U-M to Face Northwestern in B1G Tournament Opener
5/23/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 23, 2017
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THIS WEEK
BIG TEN TOURNAMENT
Wednesday, May 24 -- vs. Northwestern (Bloomington, Ind.), 1:30 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network | Live Stats | BTN2Go
• Tournament Central Page | Bracket 
• Complete Game Notes | Coach Bakich on WTKA 
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 16-ranked University of Michigan baseball team (42-13) will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, this week to compete in the Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament. The double-elimination, five-day tournament will take place Wednesday (May 24) through Sunday (May 28) at Bart Kaufman Field on the campus of Indiana University. Michigan is the No. 2 seed and will face Northwestern in the first round before going on to face the winner or loser of a game between Minnesota and host Indiana.
» Michigan advances to the Big Ten Tournament for the fifth straight season, as the Wolverines have advanced to the postseason each year under the guidance of head coach Erik Bakich. The Maize and Blue finished the 2017 regular season with a 42-13 overall record and a second-place finish in the Big Ten Conference.
» A victory over Eastern Michigan on Tuesday of last week marked Michigan's 40th win of the season, which stands as the most in a single season for the Maize and Blue since 2008. Prior to the 2017 campaign, Michigan had compiled a 40-win season just 12 times in modern history, and the 40-win mark is the first for Coach Bakich in his head coaching career.
» The Wolverines continue to lead the Big Ten Conference with six selections to the national polls this week. Nationally, Michigan is ranked the highest in the Big Ten with a No. 15 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and the Perfect Game poll, and the Wolverines are also ranked No. 16 in the D1Baseball.com poll. Michigan is also ranked No. 18 in the National Baseball Writers Association poll, No. 19 in the Baseball American Poll and No. 24 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll.
» For the first time since the awards began in 1949, five Michigan players earned a selection to the All-Big Ten first team, the league announced Tuesday (May 23). Infielders Ako Thomas (2B), Michael Brdar (SS) and Drew Lugbauer (3B) along with starting pitcher Oliver Jaskie and reliever Jackson Lamb were named to the All-Big Ten first team, while outfielder Johnny Slater and relief pitcher Mac Lozer garnered third team honors. Freshman relief pitcher Tommy Henry was also named to the All-Big Ten freshman team, and Brdar was named Michigan's Sportsmanship Award recipient.
» Michigan and Northwestern will meet during the Big Ten Tournament this week after not facing one another during the 2017 regular season. The teams last met during the 2016 campaign, when the Wolverines swept the Wildcats at Northwestern's home field in Evanston, Illinois. The teams have not met during the Big Ten Tournament since the 2006 season, when Michigan defeated Northwestern by an 8-3 score before going on to win the tournament title and advance to the NCAA Regional in Atlanta, Georgia.
» Michigan's defense currently ranks No. 5 in the country, thanks to a .983 fielding percentage. The Wolverines have committed just 35 errors on the season, with starters accounting for just 19 of those.
» The Maize and Blue also ranks fourth in the nation with 118 stolen bases, good for first in the Big Ten. The Wolverines have been caught stealing just 26 times this season. Junior Jake Bivens currently leads Michigan with 22 stolen bases on the year.
» Michigan's pitching staff has been rock-solid this season, posting a conference-best 3.22 team ERA to rank 11th in the country. The Wolverines also rank ninth in the nation with 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings and lead the Big Ten with the lowest opponent batting average, most batters struck out and fewest hits allowed.
» Offensively, the Wolverines currently lead the Big Ten in numerous statistical categories, including on-base percentage (.382), runs scored (370), RBI (328) and walks (252). In Big Ten play, Michigan has out-scored its opponents 155 runs to 98 and boasted a .280 team batting average.
» Michigan is currently without the bat of Thomas, who suffered an injury during the first game of Michigan's series with Indiana and left the game in the first inning. Sophomore Jimmy Kerr has replaced Thomas at second base and capped off an impressive showing at Rutgers with his first Big Ten Conference Player of the Week recognition. After missing nearly three full weeks of play, Thomas returned to the field as a defensive replacement for the first and final contests of Michigan's three-game sweep of Purdue (May 12-14) and returned to the lineup for the first of three games against Michigan State (May 18). Despite his absence from the batting order, Thomas still currently leads the Big Ten Conference in batting average (.363) and on-base percentage (.475).
» With one complete inning pitched against Michigan State earlier this season in a non-conference meeting, senior reliever Mac Lozer etched his name in the record books with the second-most appearances all-time throughout Michigan's 151-year history. With 96 career appearances so far, the senior righty would need 11 more appearances to break the all-time record, which stands at 106 (Todd Marion, 1990-93).
» With one out recorded in the top of the ninth during a 12-6 win over Michigan State last Friday (May 19), senior reliever Jackson Lamb tied the all-time record for saves in a single season at Michigan. He entered the game with the bases loaded and the tying run on deck before getting a strikeout to end the game to earn the save. He currently ranks seventh all-time at Michigan with 14 career saves.
» Senior outfielder Johnny Slater currently leads Michigan and ranks fourth in the country with seven triples this season. At this time, Slater is ranked tied for seventh with 11 career triples, and would need four more to break the single season record, which stands at 10 (Mike Watters, 1985).
Communications Contact: Katie Gwinn Hewitt
