Michigan
Central Michigan
Schmidt, Butler Pace Wolverines to Win over CMU
4/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
ANN ARBOR C Junior LF Mike Schmidt (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) and senior RF Matt Butler (Lombard, Ill./Driscoll Catholic) combined for half of Michigan's 12 hits as the Wolverines defeated Central Michigan 7-2 in a non-conference baseball game Wednesday (Apr. 6) afternoon at Ray Fisher Stadium.
The win for the Wolverines (17-7) snaps a four-game losing streak, while CMU drops to 16-11.
Senior/junior LHP Ali Husain (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti HS), the second of seven Wolverine pitchers was credited with the win. Husain (1-0) fanned two batters in his inning as he collected his fourth career win. He has six strikeouts in four innings this season.
The Wolverines scored single runs in the first and third innings to take the early lead before using a five-run sixth inning rally to put the game away.
All seven of the Michigan runs scored after two outs including the second inning run that was scored by Schmidt on a sac fly by junior 2B Chris Getz (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS) that produced the second out of the inning.
Butler singled with one out in the first inning and was forced at second by Getz. The veteran second baseman worked his way around the bases on a wild pitch by CMU starter Josh Collmenter (3-1), a throwing error by the catcher and another wild pitch.
Schmidt started the second inning with a single and moved to second on a passed ball, to third on Butler's second hit and he scored on the Getz sac fly.Getz leads the team with three sac flies.
Sophomore/freshman LHP Clayton Richard (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon HS) worked three shutout innings in his first starting assignment for the Wolverines. Richard dropped his ERA to 0.66 as he allowed just two hits in the game.
Senior/junior DH Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest HS) singled to center off Collmenter with two outs in the sixth inning and junior 3B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS) stroked a triple into the corner in right pushing the score to 3-0. Junior catcher Matt Rademacher (Bay City, Mich./Central HS) kept the rally alive with a walk and sophomore shortstop Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) lined a double to left driving in Scheidt.
Schmidt rolled a grounder through the left side of the infield for two RBI to complete the scoring in the game for UM. The single was Schmidt's third hit of the game, the second three-hit game of his UM career.
Sophomore/freshman LHP Brad Seddon (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) worked 1.2 innings of shutout relief and senior/junior Drew Taylor (Toronto, Ont./Upper Canada College) pitched 1.1 scoreless innings to get the game to the ninth inning.
Junior closer Jeff Niemiec (Livonia, Mich./Catholic Central) allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless ninth inning in his team-leading 12th appearance of the season. Niemiec dropped his ERA to 1.38 and his opponent batting average to .170. Seddon leads the team with a .158 opponent batting average.
The Wolverines host Iowa in the Big Ten home opener for the Wolverines on Friday (Apr. 8, 3 p.m.) at Ray Fisher Stadium with fifth-year senior Jim Brauer (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) on the mound. Brauer is 4-1 with a 1.80 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched.
NOTES
*Brian Kalczynski (1996-98), the Wolverine MVP (1997) and captain (1998), was at Wednesday's (Apr. 6) game vs. CMU. 'Captain Kal,' who served as an assistant coach at both Michigan (2002) and CMU, was on hand to visit with younger brother Tim Kalczynski (Farmington Hills, Mich./Brother Rice), a freshman infielder for the Wolverines.
*Senior RHP Phil Tognetti (Newhall, Calif./Williams S. Hart) made his seventh appearance of the season in the game vs. Central Michigan. It was Tognetti's 59th career outing moving him into a tie for 10th on the all-time Wolverine pitching appearance with Bryan Cranson (59, 1997-2000).
*Michigan's leading hitters after 24 games are OF Matt Butler (42-for-103, .408), 2B Chris Getz (36-for-90, .400), C Jeff Kunkel (22-for-5\7, .386), 1B Kyle Bohm (Stevens Point, Wis./Area HS) at .352 (32-for-91), OF Mike Schmidt (19-for-59, 322), DH/3B A.J. Scheidt (24-for-76, .316) and IF Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) at .306 (11-for-36).
Contact: Jim Schneider (734-763-4423)
