Michigan, Vanderbilt to Battle in College World Series Finals

» Michigan seeks its third national championship (1953, 1962).
» The teams play a best-of-three series starting Monday (June 24).
» Michigan leads 23-18-1 in the all-time series vs. Vanderbilt.

• Complete Game Notes (PDF)
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OMAHA, Neb. -- The University of Michigan baseball team (49-20) will play for a national championship this week as the Wolverines face No. 2-ranked Vanderbilt (57-11) in a best-of-three series at TD Ameritrade Park. The teams will begin play Monday (June 24) at 6 p.m. CDT live on ESPN.

• The CWS Finals appearance marks Michigan's first since the NCAA adopted the best-of-three format in 2003. The Wolverines have made it to the College World Series title game twice in program history (1953 and 1962), and emerged victorious both times.

• The Wolverines and Commodores have not met since 2007, when Michigan upset national seed and host Vanderbilt in the Nashville Regional to advance to the Super Regionals. Michigan pitching coach Chris Fetter was a Michigan player at the time, while head coach Erik Bakich was an assistant coach at Vanderbilt.

• Michigan rapped 14 hits and took 12 walks as it defeated No. 8-ranked Texas Tech, 15-3, on Friday (June 21). U-M scored at least one run in all but one inning, and the five-run sixth broke the game open for the Wolverines after a scoreless fifth. U-M set a CWS program record for runs in a game and drove in 10 of their 15 runs with two outs.

• Senior Jimmy Kerr knocked in three runs on four hits in Friday's win (June 21), which included a bunt single, an RBI double and two solo home runs.

• Sophomore Jesse Franklin led the Maize and Blue with four RBI on three hits and a walk, and tied Chris Sabo (1983) and Casey Close (1983) for most RBI in a Michigan CWS game. Eight of nine Michigan starters recorded a hit or scored a run in the game.

• Friday's (June 21) victory over Texas Tech also marked the 12th win of the season for junior starting pitcher Karl Kauffmann (12-6). He is tied for the single-season school wins record set by Rich Stoll in 1982 and duplicated by Stoll in 1983.

• Michigan defeated Florida State on Monday (June 17) to remain in the winners' bracket of the CWS. Junior starting pitcher Tommy Henry pitched a complete-game shutout and scattered just three hits with 10 strikeouts in the effort.

• Sophomore Jesse Franklin knocked his 13th homer of the season against Florida State (June 17) over the right-field wall on the second pitch of the game. The solo shot marked the 100th College World Series home run at TD Ameritrade Park. With 23 career home runs in just his second season, Franklin ranks 15th all-time at Michigan.

• With 10 strikeouts through nine innings of work in a win over Florida State (June 17), junior lefty Tommy Henry broke Michigan's single-season strikeout record (119) previously owned by Oliver Jaskie (2017) and Jim Burton (1970). Henry has struck out 127 batters this season and ranks sixth in program history with 243 career Ks.

• The Wolverines used early offense and solid pitching performances from starter Karl Kauffmann and Jeff Criswell to defeat Texas Tech, 5-3, in the first game of the CWS (June 15). The Red Raiders had two men on base and brought the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, but Criswell got a strikeout to end the game and helped push Michigan to its first win in Omaha since the 1983 season. The win over TTU also marked the first in Michigan history.

• Michigan handed Texas Tech starter Micah Dallas (7-2) both of his losses on the season with two victories during the CWS. The Wolverines chased Dallas from the game after three innings in the CWS opener (June 15) and sent Texas Tech to the bullpen after just one inning on Friday (June 21). Both starts included a season-high four runs allowed for the Red Raider ace.

• Michigan's lineup has shined in the NCAA postseason, as starting pitchers from both No. 1-seed UCLA (Ryan Garcia, 10-1) and No. 8-seed Texas Tech (Micah Dallas, 7-2) suffered their first losses of the season at the hands of the Wolverines.

