisions.

Minor -- the first of three Vanderbilt pitchers -- went the first 7.1 innings and allowed five hits and three runs, while 13-game starter Brett Jacobson took the loss. Vanderbilt's All-American closer Casey Weathers entered the game in the ninth and gave up Cislo's game-winning hit, but the run was charged to Jacobson (5-3).

Wilson pitched 7.1 innings and allowed seven hits and three runs. He came out of the game after giving up a two-run homer to LF Matt Meingasner in the eighth inning that tied the score at 3-3. Wilson had six strikeouts and four assists -- including a pair of pick offs to move his team-leading total to nine.

Junior/sophomore RHP Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake) replaced Wilson in the eighth inning and earned his third win of the season.

Vanderbilt 3B Pedro Alvarez opened the second inning with a single up the middle to extend his hitting streak to 23 games and Wilson promptly picked him off and SS Ryan Flaherty followed with a single up the middle to extend his hitting streak to a school record tying 32 games. However, Wilson got out of the two-on jam with a fly out and a pop up.

Wilson hit a batter and walked a batter in the third and fanned All-American Alvarez looking for his third strikeout of the game to end the inning.

Vanderbilt DH Parker Hanks lined a homer to center leading off the fifth inning with the first run of the game.

Vandys Minor had retired 11 straight batters before U-M sophomore SS Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) led off the sixth inning with a single and sophomore 2B Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) was hit by a pitch.

Senior CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) put down a bunt with the attempt to sacrifice but he beat it out for a single to load the bases. With one out and the bases still loaded junior 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) lined a two-strike double to right center scoring al three runners for a 3-1 Wolverine lead.

Wilson stranded Vanderbilt runners on third base in the sixth and seventh innings, but his magic ran out in the eighth as Meingasner lined a two-run homer to left to tie the game. Powers (3-3) replaced Wilson and took the 3-3 tie to the ninth.

Abraham singled up the middle off Jacobson to start the ninth and Weathers, who is 12-2 on the season, replaced Jacobson on the mound to face junior catcher Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice). Pickens moved Abraham to second with a sac bunt and junior LF Derek VanBuskirks (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) bid for a game-winning hit was caught in right field for the second out.

Abraham advance to third on a wild pitch and SS Christian drew a walk. With runners on the corners Cislo grounded the ball into the hole at short and Vanderbilts Flaherty made a great attempt for the force at second, but the speedy Christian beat the play allowing Abraham to score the winning run as Cislo was awarded the single. The game-winning hit for Cislo was his third of the season and sixth of his career.

Abraham moved from third base to the pitcher's mound in the bottom of the ninth and he retired the first two batters before giving up back-to-back singles to RF Dominic de la Osa and 3B Alvarez. With the tying run on third base and the winning run on first base, Abraham struck out Flaherty to end the game.

Cislo and Abraham each had a pair of hits to lead the seven-hit Wolverine attack, the lowest hit total for U-M since seven hits in an 8-6 win at Eastern Michigan on May 9. Cislo, Abraham and Recknagel are each hitting .429 (3-for-7) to lead the Wolverines in hitting during the Nashville Regional.

The Wolverines continue NCAA Regional action on Sunday evening (June 3, 7 p.m. CDT) playing the winner of Sunday's elimination game between Vanderbilt and Austin Peay.

The Michigan starting pitcher on Sunday will be either third-team All-Big Ten starting RHP senior Andrew Hess (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) or third-team All-Big Ten starting RHP junior/sophomore Chris Fetter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel). Hess is 7-1 with a 3.76 ERA, while Fetter is 6-3 with a 4.71 ERA.

N O T E S

Michigan's win over top-ranked Vanderbilt would be one of the biggest wins for the Wolverines since beating two top 10 teams - No. 8 Georgia and No. 10 North Carolina - in back-to-back games in 2005 or going back to a 14-5 regional win over eventual national champ Wichita State in 1989.

The last time Michigan won its first two regional games was in that 1989 regional at Fresno State when the Wolverines beat Pepperdine and Fresno State before going 3-0 in the six-team regional with the win over Wichita State. The Shockers won the final two games of the regional to advance to the College World Series and won the national championship.

In Big Ten baseball action in the NCAA Tournament Saturday (June 2) Michigan, Ohio State and Minnesota each came up with last at bat wins. Minnesota and OSU both had 6-5 wins in 10 innings as the Buckeyes defeated LeMoyne in the College Station Regional at Texas A&M, while Minnesota defeated No. 8 seed and host San Diego in a game played in the San Diego Regional at Tony Gwynn Stadium on the campus of San Diego State.

Michigan added to its nationally leading road record with the win over Vanderbilt on Saturday as the Wolverines are now 20-5 in true road games. Michigan has won 26 of 41 wins on the season away from Ray Fisher Stadium including a 6-2 record in neutral site games.

Junior 1B Nate Recknagel's three-run double against Vanderbilt on Saturday (June 2) gives him a double, a triple and a homer good for six RBI in regional action. He has overtaken sophomore P/DH Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) for the team RBI lead with a 60-59 edge.

Recknagel's double, his 19th of the season and the 53rd of his career, was overall hit 216 for his career and he has 131 career RBI. He has hits in 97 of his 121 games at Michigan and he knocked in his 100th run as a Wolverine in the game vs. Vanderbilt. He currently has 102 RBI in two seasons as a Wolverine.

LF Derek VanBuskirk had his career-best hitting streak snapped at 15 games when he was robbed of a single by Vanderbilt RF de la Osa on a great diving catch in the ninth inning.

Michigan's leading hitters after 57 games are: LF Derek VanBuskirk (50-for-131, .382), 2B Kevin Cislo (57-for-151, .377), 1B Nate Recknagel (76-for-210, .362), C/2B/OF Doug Pickens (76-for-216, .352), P/DH Zach Putnam (73-for-209, .349), 3B/P Adam Abraham (72-for-215, .335), SS Jason Christian (75-for-228, .329), OF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) at .327 (52-for-159) and CF Eric Rose (61-for-193, .316).