Postgame Notes: #18 Michigan 6, Purdue 1
5/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Top-seeded Michigan (44-12) defeated second-seeded Purdue 6-1 on Friday night (May 23) at Ray Fisher Stadium in the Wilpon Baseball Complex in front of 2,002 fans to advance to Saturday's Big Ten Tournament championship game against the winner of Saturday's first game (3:35 p.m.) between Purdue and Indiana.
Friday's win over Purdue gives Wolverine head coach Rich Maloney a career season-best total of 44 wins, besting the 43 earned by the Wolverines in 2006. The 44 wins are the most for the Wolverines since the 1989 team won 49 games. Maloney is 236-124 in his six seasons at Michigan, and his career record in 13 years as a head coach is 491-268-1 including his seven seasons with Ball State.
Senior/junior RHP Chris Fetter earned his team-leading 10th win of the season as he pitched the first seven innings vs. Purdue, allowing four hits and one run while recording 10 strikeouts. Fetter has struck out 10 or more batters three times in 2008, with a career-high 11 vs. Pittsburgh on March 11. Fetter is 10-1 with a team-leading 2.39 ERA, and he regained the team strikeout lead with 75 in 86.2 innings. Fetter has 11 decisions in his 13 starts in 2008.
Fetter's total of 10 wins for the season puts him in a four-way tie for sixth place on the U-M single-season pitching wins list with Ross Powell (10-0, 1989), Jim Agemy (10-0, 1985) and Mike Ignasiak (10-7, 1988).
The pitching win for Fetter was the 21st of his career (21-6), moving into a six-way tie for ninth place on the all-time U-M pitching win list with former Major Leaguers Ross Powell (21-1, 1987-89), Scott Kamieniecki (21-6, 1983-86), Fritz Fisher (21-9, 1961-63) and Steve Ontiveros (21-13, 1980-82) and former Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Jim Brauer (21-14, 2001-05).
Senior/junior RHP Michael Powers worked the eighth and ninth innings, allowing one hit with three strikeouts to save Michigan's 6-1 win over Purdue. Powers entered the game with a 4-1 lead in the eighth inning, and the Wolverines added two runs in the bottom of the eighth for the final margin. The save was his team-leading sixth of the season. Powers is 6-4 with a 2.73 ERA and has 56 strikeouts in 56.0 innings. Powers has 13 career wins and 10 saves, and he is tied for sixth on U-M's all-time saves list with Derek Feldkamp (10 saves, 2003-05) and Mike Ignasiak (10, 1985-88).
The pitching appearance for Powers vs. Purdue was his team-leading 25th of the season. Powers, the active career leader with 68 appearances, ranks seventh on Michigan's career pitching appearance list, one shy of Phil Tognetti (69 appearances, 2002-05) in sixth place.
Fifth-year senior 2B Leif Mahler's two-run single in the fifth inning vs. Purdue snapped a 1-1 tie and proved to be his fourth game-winning RBI of the season and the ninth of his U-M career. Mahler gained sole possession of fifth place in career games played at Michigan as he played in his 215th game in the Big Ten Tournament contest vs. Purdue. Mahler is hitting .302 (65-for-215) and has 217 career hits as a Wolverine.
Junior 3B Adam Abraham was 2-for-3 with a walk and one RBI in the win over Purdue. Abraham, who collected his 19th multi-hit game of the season, is hitting .349 (75-for-215).
Junior shortstop Jason Christian was 2-for-5 vs. Purdue, and his seventh homer of the season tied the score at 1-1 in the third inning. Christian has a pair of two-hit games in the tournament, and he has 18 for the season and 43 for his career. Christian is hitting .330 (59-for-179) with 12 doubles, five triples and the seven homers with 45 RBI from his leadoff position.
Junior CF Kevin Cislo was 1-for-3 vs. Purdue and has reached base in 41 consecutive games for the Wolverines. Cislo is second on the team with a .356 (58-for-163) batting average and leads the team with 17 stolen bases.
Senior Derek VanBuskirk, who has started all 56 games in leftfield for the Wolverines in 2008, was 2-for-4 with a run-scoring double vs. Purdue. It was VanBuskirk's 17th multi-hit game of the year and the 49th of his U-M career. He is fifth on the team with a career-best total of 43 RBI, giving him 98 RBI in his U-M career.
Freshman OF Ryan LaMarre's eighth-inning single vs. Purdue gives him hits in 12 of his last 13 games.
