Michigan
13-10
Central Michigan
15-13
Schmidt, Big Third Inning Carry Wolverines to Road Win
4/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Senior LF Mike Schmidt (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) hit two homers in an eight-run third inning to lead the University of Michigan to a 19-4 win over Central Michigan in non-conference baseball action Wednesday afternoon (April 5) in Theunissen Stadium.
Schmidt hit his fourth and fifth homers of the season to make the score 2-0 and 9-0 in the third. Schmidt has 11 career home runs.
Senior RHP Jeff Niemiec (Livonia, Mich./Catholic Central), the second Wolverine pitcher, collected his first win of the season. He fanned five in his two innings of work.
Junior CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) opened the game with a single, stole his team-leading 10th base, and reached third on a wild pitch. Senior Jeff Kunkel (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) walked and was picked off for the second out, and sophomore DH Doug Pickens (West Bloomfield, Mich./Brother Rice) grounded out to end the inning.
Sophomore/freshman RHP Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake) worked a scoreless first inning to mark the first time in five games that U-M's opponent did not score in the first.
Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) led off the second inning with a wind-blown fly ball that fell for a single, and he moved to second on a single by freshman 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS). Freshman 2B Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) singled up the middle to give U-M a 1-0 lead.
CMU (15-13) loaded the bases with one out in the second inning on two walks and a single, but Powers got out of the jam with a 4-6-3 double play started by Cislo to freshman SS Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio) to Kunkel.
Schmidt opened the third inning with a solo homer, his fourth of the season. With one out Pickens lined a double in the left-center gap, and VanBuskirk singled up the middle to make the score 3-0. Abraham singled to drive in the fourth run of the game to chase starter Nathan Pung (0-1).
Cislo greeted Josh Ruhlman with a single up the middle to make the score 4-0, Rose followed with a two-run single, and Schmidt hit his second homer of the inning and the score was 9-0.
CMU bounced back with three in the bottom of the third on the ninth homer of the season by LF Bryan Mitzel. Following a walk to CF Cody Allen, senior Niemiec replaced Powers on the mound. He walked the first batter he faced, and catcher Brian Campbell beat out a bunt to load the bases. Niemiec fanned Troy Moratti to end the inning.
Catcher Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) and Abraham singled with two outs in the fourth, but Cislo grounded out to end the inning.
The Wolverines loaded the bases in the fifth on a walk to Christian while Rose and Schmidt were both hit by pitches. Christian scored on a wild pitch and Pickens later drew a bases-loaded walk, and Recknagel drove in the third run of the inning with a single.
CMU loaded the bases for the third time in four innings in the fifth with senior LHP Ali Husain (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ypsilanti) replacing Niemiec. Husain walked the first batter to make the score 12-4 but retired J.T. Jones on a fly to right.
Michigan added five runs in the ninth for the final margin as Abraham singled in a run, Christian drew a bases-loaded walk, Rose hit a two-run double, and Schmidt had an RBI groundout.
Abraham had four hits, while Rose, Schmidt and VanBuskirk had three hits each in pacing the 19-hit Michigan attack.
The Wolverines travel to Minnesota for a four-game Big Ten weekend conference series in the Metrodome starting Friday (April 7, 6:30 p.m. CDT) with senior RHP Craig Murray (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) on the mound. Murray is 3-1 with a 4.02 ERA.
N O T E S
Junior CF Eric Rose singled to lead off the game vs. CMU to extend his hitting streak to five games. He added his 10th and 11th stolen bases of the season in the game pushing his career total to 35 stolen bases. Rose was 3-for-6 at CMU for his 30th career multi-hit game and his 11th with three hits or more (eight 3-hit games, three 5-hit games).
Mike Schmidt's two homers in an inning were the first for the Wolverines since Derek Besco had two vs. Maine in a game at Rollins in Winter Park, Fla., March 9, 1997, and it was the first time in a true road game since catcher Mike Gillette had two in an inning at Eastern Michigan on May 11, 1988, in the second inning of an 18-1 U-M win.
Schmidt's two homers were the first in a road game for the Wolverines since Kyle Bohm hit two homers at Central Michigan on April 14, 2004. Bohm's second homer that afternoon was the game-winner in the ninth inning of a 14-13 victory.
The 19 runs scored by the Wolverines at CMU were the most since scoring 20 at Iowa in a 20-4 U-M win on March 31, 2003. The 19 hits matched the Wolverine 2006 season high in the 14-5 series opening win against Oakland, March 24. The Wolverines had 18 hits in the 13-9 win over Pacific in Waco, Texas, on March 12.
Freshman 3B Adam Abraham had his first four-hit game as a Wolverine in the win at CMU
Fifth-year senior LHP Ali Husain made his 66th career appearances in the CMU game to tie Tyler Steketee (66, 1995-98) for sixth place on U-M's all-time pitching appearance list. Former teammate Phil Tognetti (69, 2002-05) is fifth on the list.
Michigan's leading hitters after 23 games are: CF Eric Rose (26-for-70, .371), SS Leif Mahler (27-for-73, 370), 1B/C/DH Nate Recknagel (25-for-76, .329), 1B/OF Derek VanBuskirk (25-for-79, 316), OF Doug Pickens (25-for-79, .316), C Jeff Kunkel (24-for-77, 312) and OF Mike Schmidt (14-for-48, 311).
Contact: Jim Schneider (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Niemiec, Jeff (1-1)
L: Nathan Pung (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Rose, Eric 1 ; Pickens, Doug 1
HR: Schmidt, Mike 2
RBI: Rose, Eric 4 ; Schmidt, Mike 4 ; Pickens, Doug 1 ; VanBuskirk, Derek 1 ; Recknagel, Nate 1 ; Abraham, Adam 2 ; Cislo, Kevin 2 ; Christian, Jason 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rose, Eric 2 ; Schmidt, Mike 3 ; Pickens, Doug 1 ; VanBuskirk, Derek 3 ; Recknagel, Nate 2 ; Abraham, Adam 2 ; Cislo, Kevin 3 ; Christian, Jason 3
SB: Rose, Eric 2
CS: Kunkel, Jeff 1
HBP: Rose, Eric 1 ; Schmidt, Mike 1
PO: Kunkel, Jeff 1
Batting:
HR: Bryan Mitzel 1
RBI: Troy Moratti 1 ; Bryan Mitzel 3
Base Running:
RUNS: J.T. Jones 1 ; Noah Lankford 1 ; Bryan Mitzel 2
HBP: James Teas 1
