Michigan Battles Back To Beat Bowling Green at Home

Tuesday, March 28

Ann Arbor, Mich.

3:05 PM

Michigan

11-7

Bowling Green

9-11

Bowling Green

Michigan

3/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Sophomore DH Nate Recknagel's (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) seventh-inning RBI single snapped a 4-4 tie and proved to be the game-winning hit as the University of Michigan baseball team defeated Bowling Green by a 7-4 margin Tuesday afternoon (March 28) in Ray Fisher Stadium.

Sophomore RF Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice) was 3-for-5 with his team-leading fifth home run and he scored three times, including an insurance run in the game-winning seventh-inning rally for the Wolverines (11-7). U-M has won six straight and eight of nine heading into Big Ten Conference play this weekend.

Sophomore/freshman RHP Ben Jenzen (Gross Pointe, Mich./South HS) the second of three Wolverine pitchers, worked 3.1 shutout innings to record his first career win, and freshman Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS), who started the game at shortstop, had two strikeouts while recording his first career save with a scoreless ninth inning.

Junior RHP Andrew Hess (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central) had a career-best seven strikeouts as he worked the first 4.2 innings, but Bowling Green (9-11) chased him by scoring three runs in the top of the fifth inning.

Pickens opened the scoring with a line-drive homer to left on the first pitch he saw on the day. It was his fifth homer of the year, and he leads the team with 19 runs scored and 18 RBI.

Bowling Green tied the game in the top of the second with a walk to 3B Tyler Wasserman, a single by RF Andrew Foster, a balk by Hess, and a sacrifice fly by DH Jeff Telmanik.

Junior CF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) walked to start the third inning and advanced to third on an error on a pickoff attempt by the pitcher Brett Browning. Pickens followed with a run-scoring single and the score was 2-1, and Recknagel doubled to put runners on second and third. Senior LF Mike Schmidt (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage HS) knocked in Pickens with a sacrifice fly.

BG chased Hess with the three-run fifth inning, with catcher Josh Stewart's two-out two-run single giving the Falcons a 4-3 lead. Jenzen replaced Hess with Stewart on first, and fifth-year senior catcher Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) caught Stewart on an attempted steal/pickoff, throwing to 1B Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair), who fired to freshman second baseman Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) for a rare 2-3-4 caught-stealing play.

Kunkel scored the tying run in the bottom of the sixth inning as he singled with one out, reached third on a pair of wild pitches, and scored on an infield grounder by Cislo.

The winning rally was started on a single by SS Christian, and he advanced to second on a Roblin sac bunt. Pickens hit a hard shot up the middle that was fielded by BG pitcher Nick Cantrell (3-3), and his throwing error allowed Christian to advance to third. Recknagel followed with his second "gamer" of the season, and Pickens advanced to third on the single to right. VanBuskirk scored Pickens with a sac fly and the score was 6-4.

The Wolverines added an insurance tally in the eighth inning as walks to Kunkel and Cislo started the rally and Christian singled in the seventh run before he took the mound in the ninth to close out the win and record the save.

Ironically when Christian took the mound U-M's leading hitter, junior Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep), who was getting a rare day off, came into the game and he made an error for the only runner allowed in the ninth. Christian, who was 2-for-4 at the plate, worked the scoreless ninth in his second pitching appearance and dropped his ERA to 12.00 (from 18.00). He has four strikeouts in his three innings of work.

Pickens had three hits and Christian had two to combine for five of the 10 Wolverine hits against Bowling Green.

The Wolverines host Northwestern in the Big Ten opener on Friday (March 31, 3:05 p.m.) with freshman RHP Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) with a 1-0 record and a 4.22 ERA expected to be the starter.

N O T E S

Catcher Jeff Kunkel extended his hitting streak to five games with his sixth-inning single that led to the tying run, while RF Doug Pickens and 3B A.J. Scheidt (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Lahser HS) extended streaks to four games on Tuesday.

Michigan's leading hitters after 18 games are: SS Leif Mahler (25-for-65, 385), OF Mike Schmidt (11-for-31, .355), 1B/C/DH Nate Recknagel (19-for-56, .339), CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) at .327 (17-for-52), OF Doug Pickens (20-for-62, .323), C Jeff Kunkel (19-for-61, 311) and 1B/OF Derek VanBuskirk (18-for-60, 300).

Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423