Michigan Wins Pair at Centex Homes Invite

Saturday, March 15

Conway, S.C.

11:00 AM

Michigan

7-5

Ball State

7-8

Ball State

MICHIGAN

3/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Site: Conway, S.C. (Watson Stadium)
Event: Centex Homes Invitational
Score: Michigan 8, Ball State 4; Michigan 4, Coastal Carolina 1
Records: U-M (8-5), BSU (7-8), CCU (14-2)
Next Game: Sunday, March 16 -- vs. Coastal Carolina, Centex Home Invitational (Conway, S.C.), 1 p.m.

Game 1 Boxscore | Game 2 Boxscore

CONWAY, S.C. -- Senior 1B/C Nate Recknagel(Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion HS) continued to display an extremely hot bat as he hit two more home runs -- one in each game -- and drove in six RBI, as the University of Michigan Baseball Team, which is ranked No. 25 according to Baseball America, won a pair of games Saturday (March 15) at the Centex Homes Invitational.

The Wolverines opened the day with a 8-4 victory over Mid-American Conference opponent Ball State behind a strong pitching performance by senior/junior RHP Chris Fetter(Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS). In the second game of U-M's double-header, junior All-America candidate Zach Putnam(Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) fanned 10 in 6.1 innings as the Wolverines downed Coastal Carolina 4-1.

Recknagel connected on two long homeruns over the leftfield wall to net six RBI, scored three runs, and finished 5-for-8 (3-for-5 vs. BSU, 2-for-3 vs. CCU) for the day. "Rock's" jack against Ball State came in the second inning to give the Wolverines a 4-1 advantage, and his long bomb against the Chanticleers came with one-out in the first inning, giving his squad a lead it did not relinquish.

Fifth-year senior Leif Mahler(Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) led things off for the Maize and Blue with a single up the middle in the first, bringing Recknagel to the plate. The hot-swinging senior found a pitched he liked and launched the ball through the wind and over the wall in leftfield for the 2-0 U-M lead. It marked the fourth straight game in which Recknagel has gone yard.

In the bottom half of the inning, Putnam put himself into a little trouble, walking the leadoff hitter Scott Woodward. The CCU 2B later swiped a base and -- with two outs and another walk issued -- two runners were on for the Chanticleer DH. Putnam got Tommy Baldridge to ground to Recknagel to end the inning, stranding two runners.

Putnam turned it on in the second and third, striking out the side in each inning. In the third, Woodward hit a one out single and then took second on a throwing error by Putnam. Woodward then moved to third on a pass ball and -- after a second CCU strikeout in the inning -- Woodward came home on a wild pitch to bring the score to 2-1.

The score would remain that way until the eighth inning due in large part to Michigan greatness in the field. In the fifth, Tyler Bortnick doubled to lead off the inning and was sacrificed over to third by the next batter in the lineup. With a runner on third and one out, Putnam K'ed the eight and nine hitters in the lineup to get his Wolverines back into the dugout with the one-run lead.

In the seventh, Putnam fanned his 10th batter, which turned out to be his last out of the ballgame. He walked Bortnick on a 3-2 pitch then gave way to senior/junior Michael Powers(St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake HS). The first batter Powers faced singled into centerfield, advancing Bortnick to third with only one down. Powers got Chance Gillmore to bounce one back to the mound for the inning-ending 1-6-3 double play.

In the top half of the next inning, the Michigan eighth, Recknagel led things off with a single through the hole on the left side of the infield. With one out in the inning, junior 3B/RHP Adam Abraham(Grosse Point Park, Mich./South HS) came through with a clutch double to right-centerfield. Recknagel was charging around the base paths and came burling down the third baseline to slide across homeplate for a 3-1 U-M advantage.

In the bottom of that inning Powers got Woodward to ground out to short to begin the inning, but Powers gave up a walk and a single to successive batters to put runners on the corners with one down and U-M 3-1. Adam Rice, the cleanup hitter for CCU drew a walk and that loaded the bases with one out.

Sophomore LHP Eric Katzman(Harrington Park, N.J./North Valley Old Tappan) was called on for a lefty-lefty match-up. Katzman met the chalenge, getting Baldridge to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end yet another Chanticleer threat.

Senior/junior Kenny Fellows(Holt, Mich./Holt HS) padded the Wolverines lead when he doubled to open the ninth and scored on a sac fly off the bat of junior 2B Kevin Cislo(Novi, Mich./Novi HS) for a 4-1 Michigan advantage.

Abraham came on in the ninth and closed the door. With runners on first and third and two outs he went to a 3-2 count to Woodward before he fired a fastball which the Chanticleer watched sail by for a called third strike, sealing the 4-1 U-M victory.

