Michigan Falls to Georgia Southern in ECU Tournament Opener

Saturday, March 8

Greenville, N.C.

9:30 AM

Michigan

4-4

Georgia Southern

5-5

Georgia Southern

MICHIGAN

Michigan Falls to Georgia Southern in ECU Tournament Opener

3/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Site: Greenville, N.C. (Clark-LeClair Stadium)
Event: Keith LeClair Classic
Score: Georgia Southern 12, #24 Michigan 3
Records: U-M (4-4), GSU (5-5)
Next Game: Saturday, March 8 -- at East Carolina in Keith LeClair Classic (Greenville, N.C.), 4:30 p.m.

Boxscore

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- The University of Michigan baseball team dropped a 12-3 decision to Georgia Southern University, Saturday morning (March 8) at East Carolina's Clark-LeClair Stadium. The contest, the opener of the fifth annual Keith LaClair Classic, was originally scheduled for Friday but was postponed a day by rain, and the start of Saturday's contest was delayed 30 minutes by additional rainfall.

Junior shortstop Jason Christian(Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS) led the offensive charge for the Wolverines, ranked 24th by USA Today/ESPN and 15th by Baseball America, going 2-4 with a home run and all three RBI. Junior Mike Wilson(Pickering, Ontario/Pine Ridge Secondary) started the game for the Wolverines and looked good through three innings with three strikeouts, but he found trouble in the fourth and was unable to get out of the inning.

The Eagles began the fourth inning with two straight singles off the bats of A.J. Wirnsberger and Jeremiah Parker. Griffin Benedict followed with a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runners to second and third. Brian Pierce then added a perfectly placed bunt that stayed fair on the first base line to score the first run of the game as Wilson was not able to get there in time.

A second run came across as Jeremy Beckam flied out to junior Kevin Cislo(Novi, Mich./Novi HS) in centerfield. That brought Matt Miller to the plate with Pierce on first. Miller, a lefthanded hitter, was able to get a pitch up in the zone and lift it into the 25-30 mph wind blowing out to rightfield. The ball sailed over the wall for a two-run homer and a 4-0 Eagle lead.

GSU added one more run in the inning before senior/junior Ben Jenzen(Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS), who relieved Wilson, struck out Jeremiah Parker for the final out. The 6-3 righthander had his off-speed pitch working all game, as he pitched a solid 4.1 innings of relief, adding seven more K's to improve his team-leading total to16 on the season.

Georgia Southern added another run in the fifth frame, before the Wolverines responded with three in the bottom of the sixth. Juniors Zach Putnam(Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) and Adam Abraham(Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) drew walks to start off the inning. Leftfielder Derek VanBuskirk(St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) moved Putnam over to third with a flyout to deep rightfield, setting the stage for Christian's second at-bat of the game.

Christian, who came in hitting .250, reached out and launched a 1-0 fastball deep over the right-centerfield wall and into the East Carolina scoreboard for his first round-tripper of the season. The three-run blast cut the Wolverines' deficit in half, 6-3. Unfortunately, those were the only runs Michigan would score as the Maize and Blue put together only one hit over the final three innings of the game, and GSU added two runs in the eighth and four in the ninth to put the game away.

The Wolverines will return to the diamond later today for their second game of the day when they face tournament host East Carolina at approximately 4:30 p.m.

Contact: Gene Skidmore (734) 763-4423