Lozer's Career Day Pushes Michigan Past Rutgers

Saturday, April 29

Piscataway, N.J.

1:00 PM

Michigan

32-10, 8-6

Rutgers

16-24, 5-6

Michigan

Rutgers

4/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

April 29, 2017

» Mac Lozer picked up the win in the effort after tossing a career-high three complete innings and striking out a career-high six batters.
» Christan Bullock picked up his first career hit on the day with an RBI single in the top of the second inning.
» Joe Pace recorded his first multi-hit effort as a Wolverine, with a double in the second and a single in the fourth.
» The Michigan pitching staff did not allow a hit through the final 3.2 innings of play.

• Box Score

Site: Piscataway, N.J. (Bainton Field)
Score: #17 Michigan 6, Rutgers 3
Records: U-M (32-10, 8-6 B1G), RU (16-24, 5-6 B1G)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, April 30 -- at Rutgers (Piscataway, N.J.), 11 a.m.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Five consecutive shutout innings by the Michigan pitching staff and three scoring innings by the Wolverine offense propelled the No. 17-ranked University of Michigan baseball team to a 6-3 victory over Rutgers on Saturday (April 29) at Bainton Field.

The victory evened the series going into the Big Ten Conference series finale on Sunday (April 30).

Neither team scored in the first inning, but a flyball to deep left-center field in the bottom of the first resulted in a collision between Michigan leftfielder Miles Lewis and centerfielder Johnny Slater. The pair left the game following the incident and were replaced by freshmen Christan Bullock and Joe Pace.

Despite the stoppage in play, Michigan gathered momentum in the top of the second inning to rally for two runs on two hits and two Rutgers errors. Junior Drew Lugbauer led off the inning with a sharp ground ball to second base, and a tough hop resulted in a Rutgers fielding error to give Michigan its first base runner of the contest. Bullock followed with his first career hit, sending a single to right field to score Lugbauer and put the Wolverines up, 1-0. One out and a stolen base later, sophomore Jonathan Engelmann roped an RBI single to right field, scoring Bullock from third for a two-run lead.

Rutgers rallied for two runs in the bottom of the second to tie the score and added a run in the fourth for a 3-2 lead.

In the bottom of the fifth, however, Michigan went up 4-3 on RBI from senior Michael Brdar and Bullock. Junior Jake Bivens led off the inning with an infield single, and Pace followed with a single to right field to give Michigan runners on the corners. Brdar then sent an RBI single to center field, pushing the Maize and Blue ahead by two. A deep fly ball off the bat of Lugbauer followed for the first out of the inning but allowed Pace and Brdar to move up a base apiece. The scoring ended on the next play, as Bullock sent a sac fly to deep center field and pushed Pace across the plate for a one-run lead.

Following a scoreless sixth inning, Michigan added two runs in the top of the seventh on a two-RBI single from sophomore Jimmy Kerr.

Michigan relievers Ryan Nutof, Mac Lozer and Jackson Lamb combined to hold Rutgers scoreless from the fifth inning on, propelling the Wolverines to a 6-3 victory to split the series.

Lozer earned the win in the victory, marking his first of the season. He tossed a career-high three complete innings in the effort after coming in with a runner on second in the bottom of the sixth. The righty pitcher also recorded a career-high six strikeouts on the day and retired eight straight after walking one batter.

Lamb tossed the bottom of the ninth and walked just one en route to his ninth save of the season. In total, the Michigan pitching staff struck out 11 batters on the day.

Overall, the Wolverine offense rallied for 12 hits in the effort, with Pace, Poirier and Kerr all totaling multi-hit outings. Kerr and Bullock led Michigan with two RBI apiece.

Tweet of the Day

Way to bounce back, boys!

Our series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 11am in Piscataway, NJ. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/Y3rYuPNmv2

-- Michigan Baseball (@umichbaseball) April 29, 2017

No. 17-ranked Michigan and Rutgers will wrap up the Big Ten series on Sunday (April 30) with a single contest. First pitch for the series finale is set for 11 a.m. at Bainton Field.

Communications Contact: Katie Gwinn Hewitt