Six Wolverine Pitchers Combine to Shut Out Detroit

Wednesday, April 3

Ann Arbor, Mich.

3:00 PM

Michigan

7-13

Detroit

4-11

Detroit Mercy

Michigan

4/3/2002 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ray Fisher Stadium)
Scores: Michigan 10, Detroit Mercy 0
Records: U-M (7-13), UDM (4-11)
Next U-M Game: Friday, April 5 -- at Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minn.), 6:35 p.m. CST

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Six University of Michigan pitchers combined on a six-hit, 10-0 shutout win over Detroit Mercy in a non-conference baseball game Wednesday afternoon (April 3) at Ray Fisher Stadium. Freshman RHP Matt Collins (Bloomfield Village, Mich./Country Day), the second of the six pitchers, recorded his first career win as he retired six of the seven batters he faced in the third and fourth innings.

Senior/junior co-captain 1B Nate Wright (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew HS) went 3-for-5 to pace the Wolverines attack, and his bases-loaded single in the first inning that provided the first runs of the game proved to be his second straight game-winning hit.

The Wolverines (7-13) used 21 players in the game collecting 13 hits, while the six pitchers that hurled the shutout combined for 10 strikeouts. Freshman Paul Hammond (Mason, Ohio/Mason HS) made his first career start and fanned three while working the first two innings. He allowed three hits but picked two runners off first as he dropped his ERA to 3.00.

Collins worked the third and fourth innings, allowing just one baserunner on an error, and co-captain senior RHP Joe Young (Detroit, Mich./Bishop Gallagher HS) worked a scoreless fifth inning. Sophomore LHP Chad Garson (Calabasas, Calif./Harvard-Westlake HS) worked the sixth and seventh innings (two Ks) while sophomore RHP Bobby Garza (Southgate, Mich./Anderson HS) worked the eighth (two Ks) and freshman RHP Phil Tognetti (Newhall, Calif./Hart HS) worked the ninth (two Ks).

Michigan's offense included a pair of solo homers, with sophomore catcher Jake Fox (Greenfield, Ind./Indianapolis Cathedral HS) launching a bomb in the fourth inning and junior CF Blake Rutkowski (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South HS) hitting his first career homer in the sixth inning.

Senior/junior co-captain DH Mike Sokol (Sterling Heights, Mich./DeLaSalle HS), who earned Big Ten co-Player of the Week honors vs. Iowa, stayed hot on a cold day, going 2-for-2 with a walk. He is 8-for-9 (.889) with five walks in his last four games at Fisher Stadium.

Freshman LF Chris Burhans (Alpharetta, Ga./The Marist School) closed out the scoring in the seventh inning, driving in a pair of runs with his first career double. Burhans and Wright used back-to-back doubles to highlight the final runs of the day. Junior SS Brock Koman (Pueblo, Colo./South HS) and sophomore 3B Brandon Jominy (Coral Springs, Fla./Westminster Academy) each chipped in with a pair of singles and Jominy added a pair of stolen bases.

Detroit Mercy (4-11) loaded the bases in the second inning, but Hammond recorded his third strikeout to end that scoring attempt and Koman turned a 6-3 groundball double play to end the seventh inning. However, the play that saved the shutout came in the eighth inning when freshman Nick Rudden (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek HS), who had entered the game at second base in the sixth inning and moved to shortstop in the eighth, made a two-out backhand play deep in the hole with a runner on third and gunned the ball to Wright at first for the final out of the frame.

The Wolverines head to Minnesota for Big Ten action this weekend (April 5-7) in the Metrodome with senior RHP Bobby Korecky (Saline, Mich./Saline HS) on the mound in the opener. Korecky is 2-2 with a 5.89 ERA coming off a two-hit shutout over Iowa last weekend.

N O T E S

The six-pitcher shutout was the fourth Wolverine shutout of the season.

The shutout inning by co-captain RHP Joe Young keeps him as the only Wolverine with a 0.00 ERA for the season and he has four strikeouts in his 4.1 innings of work.

Michigan's hitting leaders after 20 games (19 at-bat minimum) include: 3B/SS Brock Koman (.359, 28-for-78), sophomore LF Brandon Roberts (Arlington, Texas/Martin HS) at .344, 21-for-61), senior/junior 1B/DH Mike Sokol (.333, 24-for-72); senior/junior 1B Nate Wright (.312, 15-for-48) and junior catcher Jason Wuerfel (Cedar, Mich./Glen Lake HS) at .300 (6-for-20).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423