Michigan to Host Oakland, Western Michigan in Midweek Games

THIS WEEK
Tuesday, March 20 -- vs. Oakland (Wilpon Complex), 4 p.m.
Live Stats | WCBN Radio
Wednesday, March 21 -- vs. Western Michigan (Wilpon Complex), 4 p.m.
Live Stats | WCBN Radio

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Hot off a series sweep of Bowling Green, the University of Michigan baseball team will continue home action with midweek contests against Oakland (March 20) and Western Michigan (March 21), before opening up Big Ten Conference play against Michigan State this weekend (March 22-24).

• This week's home games will wrap a seven-game homestand for the Wolverines after Michigan spent the first 14 games of the 2018 season on the road or at neutral sites. The Maize and Blue is now 3-1 on this homestand, which will continue this week with midweek contests against Oakland and Western Michigan before a single game against Michigan State on Friday (March 23) kicks off the home-and-home Big Ten Conference opener.

• Following a road game at Michigan State on Saturday (March 24) in the home-and-home format, Michigan will return to Ann Arbor on Sunday (March 25) to kick off another seven-game homestand. In total, Michigan is set to play 24 home games this year.

• Freshman outfielder Jordan Nwogu earned his first conference honor on Monday (March 19) as he was named the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week. Nwogu helped lead the Wolverines to their first series sweep over the weekend (March 16-18), clinching three straight wins over Bowling Green to improve to 3-1 at home. The freshman from Ann Arbor, Michigan, ended the week with an impressive .636 batting average, 1.092 slugging percentage, eight RBI, two doubles, and a home run after registering multiple hits in all three contests. Nwogu helped lead Michigan to its 8-6 win on Saturday (March 17), when he scored from second base on a sacrifice bunt to give the Wolverines their final run.

• Nwogu, along with freshmen Jeff Criswell and Ben Dragani, was the story of the Bowling Green series. Nwogu finished the weekend with a .636 batting average and had multiple hits in all three games, which included his first career home run and double. Criswell made a splash in Saturday's contest (March 17) after starting pitcher Karl Kauffmann left the game in the third inning due to injury. The freshman reliever tossed a career-high five innings and allowed just one hit with a career-high five. Dragani made his first career start on Sunday (March 18) in the absence of senior Alec Rennard and pitched a career-high seven innings while scattering five hits and allowing one run (unearned). Dragani walked none and struck out a career-high six to earn his first career win.

• Junior Ako Thomas is back at it after he reached base in 38 consecutive games last season. The infielder has safely reached base in all 18 contests this year.

• Junior outfielder Jonathan Engelmann leads the Wolverine starters at the plate with a .290 batting average through 18 games. Engelmann wrapped up last weekend's series against Bowling Green with a .600 batting average on six hits and a season-high three hits in Saturday's win (March 17). The junior also boasts a .372 on-base percentage and is ranked second on the team with 10 runs.

• Oakland enters the week with a 3-14 record after dropping two of three games at Wright State last weekend in the team's Horizon League opener. Prior to a win at Wright State, the Golden Grizzlies were on a six-game win streak that dated back to March 3. Oakland is led offensively by freshman Mario Camilletti, who leads the team with a .323 batting average, 21 hits and a .405 on-base percentage.

• Michigan boats a 24-4 all-time record against Oakland, with the teams last meeting in 2016. Prior to that meeting, which resulted in a 6-5, 10-inning loss, the Wolverines had defeated the Golden Grizzlies in 21 consecutive contests.

• Western Michigan comes into the week with a 9-8 overall record after playing its first home games this past weekend. The Broncos dropped the series against Butler, but rallied for a 4-1 win on Saturday (March 17) to avoid the sweep. Western Michigan's bullpen is led by redshirt-senior Andrew Reisinger, who owns a 3-0 record and an impressive 1.64 earned-run average through 10 appearances. Offensively, junior Jimmy Roche leads the Broncos with a .333 batting average and 12 RBI through 17 games played.

• The all-time series against Western Michigan is much tighter, though the Wolverines own a 93-76-4 edge over the Broncos. The teams did meet during the 2017 season, when Michigan took the game by a 6-4 score, but had previously not faced off since the 2014 campaign.

• The Wolverines are 3-1 at home after they swept Bowling Green in a three-game series and dropped their home opener to Lawrence Tech (March 14). The home-opening loss was Michigan's first since 2013.

• After losing 15 players at the end of the 2017 season, which included a program-record 11 in the Major League Baseball Draft, the Maize and Blue added 14 players to its roster in the offseason. The roster additions included 12 freshmen and two junior college transfers that hail from seven different states, and the Wolverine recruiting class was ranked No. 10 by Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, which marks the highest ranking for a Big Ten recruiting class.