• Michigan is appearing in the College World Series for the eighth time. Owners of two national championships (1953, 1962), U-M also advanced to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1978 (fifth-place finish), 1980 (fifth), 1981 (seventh), 1983 (third) and 1984 (seventh).

• Michigan owns an all-time NCAA Tournament record of 69-49 (.585), including a 52-34 (.605) mark during regional play, and a 2-3 mark (.400) during super-regional action. The Wolverines have advanced to the College World Series seven times previously, most recently in 1984, and won national titles in 1953 and 1962.

• The Super Regional berth marked Michigan's second in program history (modern format) and first since 2007. Prior to the three-game set at UCLA, Michigan was 0-2 all-time in Super Regional games. The Wolverines are now 2-3 all-time in Super Regionals.

• Michigan is 12-4 in neutral-site games this year, including 5-2 when playing at TD Ameritrade Park in the postseason, which includes five games in the Big Ten Tournament. The Wolverine offense is hitting at a combined .291 clip in neutral-site games, while the pitching staff boasts a 3.41 earned-run average.

• Head coach Erik Bakich was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) National Coach of the Year on June 15 at TD Ameritrade Park. Bakich is in the midst of his seventh season as Michigan's head coach and his 10th year as a Division I head coach.

• The No. 1 -ranked Bruins evened the NCAA Super Regional series on June 8 as UCLA upended Michigan, 5-4, in a 12-inning affair, but Michigan won the winner-take-all contest on Sunday (June 9) with a 4-2 victory to advance to the College World Series.

• Michigan defeated UCLA, 3-2, in the Super Regional opener on June 7 behind the piching combination of junior Karl Kauffmann and sophomore Jeff Criswell. Sophomore outfielder Jesse Franklin gave Michigan the lead with a 2-RBI single in the third inning, and sophomore designated hitter Jordan Nwogu drove in the eventual game-winning run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

• Prior to the Super Regional, Michigan was one of just nine teams with a win over UCLA this season (March 8), and the Bruins were ranked No. 1 in numerous Division I baseball polls for the majority of the 2019 campaign. After winning the Super Regional over the Bruins, Michigan is the only team this season to defeat UCLA more than once. The Bruins lost just two games all year to a left-handed starter, and both losses came at the hands of junior Tommy Henry.

• With two appearances at UCLA in the NCAA Super Regional, redshirt junior Benjamin Keizer (33 appearances) broke Michigan's single-season record (previously 31). Keizer owns a 4-1 record with two saves, including one in U-M's win at No. 1-ranked UCLA to advance to the College World Series.

• Between a trip to Kentucky in the last week of the regular season (May 14) and Michigan's trip to the College World Series, the Wolverines spent just five nights at home in Ann Arbor. In that time, Michigan players and staff traveled approximately 8,575 miles, with trips to Lexington, Kentucky; Lincoln, Nebraska; Omaha, Nebraska; Corvallis, Oregon; Los Angeles, California; and back to Omaha.

• The Maize and Blue won the Corvallis (Oregon) Regional with a victory over Creighton in the winner-take-all game (June 2). Michigan stormed back from an early deficit to take the game by a 17-6 score.

• Michigan started the NCAA Tournament with a 6-0 shutout victory of Creighton on May 31 and defeated Cincinnati, 10-4, on June 1 to remain in the winners' bracket. The Wolverines then lost to Creighton, 11-7, on June 2, but responded Monday June 3 with a 17-6 win over Creighton in the winner-take-all game to clinch a trip to the NCAA Super Regional.

• Senior infielder Jimmy Kerr was named the Corvallis Regional Most Outstanding Player following the Wolverines' victory in the regional championship (June 2). The lefty hitter went 5-for-16 in the regional with four home runs and a 1.063 slugging percentage and a .313 batting average. He also led Michigan with seven runs scored.

• Along with Kerr, junior outfielder Christan Bullock and junior right-handed pitcher Karl Kauffmann also were named to the Corvallis Regional All-Tournament Team. Bullock hit .357 over the four games, while Kauffmann earned a win in the weekend opener with 8.2 scoreless innings pitched.