Wolverines Down Spartans, Remain Perfect at Home

Friday, April 18

Ann Arbor, Mich.

6:35 PM

Michigan

25-8, 12-1

Michigan State

13-18, 4-8

Michigan State

Michigan

4/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Baseball Complex/Ray Fisher Stadium)
Score: Michigan 8, Michigan State 3
Record: Michigan (25-8, 12-1 Big Ten), Michigan State (13-18, 4-8 Big Ten)
Next U-M Event: Wednesday, April 19 -- at Michigan State (DH)(East Lansing, Mich.), 1:05 p.m.

Boxscore | Photo Gallery

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The University of Michigan baseball program widened its lead in the Big Ten Conference standings with a 8-3 win against intrastate rival Michigan State Friday evening (April 18) in front of a season-best 2,814 fans in the Wilpon Baseball Complex, home to Ray Fisher Stadium. The victory lifts U-M's record to 10-0 at home this season.

Junior P/DH Zach Putnam(Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) upped his record to 4-0for the season, pitching 7.0 strong innings, allowing just one run on four hits and striking out five. At the plate for the Wolverines (25-8, 12-1 Big Ten), fifth-year senior 2B Leif Mahler(Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) went 3-for-5 with two doubles and a pair of RBI.

Adding a spark to U-Ms lineup was senior/junior CF Kenny Fellows(Holt, Mich./Holt HS), who entered the game in a pinch-runner role in the bottom of the third and finished the game 1-for-2 with two RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base.

Michigan took the early advantage with a run in the bottom of the third inning. Freshman CF Ryan LaMarre(Jackson, Mich./Lumen Christi HS) led off the frame with a single to centerfield, but had to come out of the game after sliding awkwardly back into first base following a pickoff attempt. Fellows spelled LaMarre at first and was quickly sacrificed over to second base by junior SS Jason Christian(Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS).

With one out in the inning, Mahler connected for his first of two doubles on the day, finding the gap in right-centerfield to bring Fellows around third for the 1-0 advantage.

Michigan State tied it up at 1-1 in the top of the fourth with two hits and a fielding error. The run was unearned as MSUs Chris Roberts came around to score on the error. With a runner on third and one out, Putnam struck out Spartan rightfielder Justin Potes and got Eric Roof to bounce out to third, stranding the go-ahead runner 90 feet from home plate.

The Wolverines pulled away with a four-run fourth. Leading off the inning, junior 3B Adam Abraham(Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) blasted his third home run of the year over the wall in right field to give U-M the 2-1 edge. Senior LF Derek VanBuskirk(St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) followed his fellow tri-captain with a double to left centerfield. Following a line out and a bounce out, VanBuskirk made it 3-1 when crossed home plate off an RBI single through the right side by Fellows.

Fellows then stole second, his third swipe of the year, and came home on a Christian single to right to make it 4-1. The score went to 5-1 on Mahlers second RBI double of the game as Christian hustled around the bases completing the four-run inning.

Putnam helped his own cause in the next U-M at bat with a lead off triple that caromed off the 26-foot wall in left field. Sophomore RF Alan Oaks(White Lake, Mich./Divine Child HS) brought Putnam home with a sac fly to center field two batters later to make the score 6-2.

Michigan put up two more in the bottom of the seventh inning without registering a base hit. Following walks to Abraham and VanBuskirk to start the inning, Oaks' sac bunt moved the runners to second and third with one out. Sophomore C Chris Berset(Vienna, Va./Heights School) reached via the hit by pitch to load the bases.

Fellows then picked up an RBI with a walk to score Abraham, making the score 7-1. With four more balls thrown to Christian, VanBuskirk walked home for an 8-1 lead. Michigan States Peter Wolff got the next two batters to end the inning.

Sophomore P Mike Dufek(Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) worked the final two innings, getting three outs via the K.

The Maize and Blue will now travel to East Lansing, Mich., for a doubleheader against the Spartans on Kobs Field. The two-game set will get underway with the first-pitch slated for 1:05 p.m.

N O T E S

Michigan topped Michigan State 8-3 Friday to maintain first place at the start of the fourth weekend of Big Ten play, while second place Purdue topped Ohio State 7-4 in Columbus and host Penn State topped Indiana, 7-3. The Northwestern at Iowa and Illinois at Minnesota games were postponed due to weather and will be made up later in the weekend.

BIG TEN Standings (After 4-18-08): 1. Michigan 12-1 (.923); 2. Purdue 10-3 (.769); 3. Ohio State 7-5 (.583); 4. Illinois 6-6 (.500); 5. Minnesota 5-7 & Northwestern 5-7 (.417); 7. Penn State 5-8 (.385); 8. Michigan State 4-8 (.333); & Iowa 4-8 (.333), 10 Indiana 4-9 (.308).

Michigan's win over Michigan State was the eighth straight win for the Wolverines (25-8).

Junior P/DH Zach Putnam allowed four hits and one unearned run in seven innings to record his fourth win of the season and he dropped his team-leading ERA to 2.47 and with five strikeouts as he moved his team-leading total to 52 strikeouts in 43.2 innings. Putnam recorded his 18th career win (18-7) to move into a six-way tie for 16th on the all-time U-M win list. Putnam has 45 strikeouts in his last five starts moving his career K total to 170.

Putnam's fifth-inning triple off the 'Brick Monster' in left allowed him to extend his season-high hitting streak to 10 games.

Junior 3B Adam Abraham snapped a 1-1 tie with a solo homer leading off the fourth inning and it proved to be his fifth game-winning RBI of the season and the 15th of his career.

Fifth-year senior 2B Leif Mahler, who had seven hits in the Illinois series last weekend (Apr. 11-13), was 3-for-5 with a pair of run-scoring doubles in the series opener vs. Michigan State. Mahler leads the Wolverines with 12 doubles for the season and he has 32 career two-baggers.

Senior/junior OF Kenny Fellows, who entered the game as a pinch runner in the third inning, collected a run-scoring single, scored twice and had a bases loaded walk for his first two RBI of the season.

Senior 1B Nate Recknagel was 0-for-4 with a walk vs. MSU to snap his latest hit streak at seven games giving him hits in 29 of U-M' 33 games played this season and in 128 of the 158 games he has played in his career at U-M.

Contact: Gene Skidmore (734) 764-4423