In the first game of the doubleheader, Fetter improved his record to 3-0, as he went 7.0 innings and added to his team high, striking out seven more hitters. The seven K's now give him 26 on the year. Freshman RHP Tyler Burgoon(Defiance, Ohio/Defiance HS) worked the final two innings to earn his first career save. Just like Abraham did in the second game, Burgoon ended the game against Ball State when he cut down Nate Fields looking on strikes.

The Wolverines return to the diamond Sunday (March 16) for a 1 p.m. rematch with Coastal Carolina in the final game of the Centex Homes Invitational. The game will be broadcast live on MGoBlue.com.

N O T E S

Michigan's 8-4 win over Ball State in Saturday's (March 15) first game marked the first meeting for Wolverine head coach Rich Maloney against his former team. Maloney, who coached the Cardinals from 1996 to 2002, is 2-1 in the Ball State-Michigan series going 1-1 vs. Michigan while at Ball State and 1-0 vs. Ball State. Following the 4-1 win over Coastal Carolina in Saturday's second game Maloney has 199 wins as a Wolverine head coach in six seasons (199-117) and he has 455 wins overall in 13 seasons (455-261-1).

Michigan's win over Coastal Carolina snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Chanticleers and gives U-M a 2-0 edge in the all-time series. Michigan has a 13-1 edge in the series vs. Ball State.

Senior 1B/catcher Nate Recknagel extended his hitting streak to 11 games by going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and four RBI in the win over Ball State and going 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in the first inning vs. Coastal Carolina in the second game on Saturday (March 15).

Nate Recknagel is 7-for-10 (.700) with three homers and nine RBI in the first three games of the Centrex Homes Invitational in Conway. S.C.

Nate Recknagel's four RBI vs. Ball State matched his career high and was the third time he has had four in a game as a Wolverine.

Nate Recknagel has hit home runs in four consecutive games (Pittsburgh, Presbyterian, Ball State and Coastal Carolina), topping the three straight he hit homers in during the 2007 season vs. Troy (back-to-back games) and Mississippi State (March 2-3, 2007) in Starkville, Miss.

Michigan is 5-0 in Nate Recknagel's catching starts this season and all of his team-leading total of six homers have been two-run shots with four of them coming in first inning action (vs. Villanova, Hawaii, Presbyterian and Coastal Carolina).

Recknagel has hits in 12 of the first 13 games played by Michigan this season and now has hits in 111 of his 138 games as a Wolverine along with 26 homers and 122 RBI. Nate Recknagel leads the team in hitting .396 (19-for-48), homers (6) and RBI (20). Recknagel, who played at Oakland University as a freshman in 2005, has 31 career collegiate homers.

Fifth-year senior co-captain Leif Mahler's bases loaded walk in the first inning giving Michigan a 2-1 lead proved to be the game-winning RBI vs. Ball State. The gamer was Mahler's second of the season.

Recknagel's two-run homer was the 'gamer' in the Coastal Carolina game giving him the team lead with three, snapping a tie with Mahler and junior 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS). Recknagel, the active career leader, has 16 career gamers and Mahler has seven.

Senior/junior RHP Chris Fetter allowed six hits and three runs against Ball State while recording his team-leading third win of the season. Fetter (3-0) dropped his ERA to 2.92 and with seven strikeouts he moved his team-leading total to 26 Ks in 24.2 innings this season. Fetter improved his career record to 14-5.

Junior RHP/DH Zach Putnam recorded his first win of the season in the Coastal Carolina game as he matched his career high with 10 strikeouts. Putnam, who had 10 strikeouts at Iowa last season (May 18, 2007), recorded his 15th career win (15-7). Putnam, who struck out the side in the second and third innings vs. Coastal, has 19 strikeouts in 15.2 innings this season .

Junior 3B/RHP Adam Abraham, who had his hitting streak snapped at 10 games on Friday (March 14) vs. Presbyterian, bounced back going 2-for-3 with two RBI vs. Ball State and 1-for-4 vs. Coastal Carolina. Abraham, who has 37 career multiple-hit games, is second on the team with a .389 (21-for-54) batting average.

Adam Abraham worked a scoreless ninth inning against Coastal Carolina to record his first save of the season. Abraham has a 0.00 ERA in three outings in 2008 and has six career saves.

Freshman RHP Tyler Burgoon recorded his first career save in Saturday's (March 15) first game vs. Ball State after senior/junior Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake HS) notched his first save of the year Friday (March 14) vs. Presbyterian.

Senior/junior OF Kenny Fellows with a double in the ninth inning vs. Coastal Carolina and sophomore OF/RHP Alan Oaks with two singles vs. Coastal Carolina each collected his first hit of the 2008 season. It was the third career multi-hit game for Oaks.

Q U O T E S

To come.

Contact: Gene Skidmore (734) 615-1726