Michigan
20-8, 0
Illinois
18-10, 0
Offensive Explosion Helps U-M Sweep Doubleheader at Illinois
4/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Site: Champaign, Ill. (Illinois Field)
Scores: Michigan 14, Illinois 4; Michigan 14, Illinois 6
Records: U-M (21-8, 10-1 Big Ten), Illinois (18-11, 6-5 Big Ten)
Next Game: Sunday, April 13 -- at Illinois (Champaign, Ill.), 1:05 p.m. CDT
Game 1 Boxscore | Game 2 Boxscore | Postgame Notes
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Michigan baseball team scored 14 runs in each game of Saturday's (April 12) doubleheader at Illinois as the Wolverines swept the Fighting Illini by scores of 14-4 and 14-6 at Illinois Field. U-M (21-8, 10-1 Big Ten) combined for 30 hits, as 11 of 12 Wolverines who came to the plate in the two games registered a base knock and all but one of the Michigan starters drove in a run.
Five more home runs flew out of the ballpark, with Wolverine DH Zach Putnam(Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) blasting two in the opener and going 3-for-5 with a career-best six runs batted in. During the two games, Putnam was 4-for-9 with the two homers, five runs scored and seven RBI. Putnam had his three-game home run streak stopped in Saturday's second contest, but he has four homers in his last four games and ranks second on the squad with 33 RBI.
Not to be overshadowed, senior/junior Chris Fetter(Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) improved his record to 6-0 on the year with six innings of work in game one. The righthander struck out three and scattered seven hits, allowing four runs, three of which were earned. The three strikeouts by Fetter give him a season total of 41, which is four off his career season-high of 45, which he accomplished during his freshman and sophomore campaigns.
Batting 1-2 in the order, junior CF Kevin Cislo(Novi, Mich./Novi HS) and junior SS Jason Christian(Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS) helped account for half of U-M's 28 runs with a combined five RBI and nine runs. Cislo had two hits in the opener and added three more in the second game for a two-game total of 5-for-8, while Christian had a pair of multi-hit games with two hits in each contest.
Michigan jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the opening game on Putnam's two-run shot over the right-centerfield wall. The wind was blowing out to rightfield all day long, and Putnam found that jetstream for his fifth home run of the season.
However, Illinois cut the lead in half as leadoff man Kyle Hudson reached on a throwing error to first.The speedster hustled to third base as the ball bounced into foul territory down the rightfield line. Hudson came down the line and scored on the next at-bat as Joe Bonadonna sent a sacrifice fly into centerfield to make the score 2-1 Wolverines.
The teams exchanged runs in the third inning to make the score 3-2 after three, but Michigan responed with nine unanswered runs to push the score to 11-2. The Maize and Blue posted one run in the fourth on senior LF Derek VanBuskirk's(St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) leadoff homer before adding two in the fifth and six in the sixth. The Wolverines sent 11 batters to the plate in that sixth inning, assix of the firstseven reached and scored in the frame.
Sophomore RF Alan Oaks(White Lake, Mich./Divine Child HS) started the inning with a single to right-center and was replaced by pinch runner freshman Ryan LaMarre(Jackson, Mich./Lumen Christi HS). Sophomore C Chris Berest(Vienna, Va./Heights School) brought LaMarre around to score with a stand-up double down the rightfield line for the first run of the inning. After a walk to fifth-year senior 2B Leif Mahler(Columbus, Ohio/St. Charels Prep), Christian ripped a triple inside the bag at first base that bounced into the corner to score two more.
Christian came home on a one-out single to leftfield off the bat of senior 1B Nate Recknagel(Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion HS).Recknagel advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Putnam to deep centerfield. After an error by the Illini third baseman allowed junior 3B Adam Abraham(Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS)to reach safely, LaMarre drove Putnam home from second for the sixth and final run of the inning.
Michigan then added two more in the seventh on the second two-run blast by Putnam to end their first-game scoring. Freshman RHP Matt Miller(Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville HS) came on in the bottom of the seventh and got the final three outs, as Michigan took game one of the doubleheader 14-4.
In the second game, Michigan again took a 2-0 lead after the top of the first with a two-out, two-rundouble to left-centerfield by Abraham, who had five RBI over the two-game stretch, giving him 24 on the season. Illinois quickly responded with two of its own in the bottom half of the frame and had the bases loaded withtwo outs, but senior/junior Ben Jenzen(Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS) came in and got NickStockwell to fly out to VanBuskirk to end the threat.
The Maize and Blue added two more in the top of the second for a 4-2 lead, but Illinois reacted with a run in the bottom half of the inning to make the score 4-3. That was as close as the Illini would get though, as the Wolverines scored in the final four innings.
Christian had a two-run single in the four-run fourth, and Berset launched his first homer of the season in the fifth inning as the Wolverines led 9-4 after five innings. U-M added four more in the top of the seventh inning, and freshman Tyler Burgoon(Defiance, Ohio/Defiance HS) shut the door in the bottom of the frame for the 14-6 victory.
Burgoon pitched the final four innings for his team-leading fifth save of the season. The freshman scattered four hits and struck out four, allowing just two runs. Jenzen earned the win and moved his season record to 2-0.
The Wolverines will look for the series sweep Sunday afternoon (April 13) when they return to the diamond for a 1:05 p.m. CDT first pitch at Illinois Field.
Contact: Gene Skidmore (734) 763-4423
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Fetter, Chris (5-0)
L: Stankiewicz (2-4)
Batting:
2B: Putnam, Zach 1 ; Berset, Chris 1 ; Mahler, Leif 1
3B: Christian, Jason 1
HR: Putnam, Zach 2 ; Abraham, Adam 1 ; VanBuskirk, Derek 1
RBI: Christian, Jason 2 ; Recknagel, Nate 1 ; Putnam, Zach 6 ; Abraham, Adam 2 ; VanBuskirk, Derek 1 ; LaMarre, Ryan 1 ; Berset, Chris 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Christian, Jason 2 ; Cislo, Kevin 1 ; Recknagel, Nate 1 ; Dufek, Mike 1 ; Putnam, Zach 4 ; Abraham, Adam 1 ; VanBuskirk, Derek 1 ; LaMarre, Ryan 1 ; Berset, Chris 1 ; Mahler, Leif 1
Batting:
2B: McMurray 1
HR: Hastings 1
RBI: Bonadonna 1 ; Wikoff 1 ; Hastings 2
SF: Bonadonna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Hudson 2 ; Wikoff 1 ; Hastings 1
SB: Hudson 1
CS: Hudson 1
