No. 20 Michigan Knocks Off CMU, Stays Perfect at Home

Tuesday, March 29

Ann Arbor, Mich.

4:00 PM

Michigan

16-5

Central Michigan

5-20

Central Michigan

Michigan

No. 20 Michigan Knocks Off CMU, Stays Perfect at Home

3/29/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

March 29, 2016

» Junior Jackson Lamb came in with two runners on in the top of the ninth and struck out CMU's batter on three straight pitches to end the game.
» Michigan remains perfect at home after defeating CMU 9-7 and sweeping the four-game UIC series.
» Sophomore Jake Bivens led the Michigan offense with two hits, two RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base.
» With 10 Central Michigan hits on the scoreboard, Michigan was out-hit by its opponent for the first time since facing UC Davis (March 3).

• Box Score

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Score: #20 Michigan 9, CMU 7
Records: U-M (17-5), CMU (5-20)
Next U-M Event: Friday, April 1 -- at Northwestern (Evanston, Ill.), 3 p.m. CDT

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 20-ranked University of Michigan baseball team defeated Central Michigan University, 9-7, on Tuesday afternoon (March 29) to finish a five-game homestand with a perfect record at the Wilpon Complex, home of Ray Fisher Stadium. Though Michigan took an early 5-0 lead, the visiting Chippewas tied the game at 6-6, but a three-run seventh for the Wolverines sparked the momentum needed to outlast CMU.

Michigan got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the first inning, when sophomore Jake Bivens led off with a double and advanced to third on home and the following two groundouts.

With a 1-0 lead in the second, senior Cody Bruder and sophomore Drew Lugbauer drew back-to-back walks, advancing one base each on a sacrifice bunt from junior Michael Brdar. Junior Johnny Slater then blasted a double to the left-centerfield gap that scored both runners for a 3-0 lead. After Slater stole third base safely, Bivens reached on a fielder's choice that allowed Slater to score and push Michigan ahead by four. The momentum continued, however, as Bivens stole second and scored on the following RBI single from senior Matt Ramsay, giving Michigan a 5-0 lead.

Central Michigan garnered two runs of its own on an RBI double in the top of the third inning and added two more in the top of the fifth on two solo home runs.

With a 5-4 lead, Michigan picked up another run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI from Bivens.

In the top of the seventh, however, the Chippewas rallied for two runs on two walks, a hit and a Michigan error to tie the score at 6-6.

With the score tied, senior Matt Ramsay and junior Carmen Benedetti got on base in the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk and single, executing a double steal to get into scoring position. A sacrifice flyout from junior Harrison Wenson then scored Ramsay for the go-ahead run, and a Central Michigan wild pitch scored Benedetti to empty the bases. One out later, Lugbauer doubled to left-centerfield and an RBI double from Brdar ended the Michigan scoring with a 9-6 lead.

The Chips answered back again in the eighth to load the bases with just one out, but the Wolverines executed a 6-4-3 double play to escape without damage. In the ninth, however, Central Michigan rallied with two outs for a single, an RBI double, and a walk to bring the score to 9-7 with two runners on. With the tying run on first and the go-ahead run stepping to the plate, junior Jackson Lamb took to the mound and shut down the Chippewa offense with a 1-2-3 strikeout to end the game.

Junior righty Keith Lehmann started on the mound for Michigan in the victory, tossing four complete inning and striking out four in the effort, before freshman Troy Miller came in for the fifth and sixth, allowing just two hits.

Freshman William Tribucher and junior Mac Lozer combined to pitch the next 2.1 innings and allowed just three hits, before sophomore Bryan Pall appeared for 1.1 innings. Lozer earned the victory on the afternoon, while Lamb earned the save for tossing 0.1 innings in the top of the ninth.

Overall, Michigan recorded nine hits to Central Michigan's 10, which snaps an 11-game streak in which Michigan out-hit its opponent.

Tweet of the Game

Lamb gets a strikeout, and Michigan wins! That closes out a 5-0 homestand & we'll ride our 6-game win streak to NU. pic.twitter.com/rFYZDWE7m7

-- Michigan Baseball (@umichbaseball) March 29, 2016

No. 20 Michigan will now head to Northwestern to open Big Ten Conference play with a three-day, three-game series in Evanston, Illinois. First pitch for the first game of the series is set for Friday (April 1) at 3 p.m. CDT at Rocky and Bernice Miller Park.

Postgame Audio

Communications Contact: Katie Gwinn Hewitt