Michigan
New York Mets (ex)
Michigan Battles New York Mets to Tie
2/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Site: Port St. Lucie, Fla. (Tradition Field)
Score: Michigan 4, New York Mets 4
Attendance: 2,059
Next U-M Event: Thursday, Feb. 28 -- vs. Arizona St. (Tempe, Ariz.), 6:30 p.m. MST
Boxscore | Notes & Quotes
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The No. 18-ranked University of Michigan baseball team and the New York Mets battled to a 4-4 tie Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 24) in an exhibition contest on Tradition Field in the Mets' spring training complex.
Sophomore LHP Eric Katzman(Harrington Park, N.J./Old Tappan) struck out a pair of batters, yielding two runs off three hits in two innings of work in the start. Sophomore 1B/RHP Mike Dufek(Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain) struck out a team-high three batters in one and two-thirds innings.
Michigan got scoreless innings of relief work from senior/junior RHP Michael Powers(St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake), senior/junior RHP Chris Fetter(Carmel, Ind./Carmel), sophomore/freshman RHP Matt Gerbe(Shelby Township, Mich./Eisenhower), freshman RHP Tyler Burgoon(Defiance, Ohio/Defiance).
Senior LF/1B Derek VanBuskirk(St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) and Dufek each had two hits, including VanBuskirk's heroic home run in the eighth inning to give U-M the lead. Senior 2B Leif Mahler(Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) and junior 3B/RHP Adam Abraham(Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South) each scored a run and had two hits a piece.
David Wright launched a two-run home run to left field to get the scoring started in the first inning, driving in Jose Reyes from third base. Katzman settled down following the home run, blowing a 3-2 fastball past Carlos Delgado before retiring Moises Alou to get out of the inning.
Abraham got the Wolverines on the board in the second inning, becoming the first Wolverine in 31 years to score against a Major League team. The U-M third baseman smashed a leadoff triple off of the centerfield fence before a junior CF/3B Kevin Cislo(Novi, Mich./Novi) groundout to second base allowed Abraham to score, pulling the Wolverines back within a 2-1 margin.
Michigan tied the game a 2-2 with another run in the third inning from a Mahler RBI single up the middle. Dufek led off the inning with a looping liner that came down just inside the left field line. After moving to third on U-M groundout to first base, Dufek cruised to the plate after a screamer off the bat of Mahler shot into center field.
VanBuskirk broke the stalemate with a two-run shot to give U-M a 4-2 lead in the eighth inning. With Mahler on base, VanBuskirk turned on a 1-2 pitch from Ryan Cullen and drove the ball skyward over the left field fence. The Wolverines got another hit in the inning but could not add to their lead.
The lead was short-lived as the Mets knotted the game up in the bottom of the ninth on a two-out home run off the bat of Michel Abreu. With a runner on first base, Abreu sent a ball careening off the edge of the batters eye in straight-away center field, pushing two Met runs across. Abraham was able to retire the next batter, Angel Pagan, to close the game in a tie.
Michigan will return to its collegiate schedule Thursday (Feb. 28), taking on Arizona State at 6:30 p.m. MST in Tempe, Ariz.
Contact: Gene Skidmore (734) 763-4423
