Putnam Pitching, U-M Power Provide Split Against PSU

Saturday, May 12

Ann Arbor, Mich.

2:05 PM

Michigan

36-10, 18-3

Penn State

22-23, 14-9

Penn State

Michigan

5/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Ray Fisher Stadium)
Scores: #24 Michigan 11, Penn State 5; Penn State 5, #24 Michigan 4
Records: U-M (36-11, 18-4 Big Ten), PSU (23-23, 15-9 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Sunday, May 13 -- DH vs. Penn State (Ray Fisher Stadium), 12:05 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Sophomore RHP Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) struck out eight batters in six innings to win his seventh game of the year and sophomores Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland) and Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) provided home runs, as the University of Michigan baseball team beat Penn State 11-5 in the first game of Saturday's (May 12) Big Ten doubleheader in front of 1,303 fans at Ray Fisher Stadium.

Penn State (23-23, 15-9 Big Ten) gained the split, winning the second game from the first-place Wolverines (36-11, 18-4), 5-4, in extra innings. PSU scored four times in the sixth inning to tie the game at 4-4 and scored once in the ninth inning to win the second game -- originally scheduled for seven innings.

PSU shortstop Scott Gaffney homered to lead off the sixth inning to put the Nittany Lions on the scoreboard in the second game, and RF Rick Marlin hit a two-out, three-run homer off U-M sophomore LHP Mike Wilson (Pickering, Ont./Pine Ridge Secondary) to tie the game. The rally kept Wilson from moving his record to 8-0 on the season.

PSU scored in the ninth on a double by 2B Matt Cavagnaro and a single by Gaffney. Junior/sophomore Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake HS) took his second loss of the season.

Sophomore 2B Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi) collected his fourth single of the doubleheader with one out in the ninth against PSU's Drew O'Neil (3-1), and Christian gave the home fans a thrill with a liner to right. O'Neil retired U-M 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion) on a fly to right, however, as PSU's home run hero Marlin made a great catch for the final out.

Recknagel drilled a triple off the hitting backdrop in dead center in the opener and hit a long homer to left in the second game. He had three hits on the day to move his three-year hit total to 199. Recknagel leads the team with nine homers for the season.

U-M took a 4-0 lead in the second game against PSU LHP Craig Clark, jump started by Recknagel's solo homer in the first inning. Later, Cislo singled and scored from first on a hit-and-run double by Christian, and Recknagel singled to make the score 3-0. Cislo walked in the fifth and scored on a two-out single by Putnam -- his team-leading 50th RBI of the season.

In the opener, Putnam fanned eight batters -- one shy of his career best -- and was in control for most of the game. The exception was the third inning, when the Nittany Lions scored an unearned run to take a 1-0 lead.

Michigan bounced back in the bottom of the third inning of the opener, as Cislo collected the first U-M hit of the day with two outs, and Christian drilled his third homer of the year to make the score 2-1. It proved to be Christian's sixth game-winning RBI of the season.

The Wolverines added three runs in the fourth inning. Recknagel reached on an error and moved to third as Putnam dropped a single into center. Abraham then launched his fourth homer to make the score 5-1.

Penn State added single runs off Putnam in the fifth and sixth innings, and junior/sophomore RHP Ben Jenzen (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS) came into the game in the seventh inning and earned his fifth save of the year. He retired the first six batters he faced, gave up a couple of hits in the ninth and retired the last three batters in a row, giving up a pair of RBI-grounders for the 11-5 final margin.

Cislo's four hits paced the Wolverines in the 21-hit doubleheader attack on Saturday, while Putnam, Recknagel, Christian and junior LF Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) each had three hits.

The Wolverines face Penn State in a another Big Ten doubleheader on Mother's Day Sunday (May 13, 12:05 p.m.) with junior/sophomore RHP Chris Fetter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) at 6-1 (4.14 ERA) scheduled to pitch in the seven-inning opener. Freshman LHP Jeff DeCarlo (Medford, Mass./St. John's Prep) at 1-0 (2.84 ERA) is listed as the probable starter in the nine-inning second game.

The Wolverines seniors will be introduced between games of Sunday's doubleheader.

N O T E S

Ohio State, Illinois and Michigan State collected Big Ten sweeps on Saturday, with the Buckeyes beating Minnesota 8-1 and 13-1 on the road. On the home front, Illinois topped Indiana 3-0 and 5-1 and MSU swept Northwestern 7-4 and 6-4. Purdue beat Iowa 11-6 in the opener, but the visiting Hawkeyes took the second game 6-5.

Big Ten Standings (Includes 5-12-07):

 1. Michigan 18-4 (.818) 2. Minnesota 15-7 (.681) 3. Penn State 15-9 (.625) 4. Iowa 15-10 (.600) 5. Ohio State 14-11 (.560) 6. Illinois 13-12 (.520) 7. Michigan State 12-14 (.462) 8. Purdue 11-15 (.423) 9. Indiana 6-20 (.231) 10. Northwestern 5-22 (.185).

Former Wolverine All-American George Foussianes (1977-80) was on hand to throw out the first pitch before Saturday's (May 12) doubleheader. Former U-M pitcher Paul Wenson (1985-86) was also at the twinbill.

Junior RF Doug Pickens extended his current hitting streak to 14 games -- one shy of his season-best 15 -- with a single in the seventh-inning of the opener and in the sixth inning of game two.

RHP/DH Zach Putnam leads the Wolverines with 57 strikeouts and 50 RBI.

The save for RHP Ben Jenzen in the first game against Penn State was his team-leading fifth of the season and the 11th of his career. He now ranks alone in fifth place in career saves at Michigan (11) as he snapped a tie with former Major Leaguer Mike Ignasiak (10, 1985-88) and Derek Feldkamp (10, 2003-05).

Michigan's leading hitters after 47 games: LF Derek VanBuskirk (37-for-92, .402), 2B Kevin Cislo (42-for-113, .372), C/2B/OF Doug Pickens (64-for-177, .362), P/DH Zach Putnam (61-for-169, .361), SS Jason Christian (66-for-189, .349), 1B Nate Recknagel (59-for-169, .349), 3B/P Adam Abraham (61-for-180, .339), OF Brad Roblin (Wayland, Mass./Rivers School) at .338 (45-for-133) and CF Eric Rose (Blissfield, Mich./Blissfield) at .331 (54-for-163).